Breastfeeding and Weightloss...how to not lose the milk

changingmylife85

I've been counting calories, eating healthier than ever before and exercising and losing weight, but my milk production has nearly been cut in 1/2 I think I made a serious mistake somewhere or my body's just not liking it. I'm consuming nearly 1800 cals/day and exercising...does the exercising kill the production?!?! HELP!

gracetillman

You need an extra 300 calories per day for milk production but you need a lot of fluids too. Make sure you are drinking enough to compensate for what you are using in exercise and for the actual milk production. When I was nursing I drank over 100 oz of water per day when I didn't exercise and if I did exercise I drank an extra 24 oz of water.

BarbieAS

It's a delicate balance, and every woman is very different. For many women, breastfeeding actually impedes weight loss rather than increases it (as claimed by a lot of people). You have to be careful to find the right number of calories for you.

Remember to drink plenty of water, fluids are key. Oatmeal and avocado have been shown to boost production, and there are several supplements out there (Fenugreek, etc) that are very safe and can be used to give you a little extra boost.

However, if you're not eating enough, those things won't help. Remember that breastfeeding requires approximately 20 calories for each ounce of milk your body produces, so add that to your TDEE. And for now I wouldn't eat at a deficit larger than 500 calories per day, including exercise.

Remember that your baby only needs your milk for the first year or so of his/her life, but you have the rest of YOUR life to lose the weight. Focus on a balanced diet and a moderate deficit for now if it's important to you to maintain your milk supply; you can be more aggressive with your weight loss efforts as you start to wean if you find that your milk supply is so sensitive to calorie reductions.

crysofmyk

Like the others said, you need those extra calories to make milk. Are you adding in breastfeeding to your diary? It's in the food section (oddly enough), and there are a few different ones depending on how much you are BFing. If your baby hasn't started solids yet, it's 500, if they have but still BF a lot (more than 3-5 times a day) maybe use the 400 one. Then when they are on 3 solid meals a day and you are only feeding when they wake up or before bed etc, then 300. There's on on there that someone set up wrong, and it added 500 calories onto my day instead of subtracted, so try a few until you find one...then be sure to eat those calories! And lots and lots of water.

changingmylife85

I drink on average 12 cups/day. I love water. Doesn't hurt the stomach, or the teeth I strive to meet the 1800 cals/day. Doc said 1300 for me and 500 for baby, and that's what I've been doing. Since day one, I've really only been able to do 5-8 oz ahead of what she eats, so I'm able to freeze for when I'm at work and she's with daddy....any certain types of food? My doc even told me to try Fenugreek (natural) and that hasn't helped either.

georgina1970

Hi
I'm a Practice Nurse. The advice I give my clients is this:
If baby is under 6mths old then you should be eating at your maintenance level. Breast feeding uses up to 500cals depending on how many feeds/day. Search for breast feeding in the main database and you can choose number of feeds/day. This creates your deficeit. Your should also eat back your exercise calories.

In addition to this, include protein with breakfast, lunch and dinner. Have breakfast by 8am, this is because it takes 12hrs for the food you eat to turn into breast milk. Therefore, evening feeds will be richer, and baby is more likely to sleep longer at night.
Water intake needs to be a minimum of 2litres/day, extra for exercise or hot weather. Plus morning, afternoon, and supper snacks (healthy options of course throughout the day.

If baby is older and eating solids then increasing your deficeit is not usually a problem, but don't go too low (10% below maintenance levels.)

jennifershoo

How old is your baby?

changingmylife85

I've looked for breastfeeding in excercises. but I guess it does make sense to count it in the food section too! Wow, thank you!!

changingmylife85

2 months today. Doc said I gotta get the weight off for my health. I just really wanted to BF for the full 1st year

changingmylife85

Wow thanks soo much! My doc said I need to get some of the weight off. But mostly referred me to a nutritionist and lactation nurse to assist me with this since he's just gen family practice. The lactation nurse didn't get this detailed, I will try it. I didn't know it took that long to turn into breast milk. That's insane. But it makes sense, because the other day, when I noticed a HUGE drop in my production, I ate. My body told me YOU NEED TO EAT (I haven't been that hungry and only cutting cals by 300/day) the next morning on my lunch break (I work 6-2:30) I increased about a 1/2 oz each side. Any recommendation to get the production up on one side? Ill get 2 - 3 oz's on my left but only 1/2-1 oz on the right. What can I do to change this?

leroyizzy

Pump more on that one side. I had the same problem... just did a little 'mini' pump on the one side in between my regular pumps. The more you take out the more you produce. Be sure you are pumping frequently enough too!

