Diet or growth spurt

[bluenosesaint]

My dd is now almost 4 months old and is exlusively breastfed. Last week i started on a diet and noticed an almost immediate drop in the amount of milk that i am producing ...or at least thats how it feels.

My question is, is this drop down to the fact that i have started to diet or is it just because we are hitting a growth spurt? Should i drop the diet or continue as i am?

I am significantly overweight (about 4 stone) so really do need to lose weight but obviously don't want to do so at the risk of affecting my milk supply.

I haven't weighed my dd in a while as i know that she is gaining weight well (was following 91st centile from last few times that she has been weighed) and she is certainly thriving, but, she is getting quite stressed throughout feeds as she doesn't seem to be getting her 'fill'. She has also started to feed, or try to feed, a lot more frequently but there doesn't feel like there is anything there for her - she is getting very upset during feeds

It is also making leaving her verrrrrrry difficult, even for an hour (which is sometimes unavoidable) as i don't seem to have any 'spare' milk to express and leave for dh.

I don't want to suppliment but i am struggling to cope just now.

Please help xx

Unless you are on a serious crash diet, I doubt the correlation.
I'm no breastfeeding specialist but if you continue feeding on demand, should sort itself out in a few days.

What sort of diet? Have you dramatically reduced your calorie intake?
Maybe you should just concentrate on better quality calories rather than full blown diet.
Eat slow release complex carbs in the morning (oats with raisins)
Main meals of protein (fish great) and big bowls greens/veg and 1 small bowl of rice/other low GI grain
Avoid refined sugars/fruit and juices and fry ups.
Lots of skim milk/water/herbal teas (fennel tea good for lactation)

That should be enough to help you loose steadily in the long run.Pace yourself and continue your pregnancy vitamins.

Your diet will have no impact on the amount of your milk, BNS.

Your baby's behaviour - more frequent feeds, fussy feeding - could be due to a number of things, but not this....you can call a breastfeeding helpline and talk about it.

Hope it works itself out.

Thank you

xx