LCHF diet and breastfeeding

mamazierott
mamazierott Posts: 6 Member
edited November 19 in Social Groups
I've been grain free since January, and went Low Carb High Fat beginning in April. My son was 10 months in April, and has had a huge jump in weight since then, gained quite a few pounds and even the doctor was surprised. He's eating solids and whole milk, but I still breastfeed multiple times a day. I forgot to ask her about my diet, and if my high fat intake can affect my milk/his growth. The weight gain is good for him, he was on the small side :-) Is there anyone out there with a similar experience or insight?

Replies

  • pedidiva
    pedidiva Posts: 199 Member
    for the first 2 years of life, growth is usually a reflection of in utero. After age 2, it is more of a familial/genetic thing. What are your son's growth parameters (% ages wight & height) in the past and now? Did he go more than 2 of the lines on the growth chart? Breast fed babies typically will can weight quicker than formula fed babies. Remember that one needs to look at the overall trend and not just a point in time. Most people suggest holding off the milk until 12 months. Are you supplementing the baby with Vitamin D drops? Breast milk has no vitamin D.
  • pedidiva
    pedidiva Posts: 199 Member
    Was he premature?
  • DianaElena76
    DianaElena76 Posts: 1,241 Member
    The only insight I have is that my breastmilk supply tanked when I started this WOE, but it was probably more a result of not having time to pump frequently enough while away from the baby at work. You know, numerous variables changed at once, one of which was starting to eat low-carb, so no single thing can be named as the cause of the reduction in my supply. The reason I think it's the pumping thing is because the same thing happened with my 2nd and 3rd babies when I returned to work. It was just too complicated keeping up a regular pumping schedule given my work schedule. But if you are eating healthy fats, that is great for baby! Just curious, do you pump at all, or strictly breastfeed? I did notice the fat content of the milk I did pump increased, which was great, because previously my milk had been 2% (okay, that's a joke, but there was definitely more fat!).
  • Dragonwolf
    Dragonwolf Posts: 5,600 Member
    If it's anything, it's the cow's milk, not yours, that's affecting his growth rate. Though I doubt it's anything other than his particular growth pattern. Growth is not linear and many babies go through spurts, and 10 months is a common time for one such spurt.

    Your milk composition doesn't change much, regardless of your diet (and your body will deplete your stores of micronutrients in favor of putting them in the milk). The only change that happens in human milk when the diet changes is the proportion of the fatty acids in the fat portion (ie - if you eat more coconut, your milk will be higher in lauric acid vs other fatty acids).
    pedidiva wrote: »
    Breast milk has no vitamin D.

    Not at all true:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7426605
    http://advances.nutrition.org/content/3/3/353.full
    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/36/1/122.abstract
  • mamazierott
    mamazierott Posts: 6 Member
    Not premature, and he was actually off the growth chart for a while, then made it to 3% around 6 months. At nine months, he weighed close to 15 pounds, and a bit past a year he jumped to 21 pounds. He started while milk around 11 months, but his weight was increasing before that. I was just curious :-)
    My milk has also been more blue and more fatty in the past few months, although I don't pump frequently.
  • greenautumn17
    greenautumn17 Posts: 322 Member
    Dragonwolf wrote: »
    If it's anything, it's the cow's milk, not yours, that's affecting his growth rate. Though I doubt it's anything other than his particular growth pattern. Growth is not linear and many babies go through spurts, and 10 months is a common time for one such spurt.

    Your milk composition doesn't change much, regardless of your diet (and your body will deplete your stores of micronutrients in favor of putting them in the milk). The only change that happens in human milk when the diet changes is the proportion of the fatty acids in the fat portion (ie - if you eat more coconut, your milk will be higher in lauric acid vs other fatty acids).
    pedidiva wrote: »
    Breast milk has no vitamin D.

    Not at all true:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7426605
    http://advances.nutrition.org/content/3/3/353.full
    http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/36/1/122.abstract

    Babies need fat for their brains to develop, and the fat in your diet actually helps your body make milk (not changes its composition, just quantity).
    But I agree that the cows milk may have had something to do with the weight gain, or it might just be a normal spurt.
  • minties82
    minties82 Posts: 907 Member
    Both of my children were quite chunky and breastfed at 10 months, and I was very high carb with them both. I thought it was more of an "I can and do eat anything and everything" sort of stage for babies/toddlers so they might gain weight due to that? My son especially got heavier, he went from the 35th for weight to the 91st quite quickly.
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