RawCarrots

2 months today. Doc said I gotta get the weight off for my health. I just really wanted to BF for the full 1st year

It is still very early days! I'd go easy with the exercise, heavy cardio could affect the milk supply in some women, try sticking with stuff that you'd normally do with an infant, e.g. walking, and increase slowly if your supply is ok.
I'd aim for small deficit and would focus on eating healthy, try to cut out junk as much as possible. If you are hungry, EAT, but try and pick a piece of fruit over sweets.

jennifershoo

2 months today. Doc said I gotta get the weight off for my health. I just really wanted to BF for the full 1st year

Ah! 2 months, then it's normal. It can take up to 12 weeks for your body to adjust to your baby's needs. Most likely you were producing too much milk in the beginning and now you're just producing enough. Of course, for you it seems like the decrease might be too much, but if your baby is happy, is still gaining wight well, wet at least 10 diapers a day and a few of poop, then your milk production is fine. Same thing happened to me. My baby is 3 month old and my production decreased around 6 weeks. I had waaayyy too much milk and now it feels like my boobs are empty but they are just fine.

jennifershoo

Lots of trick here to increase your milk supply:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=563689333651986&set=a.179725158715074.37902.179433762077547&type=1

jennifershoo

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Double post

chanel1twenty

I see that baby's 2 months. Don't stress yet, it usually takes 6-10 weeks to fully establish supply.
Fluids are most important when it comes to breastfeeding, so I wouldn't think wright-loss affects it negatively, & 1800 is plenty enough.

The best thing to help milk production is well, breastfeeding! The more you do it, the better your supply. Is baby eating enough? If baby isn't stimulating you properly it can make your supply suffer. Does he fall asleep after eating? Or does he fall asleep while on the breast?
If you're not waking baby in the night to feed then I suggest you start. Or just wake up in the night every 4hrs & pump if you don't want to wake up baby.

rotill

It's normal to produce differently, more on one breast than the other. There are a lot of reasons, but it's not uncommon. Around here the recommendation is to never start with the same breast. Remember which breast the baby started on the last time, or which you pumped first the last time, then start with the other. This is particularly important when the baby eats, because she will be hungrier in the start, and so the first breast will be emptier than the other after feeding. If this is always the same, the difference will increase.

Also, exercise is very good, but keep it light. Don't work yourself ragged - the baby does that for you. When that's said: babies thrive on long walks on a good pram, they sleep better and grow healthier with a lot of fresh air. This means that both you and your baby can benefit a lot from long, nice walks around the neighbourhood, an hour or two, twice a day. If you really need to lose weight for your health, this will help you with all kinds of related issues: blood pressure, heart, insulin resistance, it will all be better if you walk one-two hours each day.

Other things: Keep your breasts warm. Cold can lead to breast fever: infections in the breasts that stops the milk from flowing. This is very painful, so keep those boobies warm. I didn't check where you live, it may not be a problem, but I add it just in case.

Breastfeeding also helps your uterus contract, and this helps making your stomach slimmer and your body stronger in general.

What else - yes, your baby is very influenced by what you eat now that you are breastfeeding. That means that a healthy diet with no sugar, no alcohol and no junk isn't only good for you, but also for the baby! Read more up on this, as different foods can irritate the baby, and your life may be easier if you watch what you eat - in a very direct manner.

If you have problems emptying your breasts while pumping, ask your doctor or nurse about oxytocin. It's the hormone that starts the milk flowing. Sometimes a woman may need some help, and you can get this in spray form. It works incredibly well.

Enjoy! It's a wonderful thing to breastfeed your own little one.

chanel1twenty

My first baby took to the boob like a champ, but then breastfeeding would exhaust her so she began falling asleep while still latched & not gaining weight. Then I had an emergency & we got separated. During that time she had to be fed by bottle, which is easier for baby, and after that she said 'f that! that bottle thing is so much easier. put your boob away, mom.'

My second has been the opposite. He couldn't latch onto anything. Turned out he had tongue-tie & we had to get the underside of his tongue snipped. Before the procedure, because he couldn't latch, my supply suffered greatly. A pump isn't as effective as baby stimulation, but it helps your supply when baby can't.

Make sure your fluid intake is good! Especially if exercising, you're obviously sweating out a lot so you have tho be sure you're making up for it!

BarbieAS

The only thing I'd disagree w/ from a prior poster is the "no sugar" thing - my doctor actually recommended making to sure to include a MODERATE amount of sugar in my diet to help encourage the baby to nurse. If your supply is decreasing a little, then a little extra stimulation at the breast will definitely help that, and encouraging baby to nurse a little more is a good thing. An overall balanced diet is very important, though.

Also, there may not be a standard exercise entry for breastfeeding, but I'd recommend creating one for yourself (just use "1" minute and however many calories you want to add) instead of using the food entry, for a few reasons. First, if macros are important to you (obviously they are more important to some people than to others) adding exercise calories ensures that your macros also increase in proportion to your setting, rather than however the random entry you're using is set up. Second, I think it's really helpful to see how much you're actually eating, rather than seeing 1600 calories in your journal when you're really eating 2100, even if your deficits remain accurate, but that's mostly a mental thing. And, finally, it makes it a lot easier to quickly adjust the number of calories you're giving yourself - you can type right over that number every day if you feel like maybe adding or subtracting 50 or 100 calories is the right thing to do, especially in a few months as you start weaning. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter, but I just found entering it through exercise was simpler and more accurate.

changingmylife85

Thank you all so much for the much needed advice!! Feel free to add me