how long do you need to keep snacking when you're breastfeeding?

[muslimah28]

everything i heard, read, saw when i was pregnant and just had ds said to have a snack with every breastfeed. i stopped doing this when he was about 3 months old, and was down to about one snack a day now but which many days i can miss now if i want to. does this matter? ds is 7.5 mo, he's BLW and hasn't dropped any feeds yet.

i want to lose weight but know i can't diet while breastfeeding so thought cutting out snacks would at least be a step in the right direction. i've not been one of those lucky ones they tell you about that lose the weight so much more quickly because they're breastfeeding

The 500 extra calories is truly a myth - it's no good totting up the calorific value of the milk and saying the mother needs the equivalent, and I have no idea where the notion that it takes 20 kcal to make an ounce of milk comes from - though there is so much stuff out there that people simply make up, that it's perfectly possible you have read it somewhere respectable, MumNWLondon :)

Its a myth because

• fat is laid down in pg in preparation for the energy needed to make milk
• in pg and lactation, you metabolise differently and get more 'value' out of your food so you don't need to take in the calorie equivalent of the milk you make

Eat according to hunger, drink according to thirst.

'Seasy :)

Most of us eat more than we actually need anyway, and very few women in the UK need to worry about not eating enough at any time of their lives .

oh how i wish i started this thread earlier...i would weigh a lot less right now

i do agree with summerlightening about the early days tho. When i first had ds i really didnt want to eat, i had no appetite for at least 2 weeks. Anything i ate involved me forcefeeding myself. So i did need to be aware of making sure i was eating enough. But i guess once my appetite eturned there was so need if i just listened to my body.

Ive heard lots of people say they lost weight once they stopped bfing. I plan to do 2 yrs unless ds selfweans before, so i dont want to wait for that!

Have joined weightwatchers now, am 3 days in, yay!!

Tiktok I'm interested in what you say about the mother managing to make milk of a certain calorie content without using that amount of energy. Could you point me to the research on this please?

What you say doesn't fit with my understanding of physiology and biochemistry . Ususally an internal process itself uses up energy in addition to requiring the equivalent energy input of the energy contained in the product because biological processes are not perfectly efficient and there are byproducts and for example heat lost. How could energy output be greater than energy input? What does "you metabolise differently and get more 'value' out of your food" mean ?

I agree that fat stores laid down in pregnancy may be metabolised to produce milk, but in this case the energy comes from the fat and the mother loses weight if she doesn't consume equivalent calories. Energy doesn't come from thin air, or at least not according to the first law of thermodynamics .

I am not saying bf mums need to eat loads, btw . The energy requirements of different babies vary and the calorie content of milk will vary at different times too. Perhaps 500cals is more like the maximum average amount that a mum feeding one baby is likely to need to consume to offset her milk production if she wishes to maintain her weight?

eat when hungry is the best advise dear,and eat normal quantities and hey make sure u take lots of water,about 3 litres a day. It can even help in yur weight loss but remember one thing,u took 9 months to gain the weight,u cant expect any miracle yet. Look after yur baby 4 now dear,u will focus on the weight once s/he is off the breast. Ive 3 kids but ive nevr eaten 4 a feed,i just make sure i drink lots of water,u can mix yur water about 750ml with 250ml juice jus to make it drinkable if u think 3 liters per day is too much n u cant take it down..all the best for 2011 to every1

3 litres a day? That is nuts too whatever is the issue with just listening to your body?

3 litres does seem a bit excessive! Agree with boogeek, just drink if you're thirsty. There's no special amount you have to drink.

Crikey. 3 litres a day is unnecessary and what little research has been done in this area indicates that drinking this sort of huge quantity reduces milk supply.