Dairy free breastfeeding mommy has lot too much weight - need advice!

[eskimomama]

Hi all

I know a lot of women have the opposite problem and need to LOSE weight after childbirth, and I'm sorry if I sound annoying... but for some reason I've lost all the extra pregnancy weight quite rapidly, probably due to breastfeeding.

After 3 months I was back to my normal weight but I continued to lose more. I thought I would stop breastfeeding after 6 months and everything would go back to normal afterwards, but then I wanted to keep on BF, especially since we've discovered DD (7 months) is allergic to dairy.
I don't feel good about giving her super artificial hypoallergenic formula.

Problem is : all the treats I used to eat to "fatten me up" (as my mother in law asked me to) were with dairy (yoghurts, rice pudding, cookies, nutella etc etc). DH bought me dairy free biscuits and stuff but I've been losing more weight. Probably because I'm watching everything and I'm also avoiding eggs and soy as much as possible until DD's allergies are confirmed.

What could I eat to make sure I get extra calories throughout the day?
I'm now 4 kg below my normal weight and DD is 7 months.

Somehow I think it's not good for DD that I'm underweight, but I don't want to stop BF...

Any advice?? Thanks !!!

sorry for long post!!

I went dairy free for breastfeeding with both my children, and the first time got very run down and lost too much weight really. In the end I got so desperate I resorted to protein shakes, but I'm not sure that's the answer!

When will your DD's allergies be confirmed? I think eggs are a big help if you are able to have them. I used to make lots of my own yummy dairy free cakes (just using dairy free margarine in normal recipes) - better with eggs, although you can get egg replacer. Flapjacks are really good too, and lots of nuts, avocados, anything with lots of fat I guess. I also ate a lot of home-made hummus.

But 4kg sounds like an awful lot, and personally I would ask to see a dietician. I did this the second time round as I was concerned about how run down I had been the first time, and also wanted to make sure I got enough calcium.

Great that you don't want to stop bf, especially as dd is allergic to dairy. Well done for getting to 7 months
What is your normal diet, is there not much fat in it?
Try eating plenty of carbs as well as meat, fish, veg etc.
Dairy free yoghurts and cakes plus try MN receipes for other dairy free stuff.

You've listed what you're not eating, but what are you eating?
What would be a typical day of food for you?

wow thanks for the very quick answers!! I thought I would sound irritating...!
Weta - thanks for the cake advice :-)

We're going to hospital later today to have her allergy tests done... fingers crossed it goes well...

So I guess I'm not eating a lot of fat anyway, but I was like that before getting pregnant. The usual olive oil in cooking, and I switched to sunflower margarine instead of butter.

If DD isn't allergic to soy I'll have soy yoghurts - are there any dairy and soy-free yoghurts??!

Typically I would have musli with rice milk for breakfast, maybe some krisprolls with margarine and jam, then lunch would be leftovers from last night (with pasta or bread), then some fruits in the afternoon (banana, apple, dried fruits - no longer dairy stuff), then dinner with DH would be more substantial because he needs proper food :-) Always meat with veggies and some carbs (rice or bread).
And loads of herbal tea throughout the day.

Do I sound TOO healthy???
That's the way I've always been eating, but maybe it's not enough for a BF mom?

I was like you & lost weight & back in my usual jeans withing days of giving birth, & then lost more, & strangely I WAS eating diary, despite normally being intolerant to it,

I had such a hard time with food in my early pregnancy I was very worried about my nutritional intake & tried drinking milk, weirdly my intolerance had gone completely, & stayed away until 3 months after I finished BF at 10 months, whilst BF I craved milk, drank up to 10 pints a day, & still didn't put any weight on

Ar you sure you need to give it up for babies sake??, my DD is also Dairy intolerant, & my drinking milk had no effect on her whilst BF, unlike eating anything with additives, or anything from the onion family, which all had a big effect, either on her Skin, or colic....thankfully I learned that one pretty early.

Also it might be worth you speaking with your GP, & getting your Thyroid checked, have a look at Dr Peatfields, "Your Thyroid & How To Keep It Healthy" .....over active Thyroid can cause you to loose weight like this,

I was always very slim despite eating whatever, lost weight like you, & then after finishing breastfeeding became ill, & put on 2 sone in weight, thankfully I was slim enough before for it not to be too much of a problem size wise, I've now tested positive for Hypothyroid..... UNDER active, & they reckon I was actually OVER active before, & its common it switches over, & Hormones play a part......

You might want to look into Spirulina as a supplement, it wont help you put weight on, but will help make sure you have a good nutritional intake

Good luck

Thanks Rockinhippy - My best friend was the same as you, they suspected thyroid problems but eventually it wasn't the case.
It's crazy you were overactive and then suddenly underactive! Hormones are sooooo cheeky!

SO... I'm back from hospital and DD is allergic to dairy, eggs and gluten... I feel totally guilty as it may be linked to pollution (I live in London, but I'm myself from the countryside).

Will need to find egg subsitutes for baking my own gluten/dairy/egg-free cakes....

