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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

How much does diet effect milk supply?

36 replies

Busyalexsmummy · 16/12/2005 16:12

Just asking as since i had ds2(nearly 3 weeks old) my appetite and thirst have gone right down, Im curious really as many people Ive spoken to in the past said theyve never been so hungry/they eat just as much as they did when pg/they get very thirsty/they didnt lose weight till stopping b/f'ing as they were hungry all the time etc etc.........so how much does diet effect milk supply?

OP posts:
Mincepiedermama · 16/12/2005 16:33

I don't think it has very much, if any, affect at all. After all women in famine torn countries still produce bm for their babies. It's amazing really.

FastasleepInAManger · 16/12/2005 16:36

Apparently the things you eat can affect your supply (could be an old wives tale though!) but yeah I've been on a diet - the diet called two small childrean and husband away on a course, what happened to dinner?? Diet...

And I'm still producing exactly the same amount (I know because I express it all)... I've also been on a diet and have lost 2 and a half stone since the birth of DD (2 months ago) yet am producing 14 litres a week....lucky milkbank!

SO don't worry!

FastasleepInAManger · 16/12/2005 16:36

can't type anymore.. too tired!

morningpaper · 16/12/2005 16:36

I think spidermama is right - I think the effect is more on YOUR body than on the milk - i.e. your body will lose nutrients if you are not eating well because the milk will get the nutrients first. If your thirst has gone down make a conscious effort to drink and make sure your pee isn't brown. It's also harder to get a chance to eat and drink with a newborn so it's not on your mind so much as when you are pregnant and the size of an elephant needing buckets of water a day.

SarahOnTheRock · 16/12/2005 19:16

I have to disagree, I exclusively breastfeed but when I was having a mad week (running around sorting builders etc) I didn't drink as I should and DD became constipated (most unusual for a bf baby i know). The only thing I could put it down to was the fact that I hadn't been drinking enough...

also i wasn't that hungry when i was pg (august baby in Gibraltar dent your appetite) but in the weeks following my appetite has slowly been increasing thankfully not my waistline as I make a consious effort to eat healthily but portion size is off the scale!!!!

hercules · 16/12/2005 19:20

As far as I know you'd have to be malnourished for it to affect your milk supply.

FastasleepInAManger · 16/12/2005 19:33

What really does effect supply IME is stress, which can often be mistaken for lack of food because if you're very stressed and busy you often don't eat/drink enough...

So stay calm!

morningpaper · 16/12/2005 21:44

Fastasleep I totally agree!

milwardmincepies · 16/12/2005 22:09

busyalexsmummy - follow how you feel. Eat & drink as your feel hungry & thirsty. I gained loads of weight whilst preg & don't feel hungry at all now that I'm bf. The weight is just being used up with bf.

tiktok · 17/12/2005 11:10

sarah - you drinking more will have no effect on your baby's pooing....how could it??? Your fluid intake does not affect the water content of your milk. Breastfed babies don't become constipated if they are feeding normally.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 17/12/2005 11:49

I know everything says that your diet doesn't affect your breast milk but I was certain that more "cream" floated to the top of my expressed milk if I'd been pigging out on fatty foods and it certainly dried up when I was ill and not eating for a few days. But yes, women in famine countries still feed their babies so it doesn't add up... wonder if it's more complicated in that it doesn't affect it long-term because your body adjusts but short variations do make a differnece... just thinking aloud!

hercules · 17/12/2005 13:39

How on earth would the fat in your food get into the breast milk like that?????

sazhig · 17/12/2005 13:41

Probably in the same way that the fat in your food affects your blood (cholestrol etc) - milk is a blood product after all.

hercules · 17/12/2005 13:42

Sorry, just dont get it.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 17/12/2005 13:43

Well, the milk doesn't magically appear from nowhere does it? And it assumes flavours from what you eat? Different things you eat can affect your baby? So...?

I'm simply saying what I saw in my own milk.

hercules · 17/12/2005 13:46

foundthis

DinosaurInAManger · 17/12/2005 13:58

I had flu last year when DS3 was still being solely breastfed and although he was feeding from me just as often, he definitely lost weight - my mum commented on it.

hercules · 17/12/2005 13:59

That said every so often dd has a feedathon during the night and it lasts for a couple of nights. Same happened with ds. Just when I think no more god, she goes back to sleeping well.

as it happens once a month or so i've always assumed it to be a hormonal thing.

DoesntChristmasDragOn · 17/12/2005 14:10

Thing is, I know that research shows diet doesn't affect the milk quality but it just doesn't make sense in a logical (and ignorant! ) way when diet affect everything else about your body and when so much else "gets into" breastmilk...

hercules · 17/12/2005 14:11

I read here recently that horseradish acts as a stimulant.

expatinscotland · 17/12/2005 14:13

i'm thirsty, but eating lots of junk food. my weight loss is the same as non-bf'd dd1. no surprise there - my weight never changed much no matter what i do - smoking/not smoking, bf/not bf, etc.

ohKARMAallyefaithfulMOTHER · 17/12/2005 16:22

BAM, snap!! I've got a similar thread going too. My appetite has dwindled which is surprising since my gestational diabetes made me very hungry indeed. I'd rather snack on some toast & a few biscuits which is far from ideal.

Interestingly, I've just watched an episode of BW on DH&H. In it she says that breast milk in the morning is better quality (presumably from a fat content perspective) & evening milk (if you've not eaten well & have been running around with other LOs) is poorer. She advised expressing after a morning feed & giving this in the evening. She had a specific feeding problem & baby wasn't putting on weight which clearly isn't an issue for you.

Original poster
Busyalexsmummy · 17/12/2005 17:15

Hmm, thanks guys! I have been expressing on the mornings when i get a chance and giving it to him about 10pm when he seems most hungry and not satisfied. At the same time though, I dont want to make it worse and end up having to give him a top-up bottle of ebm every night....???

OP posts:
hercules · 17/12/2005 17:16

Personally I would never bother expressing in the morning to give as a top up in the evening. Not sure of the logic there.

suzi2 · 17/12/2005 19:58

hercules - I express in the morning to give a bottle in the evening too. I have often wondered about my own logic and stopped it and then I remember why I do it. You see, DS is a fussy feeder and when he's tired at night I wrestle with him for ages during the feed and I don't think either of us can be bothered! He feeds fast & easy with a bottle.

As for the original question, I have no idea but if I miss a meal, DS always seems to be really windy and unsettled 6-12 hours later. Not sure if it's realted though.

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