What should I be eating when bf?

[Cheekychops84]

my DD is 3 weeks 2moro. Should I b eating anything in particular or extra whilst EBF ? I want to start loosing weight obv as can't afford to buy a whole new wardrobe :( but dnt want to eat too much if it's not needed?

I would advise against dieting so soon. You Need a healthy balanced diet and cake

I found I needed the extra calories as it is exhausting.

DD is now 7 months old and I'm still BF and I am now 2.5 lighter than when I was pregnant and half a stone lighter than when I got pregnant.

You'll lose the weight in time - there's no rush for now as you need to keep your reserves up.

And make sure you take in plenty of fluids - a pint of water or squash every time you feed your baby.

I think the advice is 2500 calories for breast-feeding women and obviously you should try to make this healthy calories as much as you can. Mind you, when DD was 3wks, I often survived solely on toast throughout the day as it was the quickest thing I could make! Had a few omelettes too, and soup is always good. I have found that BF seems to have ensured speedier weight loss for me, DD is now 20wks and I am back to pre-pregnancy weight, mind you I do also have a 3.5yo DS who runs me ragged [gritted teeth ]

Oh and yes, cake is important in the mid-afternoon. It is often the only thing that enables me to make it through the day!

Just eat what you want/to hunger when BFing. You don't need to eat anything special or avoid anything.

You can diet when breastfeeding, providing it's a 'sensible' type of diet and not Cambridge or anything. You can do both Slimming World and Weight Watchers whilst breastfeeding.

My HV constantly bangs on that how much/what you eat and drink (bar alcohol obviously) has no impact on the amount/quality of your breast milk so I guess in that sense it doesn't matter what you eat. I'm constantly starving when breast-feeding unfortunately. Don't stress about losing weight at this stage. I've heard that if you actively try to lose weight when breast-feeding you should only aim to lose 1lb a week - not sure if that's true or not. I guess just eat what you fancy in moderation.

I'd certainly hold off a little while. 3 weeks post partum isnt the time to be worrying about losing weight (9 months to put on, 9 months to come off, remember).

If after a while you're still wanting to lose weight (as PP said, you may find it comes off by itself) I've heard good things about both Weight Watchers and Slimming World's BF-friendly plans. You're allowed loads more 'points' if b'feeding!

Well my experience was that if I didn't eat enough protein or drink LOADS of water- like pints- I didn't produce as much milk. i didn;t work that out for 5 weeks. Once I had it sussed we were off and running. DS2 never lost any weight, after birth, and piled the weigh on ...then again my Veggie SIL tells me she didnt eat or drink anything different to normal and she was oveflowing. She BF her two for YEARS.

Look at all advice you get and go with what works for you.

Cake The same things you normally eat are fine. Even alcohol and caffeine in moderation.

Your baby is 3 weeks old! Cut yourself some slack, no one loses baby weight that quickly- it takes months! It's hard to get used to your post-pregnancy body but things do start getting better gradually. You may not be exactly the same as pre-baby but you won't always look like you do now. Pregnancy is tough on the body and it takes a while to recover.

Most experts recommend waiting a couple of months before trying to lose weight. There's some info here about weightloss and breastfeeding.

There was a thread a while back where a few people said they combated cravings for sweet things by eating a handful of nuts.

If you are eating fruit and veg and drinking plenty, you'll be fine. Just have whatever else you want.

Most if all, enjoy your time with your baby

The only thing I would recommend you do consciously, is make sure you have enough calcium in your diet. You need more than a normal person would at this point. Other than that, just eat well. I never consciously went on a diet, for the first few months I 'ate through the tiredness' read cake on demand then I just cut out the cake and ate as much normal food as I wanted, and the weight fell off. I was really thin at 6 months postpartum.

Cake! Lots of energy for you :-)

I found when I was bf I fancied cake a lot, I've never really been that into it before or after. I think my body was telling me what it needed so I ate it. As long as you are getting a normal balanced diet you will be fine.

I didn't lose substantial weight until I stopped bf, then it fell off alarming fast. Other people lose it while bf. I just wore leggings and tunics (that were in fashion at the time!) so they shrunk with me.

Last time I ate lots of cake etc and whilst I had no problem losing the weight (slowly though, not in a matter of weeks), I did start feeling quite run down after ten months or so.

So this time I am going to make more of a conscious effort to eat healthily, because I do think bfing can take it out of you in the long term.

Oh, and make sure you drink lots and lots of water!

Thanks girls, I am drinking as much as I Can remember.

Well, the MW who helped be to get BFing established told DH I had to have hot chocolate and biscuits made for me when I wanted it! His face was a picture.

me, not be

The trick is to remember to cut out the extra cake and chocolate once you stop breast feeding

just drink what you need so you're not thirsty, don't worry about the amount. the poster somewhere above's HV was right that how much you eat and drink doesn't affect milk production.

just eat to keep yourself healthy. also cake.

i did lose all my weight plus a stone by the time my first baby was one. i think it might be harder this time as i am eating better.

i also need to remember to reduce cake consumption as DS2 feeds less, I'd started to put it back on by the time i was pg again.

Thank you I will jus eat normally ! I do crave chocolate a lot tho? Which is funny as I really didn't want it when I was pregnant lol

Thats exactly how I was with cake, couldn't eat ANYTHING sweet when pregnant, not even tomato soup then all of sudden I wanted cake. There must something in chocolate that your body needs, so eat it :-) (Just not a family sized bar every day)