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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

"You can't diet while BFing". Umm, why not?

43 replies

allsquareknickersnofurcoat · 06/02/2011 23:20

Anyone know? Seeing as nowerdays, its accepted that what you eat has little, if any, effect on your milk?

Surely if youre obese, you need to lose the weight and could cut down calories? Eg, if you're eating 3000 calories a day, surely 2500 isnt gonna hurt?

OP posts:
tiktok · 06/02/2011 23:32

Where is this said, though?

Of course you can diet when you are bf.

Strict, inflexible or crash diets are not healthy or sustainable but they won't affect the breastfeeding.

hobnob57 · 06/02/2011 23:34

Don't know what the official line is, but I had to 'diet' while BF as my LO was intolerant to anything remotely calorific and tasty that I was eating. So no dairy, soy, wheat, egg or nuts for me. I lost all my DC2 babyweight, post-DC1 babyweight and more, but DC2 was, and still is a right chubber. She was BF for a year. SO I don't think there's much of a problem for the LOs, but I did feel leached in a lot of ways, despite calcium supplements and vitamins.

CrispyCakeHead · 06/02/2011 23:37

what tiktok said.

healthy eating and fad dieting aren't the same thing; no reason why you can't eat healthily/cut down on junk with a view to losing some weight.

Slimming World and Weightwathers both have guidelines for BFing mothers; extra points on WW, extra "healthy extras" and maximum syns on SW.

CilantroLarry · 06/02/2011 23:38

Of course you can 'diet' while bfing.

Silly crash diets aren't good for you at any time but sensible dieting is fine.

Original poster
allsquareknickersnofurcoat · 06/02/2011 23:55

Thats what I'm doing, healthy eating and have even gonna back to being veggie to save some money (been veggie before, am def getting all my nutrients). I didnt believe it so I've been ignoring it, and am very happy no one has posted anything to say its bad for me or my DS!

Loads of people say it? My midwife, HV, freinds, family, I've even seen it on here on a few threads. I've explained to each of them that there is a difference between healthy eating to lose weight and crash dieting, but am told all the time that I am wrong

Out of curiousity though, surely not even a strict ridiculous cabbage soup type diet would affect your BM though. You would be the one missing out on nutrients?

OP posts:
EauRouge · 07/02/2011 00:03

No, you are not wrong, you can eat healthily with a view to losing weight while you are BF. There's some info and tips here.

ZephirineDrouhin · 07/02/2011 00:46

According to La Leche League, there is a danger that toxins stored in your fat will be released into your milk if you lose more than 1 lb per week. That was always my excuse anyway...

CrispyCakeHead · 07/02/2011 00:53

that's relevant to a low carb diet though, not just healthy eating. And as OP is going vegetarian I doubt she will be low carbing!

Still, tis a good excuse for eating cake Wink

ASecretLemonadeDrinker · 07/02/2011 01:08

Changing to healthy eating isn't a problem (I wouldn't call it a diet really, even if it kinda is). I was keen to do the Cambridge Diet but was worried my milk would be affected by the starvation/fat burning ketosis/high dose of vitamin/mineral drink thingys.

tiktok · 07/02/2011 08:41

Zepherine, the 'toxins in your milk if you lose weight too quickly' is controversial. LLL say 'there are documented concerns' about it which is very far away from decent research.

Even a cabbage soup will not affect the quantity of quality of your milk, unless you take it to serious starvation levels.

The mother's own nutritional reserves go into making the milk. The baby also has his own nutritional reserves garnered in pregnancy. Extremely poorly nourished women, who have been in this state since well before pregnancy, may have difficulty 'growing' babies with sufficient iron stores, for example; later, they may struggle to make milk long term. We are not talking here about women who need to lose weight and to diet.

There may be specific concerns about specific nutrients, depending on the lifestyle of the mother - for example, if you don't go outside much, if you live in a northern climate, if you are from a dark skinned ethnic group, then vitamin D levels might be low.

Any HV or midwife telling women they cannot diet and breastfeed needs some basic training in how the body works, and can probably be safely ignored when they say anything else about breastfeeding. Seriously, it's an elementary error.

Fernie3 · 07/02/2011 08:49

My doctor told me it was fine to be on a "sensible " diet and i have been dieting since my baby was around 12 weeks old, she is six months old now and I have lost 2 stone but milk supply has never been a problem :)

FreudianSlippery · 07/02/2011 08:51

But OP, cutting calories is not really a diet (especially with the numbers you suggested) - of course that's fine. Making healthier choices is good for you and baby.

