Breast feeding a 3 week old and I'm too ill to eat - what to do?

[electra]

I have a stomach upset and have been very ill - too ill to get out of bed. I'm getting worried about my milk supply. How do I stop it suffering? My baby had problems gaining weight in the beginning and I am worried that now we have turned the corner things will go pear shaped...

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it will take a long time for your supply to start suffering afaik

bumping for more experienced people to come along

It won't significantly affect your supply. Keeping your baby close and allowing him/her to feed as often as they wish will maintain your supply. IIRC any supply changes during gastrointestinal upsets are very mild and temporary and shouldn't affect the baby at all.

Hope you are feeling better soon!

all over the world mums feed babies in less than ideal circumstances - yours will be fine!

But keep washing your hands....

Thanks - I didn't put much weight on in the pregnancy - I'm still only a size 8 - will it still be ok?

Yes, you will be fine. Your milk supply is related to how much your baby takes, not to your size, shape or food intake. That's why demand feeding is so important.

can you feed lying down? that should help you both.

Electra don't worry - I was a size 8/10 pre-pregnancy, didn't struggle at all to lose weight after the birth, now DS is 7 months and my size 8 clothes are baggy and am struggling to put any weight back on. He put on weight fantastically until about 4 months when the HVs started to question the quality of my milk () because I said I didn't always get to eat during the day. I thought his weight was fine - he'd shot up so quickly in the first months he had to slow down some time! Came on MN and everyone was lovely and said that basically your body will make milk even if you are starving - but they were very stern and told me to try and put some weight on for my own sake! Anyway he is now 7 months and back on track, happy, bouncing, slim - not chubby - but then me and DP are both slim as well.

I second the advice about feeding lying down. It will help conserve your energy so you will recover more quickly and because it tends to encourage cluster feeding (I find anyway) it will stimulate your supply, especially through the night.

Thanks everyone I do feed lying down and it does really help. Cherrychoc - I have found that midwives seem to think you need to have put on quite a bit of weight to successfully breastfeed. I feel reassured now...