I will totally try and see a dietitian.
If anyone knows a good one in London, ie not too old school, please let me know!!

Hi Eskimo - well done you for bf your DD and avoiding those foods. Have been through it too myself. Unfortunately, I don't have the problem of losing too much weight . However, foods I found nice to enjoy while not having dairy, egg, gluten are: Ritter Sport marzipan dark choc; use Green & Black's cocoa powder and whatever dairy free milk you drink to make hot choc; hummous, avocado, smoked salmon (my treat as an alternative to meat or hummous in sandwiches/salads). Have had plenty of practice at making dairy, egg and gluten free cakes and my newest and best recommendation is "Vegan Cupcakes take over the World" - can't remember who it's by, but you'll find it on Amazon. All the cupcakes are dairy and egg free, but she specifically has 1 vanilla and 1 chocolate gluten free recipe in there too and they turn out really yummy - even my MIL (who scoffs at all the allergy stuff) says so

Starshinetiger - thanks so much - you are a star!

what bread do you use for your sandwiches? I'm here looking at my kitchen cupboards feeling depressed! everything is gluten loaded!

Sorry to hear the results aren't what you were hoping for. Don't feel guilty though, to be honest they don't really know what the exact causes are, especially not for any given individual.

Egg replacer - try Orgran from a health food shop, or there may be others in the UK (I think there was a thread about this recently).

Are you sure you'd need to give up gluten as well? Just that I have the impression it's a slightly different kind of allergy to dairy, but I don't know much about it...

Forgot to say chocolate of course, Starshine tiger is right you should eat loads of it!! and smoked salmon comes back to me now she mentions it too...

Your diet sounds healthy for a normal person but not enough for a breastfeeding mum, especially without dairy. I would aim to pack in some extra carbs and fat for morning and afternoon tea (maybe cake or muffin or something).

Ah don't feel guilty. Theres plenty of allergic children in the countryside too!

Do you have to avoid gluten? I thought that was a protein that didn't go through? Like starshinetiger, I'm dairy, egg and soya free for ds2, and um am still 3 stone overweight. Very happy to share some pounds

There are lots of crisps which are OK, avocado, fatty meat (unless you are veggie), hot choc made with oatmilk/rice milk (don't give your dd rice milk, though, not suitable for the under fives-there's a thread on here about it). Lindt 70% chocolate is dairy and soya free (green and blacks not ). Instead of buying egg substitute, look out eggfree recipes, many use cider vinegar and baking powder instead of egg, and that's much cheaper! Crumble made with stork block margerine (not the tub), peanut butter (not mixed, just doing a fat brain dump here!)

Notanexcitingname and Weta - I'm a bit confused with gluten now.
The doc yesterday said I could keep on eating eggs and gluten, even though after being dairy free for a week her eczema came back so it was pretty obvious they were causing her trouble. He said the egg and gluten protein is much less likely to go through my milk than cows milk protein which is definitely going through.
But then he said try being gluten and egg free too and see if things improve

Have you got any info on gluten going into breastmilk?

DD's tests showed she was VERY allergic to eggs, both cooked and raw, but gluten wasn't very obvious ("just" a 4mm bump, seemed pretty obvious to me but I'm not a doctor). So we're going to do blood tests to double check.

My life would be so much more simple if I could eat gluten though!
DH bought me all sorts of gluten free stuff last night but jeez they don't taste that nice!

Will order the vegan baking book now.

Hi Eskimo - gluten-free bread is a challenge . I have had some from Goodness Direct, but you have to order online and it is quite expensive. If you don't have to avoid soya, you can buy gluten free bread (that is also egg and dairy free) from most supermarkets, but it isn't that great and I always have to toast it. However, gluten-free pasta isn't bad at all (mind you I've been eating it for years, as I'm wheat-free myself), so you could try doing pasta salads - boil up some pasta any chance you get in the morning as you want it cold, then just add any ingredients you want to it. You can get egg free mayo in most supermarkets too if you want to mix that in, but I find if you're using other "wet" ingredients - e.g. avocado, tuna... you don't need it (mind you I need to avoid calories, whereas you don't )

I have just stopped bfing my DD (she's nearly 14 months old) and moved her onto a soya formula (she's very slim, so wanting to give her something calorific and she doesn't seem to be reacting well to oatmilk). Have to say, that despite not eating them for over a year am not that impressed by chocolate, ice-cream, etc and am going to keep off them pretty much, but being able to eat cheese again is good - trying to say, you're not missing much!

Afraid a lot of the shop bought gluten free stuff has eggs in, so watch out for that!

Can I ask how you got your DD allergy tested? My GP is really against referring us and was same with DS - is quite depressing as she's been ill for most of last 2 weeks now and I'm frustrated not being able to do much about it

Hi Starshinetiger - again thanks for all the calorie tips! :-)

I managed to have DD tested because I insisted A LOT with the NHS GP. She had had a very bad reaction to her very first spoon of formula/baby rice 2 weeks ago at 6 months, but the GP was clueless about allergies and was like "oh maybe you could try a different formula"... I was so expecting something like that, so I had come with a mission. I said I wanted to see a specialist in allergies, and that my private insurance with work would cover it if a GP refered me (sort of true). He probably refered me because I wasn't going out of the room without his referal to a private GP (and DD started being moody too ;-) ).

