Still breastfeeding 8 month old - am I wrong to start diet?

[MamaLovesTango]

Hi there. Am a newbie and in need of advice. Have been exclusively breastfeeding my little girl for past 8 months, she is eating solids well (blw - great fun). She has always been a slinky baby on the small side, but is happy, healthy and growing well.

I am 2 stone heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight despite being quite active, exercising and eating a healthy balanced diet (but certainly not depriving myself of what I fancy). I put on 4 stone during my pregnancy, so have lost half of the increase, but the last 2 stone seem quite happy to stay put (largely in all those places you'd really rather not have the extra wobbly bits).

Now I am only a month off my daughter being 9 months I would really like to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and finally wear my old wardrobe. I felt very comfortable at this weight so am not trying to be over extreme or hard on myself - I do regard it as my ideal and healthiest weight. I am also mindful of our plans to try for another child in the new year (I am 34 years old), and just in case I put on quite a bit during pregnancy again, would like to get back to where I was the first time round.

I wasn't sure how long I would bf for, but have really enjoyed the experience which is good as dd has never been keen on taking a bottle, and although she takes water from a doidy and sippy cup, she is still not that impressed with forumla feeds (have recently started offering these once a day or so).

Would I affect the quality of my milk if I start a diet? Am planning on doing a low gi / high protein style diet as this has always worked well for me in the past if I have ever needed to diet. If I managed to get dd to accept say one good forumla feed a day, would this perhaps redress any calorific decrease in my milk?

Does anyone know if my milk would still have all it should have, even on a diet, and any shortages would just be to my detriment rather than my baby (in the same way as a unbalanced diet in pregancy would work). Have dd's 8 month check today so am going to ask health visitor but would really appreciate advice and knowledge of other mums out there.

Thank you!

[Yorky]

As your DD is no longer 100% dependent on you for nutrition I don't think a sensible diet will affect the quality of your milk - or her. I have had a nasty d+v bug when I didn't eat for 2 days and still managed to feed DD. My DH booked a weight management appt at the drs and they asked if I was eating extra because of feeding DD (like you, I wasn't doing without what I fancied) and they said that if I stopped that then the weight would come off. It was doing anyway, just slowly!

[MamaLovesTango]

Thanks Yorky. I think I have got to the stage where I need to shock my body a bit, to kickstart weight loss, as have been trying to eat sensibly for a while now, without any results. Compared to other new mums who haven't retained extra weight I don't think I am eating any more than them. That said not all of them put on 4 stone.