Is my diet to blame ?

[rascal1979]

I have had a few stressful months culminating in a very stressful couple of weeks.

As a result for the past couple of weeks I've not been eating anywhere near normal, forgetting to have an evening meal etc and I've lost about half a stone in this time. I'm trying hard to eat well now tho.

Yesterday when Babyrascal was weighed she had lost 1oz she has never lost before apart from one episode on SCBU. Previous week she had put on only 7oz in 3 weeks. She usually puts on between 4 and 8oz a week.

Some have said it could just be because she is doingmore now and burningoff calories but it was mentioned that it could be because I'm not eating well. Is this true?

bump

Howold?
Are you breastfeeding?

Hi Rascal
Sorry to hear that you've been so stressed recently. I hope things calm down soon.

You haven't mentioned how old Babyrascal is.
That makes a big difference, as when babies start to crawl/walk, their weight gain slows considerably due to the extra calorie output.

Your diet will have some influence on your baby's weight gain through your milk. (I noticed that many of my friends who ate a lot of fried food had 'chunkier' babies than those who ate less.)
However, you body does regulate the quality of your milk and will do its best to provide good nutritious milk even if your dietry intake is not the best.

It's most possible that it's a combination of both factors...

Ruth, helpful advice but not true that fried foodmakesbaby'schunky.

Your diet doesn't influence the milk like that RuthChan

Rascal, DD was prem wasn't she? So her adjusted age is probably around 6 months now? Have you started weaning? Sometimes weaning can make weight loss go down.

Speak to your HV, sometimes babies go through a period of increased weight gain only to slow down to kind of catch down iyswim.

It may even be that she hasn't lost weight , just not gained, but was weighed at a different time of day, on different scales, before/after a nappy change/feed etc.

These factors coupled with extra activity could mean it's absolutely fine.

Have you spoken to the HV?

DD is almost 8mths (6mths corrected)
She has started rolling over, almost sitting, weaning and more awake in the day over the past few weeks

Just feel so guilty thta my eating habits may be making her loose weight/not put as much on etc

Sorry - yes I am BFing - exlusively up until just over a week ago when we started BLW.

BabyRascal was 9wk prem in Dec 07 so is around 5 months corrected.

Current breast fed baby had a 5 week period of gaining just 9 ozs but in that time frame had mastered rolling both ways and floor wriggling and now is back to good weight gains even tho is never still.

Unless you're actually starving, it's unlikely to affect your milk supply. Please don't feel guilty.

I think it's got more to do with her greater activity level.

If she wasn't getting enough to eat, she'd be fractious and annoyed.

1oz isn't much at all, it could just be down to whether she had a good poo just before being weighed.

I'm assuming we x-poted.
Seems pretty normal to me for a more active baby that has started weaning to not gain so much.
Speak to the HV.
It's almost definitely not your milk, especially if it's been fine up until now.
If you're worried and want her to continue to gain just squeeze in an extra breastfeed.

Well done for breastfeeding exclusively for so long! You have NOTHING to feel bad about. She's getting the best!

I agree you've got nothing to worry about and it's probably just that she's more active now. Just wanted to say that I have similar worries though. Actually, DD's weight has been pretty steady but I've had an awful lot of stress and have lost loads of weight (thinner now than pre-pregnancy...and I didn't have that much to lose anyway) and worry about how that affects what DD is getting through the breastmilk.

Anyway, as I say, my DD's weight is steady in spite of my awful diet and weight loss etc so I'm sure your DD's weight loss isn't anything to do with your diet either.

I hope things start looking up for you soon

Oh, and try to eat better for yourself. Even if your DD is getting everything she needs, you won't be.