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Infant feeding

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

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:
tiktok · 18/12/2005 14:19

Karma, Baby Whisperer does not know jack about breastfeeding, truly. I can't begin to tell you the screeds of misinfornation in her books and on her TV programmes - and this is another example. I am not getting at you but at Discovery Health who should not be continuing to broadcast this stuff...so excuse the slight tone of exasperation

Milk does not differ in quality (whatever this means - but lets say it means 'fat content' as you suggest) according to whether the mother is rested at that particular moment or not. There is no physiological mechanism for this to happen. Fat in the milk is affected by the amount of milk in the breast - see the link to the kellymom page which outlines this quite well.

You could rush around, do Xmas shopping, swim a few lengths of the swimming pool, run round the block, collect toddler from nursery - and your milk would still remain perfectly ok, with fat in it related to the amount of milk in your breast.

Ditto stress. Stress does not affect the ingredients of the milk or the amount of milk. It might affect let down, temporarily.
Nature is not stupid. Nature protects the infant, and his food supply, and does not let the milk or its supply become affected by stress, dodgy diet, long gaps between meals, lack of sleep, extra physical activity.

We know this, not just from common sense, but also from the scientific literature that looks at lactation.

JiminyCricket · 18/12/2005 14:45

I asked this question a while ago and was pointed towards the excellent kellymom.com breastfeeding information site. From memory it says that your supply CAN be affected if 1. you diet in the first six weeks, 2. you cut down to below 1500 cals per day or 3. you cut down very suddenly. 1 and 3 applied to my situation and increasing my food intake solved my supply issues. Of course this doesn't mean it will affect YOUR supply, so I would wait and see if it seems to be causing you any problems.

ohKARMAallyefaithfulMOTHER · 18/12/2005 21:44

Thank you so much Tiktok. I've read your posts about fat content in milk & have also looked at the kellymom website too. Your advice has answered a query I've had for many years. Nine years ago whilst I was BFing my ds I had severe IBS which resulted in weight loss +++. Despite not many calories staying in my system, my ds got fatter everyday! As he fed 2hrly I always thought I'd been giving him skimmed milk, in effect. Now I know this probably wasn't the case at all.

Sorry for the hijack, BAM.

blueshoes · 19/12/2005 13:28

When my (bfed) dd was not gaining weight fast enough, my HV insisted I positively pig out on cream cakes and pies to improve the fatty quality of my milk. I never believed it. TikTok, I have you to thank for putting that to rest . (btw, don't go for that baby whisperer as well, but that is another story )

tiktok · 19/12/2005 15:24

blue - are you in touch with your HV and can you tell her where she went wrong?

I don't blame HVs for not being trained. But they fill in the gaps in their training by passing on myths, in a way they would not (I hope) do with any other topic.

blueshoes · 19/12/2005 17:23

Unfortunately, HV has since changed her vocation. But she was helpful on the whole. It is just that there somehow seems to be so many myths around bf-ing, in particular, which is sad A site like kellymom would have helped immensely. I think it is sometimes counterproductive for health professionals to advise on bf-ing (esp extended) unless they have done it themselves.

ebbie22 · 14/01/2006 22:33

Hiya,just wondered if anyone could shed some light for me pls...ds is 4 wks old,solely breast fed,but he last 3 nights,wont/cant settle between 11 and 2,last night it was 4am,real high pitched crying,constantly wants to suckle on boob,but keeps unlatching himself....
He doesnt poo for up to 3 days,so far,and is VERY windy to say the least....
Am starting to feel that my milk alone isnt enough for him at night yet he weighed 9lbs 14 on weds and was 8lb 5.5 ozs at birth so surly that cant be problem...any answers would be gratly recieved...t.i.a xx

ebbie22 · 14/01/2006 22:34

sorry,meant to start a new thread.....

suzi2 · 14/01/2006 23:11

I think not drinking enough water affects mine. Or at least affects my let down.

Karmamother · 16/01/2006 13:30

ebbie, this sounds like my dd. She did this for ages and through a process of elimination I felt she had "stockpiled" some wind which was now in her intestines & couldn't be shifted until she farted. Also, she was very tired...over-tired in fact. I now understand her personality & realise that she is very nosey & will stay awake till the bitter end. Once she got to this stage, it was near impossible to calm her let alone get her to sleep. We ended up with 3hrs of rocking & walking which was the undoing of us. Its now hard to get her to sleep without it. Anyway. what I do now is watch for early signs of tiredness...yawning & burying her face into my chest, than try & get her to sleep then. Hth.

Karmamother · 16/01/2006 13:37

meant to say, the unlatching thing...when dd does this I think she wants to suckle but her wind pain makes it difficult so she pulls off. She normally has a good burp. Also, when she is overtired & screaming, again she wants to suckle but she's too far gone,IYSWIM, to relax & feed properly. Sometimes, I rest her on a pillow & feed her rugby ball style instead of holding her in my arm, which is probably as tense as she is!

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