Then I saw a private GP specialised in allergies who told me it was pretty obvious she was allergic to dairy, so he refered us to the hospital for tests, and these guys cannot be contacted without a referal, which I think is mad.

A week later the hospital called me to book for 30th June, ie 8 weeks later!! I lied and said I had to go back to work and couldn't continue breastfeeding, therefore I need an appointment asap. She called me back 5 min later as somebody had cancelled for the next day.

You see I was so expecting difficulties that I was very firm with them all - usually I'm always too kind, and it made things much quicker.

Hopefully you will get this referal!
GPs can be so stubborn and not very knowledgeable when it comes to allergies, don't let him be patronising too much. Maybe you should go back and exaggerate a little bit so that you finally get a referal. I think it is really worth it. Good luck, and let me know how that goes.

eskimo I feel your pain (but not the weight loss, sadly). DD1 was sensitive to dairy in my diet when BF, and, we discovered, gluten too. It was just a hunch, and when we tried gluten-free her nappies improved spectacularly and she slept through. When I had cocktail sausages by accident a couple of weeks later it was obvious that it was causing her big problems. She grew out of the gluten thing by age 2 when we tried her with it. dairy is still a bit of an issue.

DD2 on the other hand seems to be sensitive to heaps of things so I'm currently avoiding dairy, soy, gluten, egg and nuts and I'm not sure we've got to the bottom of things yet.

Niceties to eat: homemade chocolate is delish & ridiculously good for you (150g coconut oil, 60g cocoa powder & a tsp or two of icing sugar to taste), banana muffins, Genius bread (has egg white in it, but I couldn't survive without bread), ready salted crisps, some veggie tinned soups are ok e.g. Baxters carrot & butterbean, Mediterranean tomato, Tesco Free From sausages are fine (if going to a butcher check their seasoning ingredients - ours is soy-laden).

If you've lost too much weight maybe mention to your GP..?

I used to LOVE gluten free sausages! I was going to say Montezuma's Orange and Geranium choc.. but don't know if it's wheat free.

Wow this all sounds so familiar. I too lost lots of weight through breastfeeding & going dairy free. I just ate healthily as you are but had biscuit for my sweet tooth. M&S & Waitrose Ginger Nuts are dairyfree.
You are lucky to have got the allergy test. My GP said it was not worth doing under the age of 1 so I just had to test my son with different foods to see what flared his eczema. Unfortunately i stopped breastfeeding at 7.5 months (he's now on Neocate LCP) as I found it too hard to work out whether it was my food or his food that was causing the problem. Maybe I didnt try hard enough!!!
I have since discovered that tomatoes & citrus fruits are all allergens for eczema so watch out for those too.

Thanks Sonar - they didn't test tomatoes or citrus fruits so they could just as well be culprits too...

How did it go when you introduced Neocate? Did your DS accept it quickly? I haven't dared trying it yet...

Luckily he was fine & took to it very quickly but I have read horror stories. He had SMA Wysoy 1st which helped his eczema but still wasn't great so changed to Neocate a mth ago. I found out that Neocate LCP is new & so isn't as bad as the other Neocate eg smelling of fish etc!
Neocate has been the turning point for my sons skin. Please do not be discouraged from breastfeeding though, I think that you're still breastfeeding is great & part of me wishes I still was.

with summer on the way (eventually!), you can make coconut milk-based ice cream.

I originally found a recipe here on MN somewhere but I do 16 dried apricots (heat up in small amount of water to soften, add maybe a tbsp sugar or less), warm up coconut milk (full fat or reduced fat both work well) with 2-3 cardamon pods so the flavour goes into the milk. Remove pods (15-20 min), add plumped-up apricots and juice, blend, cool and freeze. I don't have an ice-cream maker so I manually stir it every 20-30 min for about 5-6 h.

P.S. peanut butter and nuts are calorie dense

Mamakoukla - thanks!!! sounds really yummy!

I should add that I was in a similar boat. I BF DD for 18 months; restricted diet started at about 5 months. I lost a lot of weight and couldn't keep any on. Careful when you stop breastfeeding and go back to your usual diet! I also bought some nice clothing which is a little tighter on my more normal shape ... More than anything, eat healthily and varied. What goes in will have an effect on what comes out and if for a while you are a bit underweight (as long as there are no signs/suggestions of this being bad for your health), it will all work out. How long are you planning to BF for?

I'm not sure yet how long, I haven't tried Neocate so far, but I'll need to go back to work when DD is 11 months, on a part time basis, but still, there is no way I can express that much milk for when I'm away.

I was thinking partial weaning from next month or so, but then I'm a bit clueless about what to give her after Neocate as she's allergic to gluten, therefore oat milk is out...
I don't want to use Neocate until she's 4 or 5 (ie old enough to drink rice milk)!!