Crash diets are bad at any time IMO and especially when BFing! A friend of mine started an extreme diet when her baby was a few months old. She looks amazing and I said I didn't know you could do that while BFing. She looked a bit flustered and said actually her baby loved BFing loads during the diet.

Hmm I figured that's probably because the poor thing wasn't getting enough! Anyway, the baby is really tiny now, I don't think it's a coincidence.

I know the urge to lose weight is overwhelming but to do a quick fix and possibly compromise baby's development is quite selfish IMO.

Fernie3 · 07/02/2011 08:53

My doctor told me to aim for between 1700 and 2000 calories a day, not sure if that's general advice or specific to my weight etc.

sakura · 07/02/2011 08:54

Confused at this thread.
You don't need to diet when you're breastfeeding; it's the ultimate weight loss programme. It's so effective: you can eat whatever the hell you like and the baby just sucks it all out of you and it shrinks your womb to boot, so you end up with a nice flat stomach
It was only after I stopped BF DD and carried on eathing my 2 big bars of chocolate a day that I realised just how effective it is

sakura · 07/02/2011 08:55

I doubt there's a connection between a diet and BF. The baby will take what it needs, Have you seen pics of women in third world countries, all skin and bone but with massive bonny babies on their hips because they're breastfeeding. It's formula feeding that creates scrawny babies

Fernie3 · 07/02/2011 08:57

Sometimes you DO need to diet, I didn't lose any weight at all in the first three months in fact i gained. I had to lose weight for health reasons and to help the effectiveness if medications i am taking. The point is that yu CAN safely diet if you need to and not worry abot harming your baby.

FreudianSlippery · 07/02/2011 08:58

Sakura unfortunately that doesn't work for everyone! Lots of women gain weight while BFing.

Different babies react differently to changes in mum's diet - I could eat absolutely anything with DD, but DS was sensitive to things like caffeine and curry, and some friends I know had to cut out stuff like onion and red pepper!

EdgarAleNPie · 07/02/2011 09:01

i think more whether or not you are BFing, in the immediate postnatal period you need to make sure you ar looking after yourself, and not putting yourself in a position where through tiredness (which can be worsened by hunger) or a sugar-low, you make yourself more vulnerable to PND.

therefore not crash dieting then is wise. equally not stuffing your face with unhealthy foods.

sakura · 07/02/2011 09:02

yes you may have to cut out things the baby would be sensitive to (caffeine)-although lots of women don't need to and Indians certainly don't cut out spicy food- but cutting down on general calories is a different subject entirely

japhrimel · 07/02/2011 09:09

I was told by my HV to eat healthily while bfing so I didn't get anaemic or otherwise deficient in something. Eating healthily is good for anyone, but there's a world of difference from eating an appropriate amount of nutritious calories and starving yourself!

Maybe tell people you're on a health kick, not a diet?

FreudianSlippery · 07/02/2011 09:26

Either way if you want to lose weight, just changing to a healthier lifestyle is better for you than crash dieting, and less likely to be put on again!

tiktok · 07/02/2011 09:28

Freudian - you said " "A friend of mine started an extreme diet when her baby was a few months old. She looks amazing and I said I didn't know you could do that while BFing. She looked a bit flustered and said actually her baby loved BFing loads during the diet.

hmm I figured that's probably because the poor thing wasn't getting enough!"

Please don't think that! Babies feed a lot because it is normal to feed a lot.

" Anyway, the baby is really tiny now, I don't think it's a coincidence."

Hmm

Her baby's size will have nothing to do with his mother's extreme dieting - nothing at all. I do hope no one with a small baby reads your words and thinks may be she (the mother) was not eating enough....:(

MYTH!

Fernie3 · 07/02/2011 09:35

I have a small baby (ebf ) i have a small 3 year old ( totally bottlfed from birth) a small 6 year old (bottle fed from birth)
And a huge giant tank of a two year old- lovely really ( mixed fed for 2 weeks then bottle fed) not sure my diet had much to do with them!

FreudianSlippery · 07/02/2011 10:00

What's MYTH?

Anyway... Ok so maybe I'm wrong. But both her other DCs are big, just seemed a bit odd that's all.

FreudianSlippery · 07/02/2011 10:07

(and I know that USUALLY the mum's diet doesn't affect the size of the baby - I just figured it might, in extreme cases?)