Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To diet whilst im breastfeeding?

36 replies

wantstosleepnow · 27/10/2009 20:26

Somedays i am eating one meal a day. My dd2 is 6wks old and i am also bf dd1 but only about twice a day. Do you think this will affect my milk. So far it hasn't and its been about 2 week.

OP posts:
Morloth · 27/10/2009 20:29

If you are not getting enough calories when BF your body will have to make a choice who to support. It will choose you, so of course your milk supply will be affected.

You don't need to pig out, but you do need to be eating regular healthy meals. I wouldn't be surprised if such a low intake affects the quality of your milk even if it doesn't run out.

sweetnitanitro · 27/10/2009 20:29

Yes I think it will affect your milk. Eating only one meal a day is unhealthy even when you're not BF. BF burns so many calories in a day you really need the extra food. Your DD2 is only 6 weeks old, no one is expecting you to fit back into your skinny jeans at this stage.

StephHaydock · 27/10/2009 20:30

I don't think it's ever a sensible idea to ear one meal a day, breastfeeding or not.

notanumber · 27/10/2009 20:32

Yes, YABU.

Your baby needs good quality milk and you need to keep your strength up.

Breastfeeding itself promotes weight loss in any case.

Just wait six months. There can't be any urgent social occasions that require you pouring yourself into a skimpy frock anytime soon can there? You've just had a baby for heavens sake - you spend all your time washing sick off things and vacantly staring at awful people threaten each other on daytime chat shows. You don't need to be thin for that.

MegBusset · 27/10/2009 20:32

Not a BF expert but actually I believe that BF can continue even when the mother is on a very poor diet. However, only eating one meal a day is a very silly thing to do even when you're not 6 weeks postnatal and tandem feeding.

Why do you feel the need to restrict your calorie intake so much? Feeding and running around after two will soon have you in shape.

CharCharGabor · 27/10/2009 20:33

It won't affect the quantity or quality of your milk. Milk supply is usually unaffected unless you are severely starving. It will,though, affect your health and energy, which imo is not a wise choice with a baby and toddler to look after. Plus it will not give you weight loss which you can sustain. Fine to diet when bfing but that level will affect your health, yabu.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 27/10/2009 20:34

Actually Morloth that's not quiite right - her body will choose to make milk first, but after a while it will start to give up on that as there simply won't be enough calories to run her body and make milk.

OP, there's no reason why you can't diet sensibly. That does not mean eating only one meal a day. FFS you must be starving! Please, please look at this site and take a free trial to look at what you should be eating in a day. You can cut out 250 calories a day from your maintenance and should be able to BF and lose weight safely.

Unless you already weigh a healthy weight, in which case, wait!

HumphreyCobbler · 27/10/2009 20:35

It shouldn't affect your breastmilk unless you are severely malnourished. HOWEVER, you should be eating more than one meal a day. If you want to lose weight you can do a weightwatchers breastfeeding plan, or do what I did and just eat really healthily.

hairymelons · 27/10/2009 20:36

Hopefully someone with actual knowledge about this will be along soon but I had heard that if you are malnourished, you will still produce enough milk to feed your baby.

You would know if DD2 was being affected via her weight gain etc. (although I spose you've no way of knowing what her weight gain would be if you were consuming more calories) so I suppose the question is,why are you eating so little? You must be exhausted with 2 children to look after, let alone tandem feeding. I remember being soooo hungry when I was bfing, much more than when pregnant. Aren't you are being a little harsh on yourself?

bumpybecky · 27/10/2009 20:37

YANBU to want to lose weight while breastfeeding.

YABVU to regulalry skip meals while breastfeeding a 6 week old baby and that's before you take your dd1's milk feeds into account.

I've done Slimming World sucessfully while feeding dd3 and then later ds, starting when they were each about 8 weeks old. However doing SW you do not skip meals, just eat lots of good food. In fact it works better when you eat lots of the right foods.

Please start eating properly. Your health is going to suffer if you continue skipping meals

hairymelons · 27/10/2009 20:38

Sorry, people with actual knowledge! Took me ages to post that, wasn't being rude.

Original poster
wantstosleepnow · 27/10/2009 20:38

I really did need a kick up the arse! I just find it hard to eat if im trying to lose weight, i see everything i eat as meaning it is going to take longer to be thinner. Definately need to sort it out.

OP posts:
cancantcan · 27/10/2009 20:41

actually, you dont need masses more calories to make milk, its a very efficient process - it has to be otherwise it wouldnt be viable in terms of evolution. It also is a very resilient process, and you would need to have a severely reduced calorific intake for several weeks before your milk supply would begin to be affected, thats why most women tend to put on a little extra padding while pregnant, to give fat reserves to run the milk factory when food is short.
I agree with PP's, nothing wrong with dieting while BF provided you are being sensible about it. Sadly, eating only one meal a day isnt sensible. Lots of small healthy snacks are much better for you than one large meal.

mylovelymonster · 27/10/2009 20:42

If you only eat one meal a day your body will go into crisis mode and store any available excess energy as fat, so really bad idea!

Best way to 'diet' is to eat regular small meals which are healthy - cut out refined carbs, sugars, salt, fats, caffeine. Eat plenty of wholegrains, lean white meat & fish, vegs and fruit. Drink plenty of water - and skimmed milk for lots of lovely calcium.

That way you will support your body's health and BF, and probably burn fat.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 27/10/2009 20:43

Seriously, look at that site I linked to. You have a dodgy relationship with food - it isn't the enemy. I am Crap at being hungry and have lost weight very successfully with that site - and have learnt a few very sensible lessons. I am on it again now to lose the baby weight.

Starving yourself is actually counter productive to losing weight. If you consume too few calories to function (and you need calories just to breath and stuff) your body believes you are starving and conserves fat stores, making weight loss slower and damaging your metabolism, so that if you start eating more you will put on weight much quicker. It's an evolutionary tactic from the days when food was scarce and unpredictable.

Oblomov · 27/10/2009 21:07

eating 1 meal is just not good.
you don't need to diet, just eat sensibly. your diet would have to be very poor to affect the milk. but come on now. this just isn't sensible. most bf'ers lose weight quite nicely anyway - it just dropped off me.
please re-consider this.

overmydeadbody · 27/10/2009 21:12

Why not just eat sensibly, rather than only one lea a day?

If you want to loose weight, then cutting back slightly so you ar still eating healthily but not eating unnecesarily then you will loose weight while BFing.

If you are BFing the first thing your body will do is produce milk, then what is left over will go to you and your energy reqwuirements, but you do actually need to eat something.

One meal a day is bordering on starvation if you keep it up for long enough.

vanimal · 27/10/2009 21:22

I am also dieting whilst BFing, but am doing Weightwatchers, which takes my BFing into account.

I have lost half a stone very easily and am eating 3 good meals a day plus a couple of snacks.

So YANBU to diet whilst BFing - it can be done and it does work.

But YABU to be eating just one meal a day - you must be starving!

curiositykilled · 27/10/2009 21:26

YABU - It will very likely affect your milk but it'll make you ill first. One meal a day couldn't support you when you aren't feeding nevermind when you are tandem feeding!

WHY you would do it in the first place I don't know...

StarlightMcKenzie · 27/10/2009 21:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

MyCatsAScarierBastardThanYours · 27/10/2009 21:39

I am BF and DS is 8mths old. I joined weight watchers and have lost nearly 4 stone. I eat 3 meals a day plus snacks, am not hungry and DS is thriving and I feel the best about my body that I have felt in yrs.

You do not need to eat only 1 meal a day to lose weight, particularly when breast feeding, and I would have thought it bad for your concentration and fitness levels when dealing with a baby and all that entails.

MyCatsAScarierBastardThanYours · 27/10/2009 21:46

I joined weight watchers when DS was 5 weeks old btw.

traceybath · 27/10/2009 21:51

By all means try to lose the baby weight but not by extreme diets.

As others have said it will just make you miserable if you're only eating one meal a day.

I'm currently bf a 14 week old and trying to eat sensibly so cutting out the chocolate etc but find if I don't eat enough I feel very light-headed.

So eat healthy sensible options and drink plenty of water.

curiositykilled · 27/10/2009 21:59

I don't agree that it definitely won't affect the OP's milk, it depends how well nourished she is to start. My anorexic friend went down to one meal a day when feeding her son and her milk dried up. She was malnourished to start but we don't know what state the OP's body is in, it has just been through pregnancy and she clearly has a problem with food, just like my friend she may well already be too thin.

pushmepullyou · 27/10/2009 22:05

If you struggle to control what you eat unless you're very strict with yourself it might be worth giving weightwatchers a try. They will allow for breastfeeding and it is really easy to track what you're eating and make sure you eat enough but not too much. They've got an online programme if you're not a meeting type person (I'm not).