Breastfeeding at 17 weeks - dieting.

[Ruthiebaby]

My son will be 17 weeks tomorrow - he is approx 16lb 2oz & entirely breastfed. He takes 8-9 feeds a day (feels like he's constantly draining me!)

Anyway - what I wanted to know was whether it is 'wise' to try to diet at this stage or should I wait until I stop feeding him myself (which will be when he's about 6 months when I go back to work). Thing is, I need to lose some weight for going back to work as I can't fit into my work clothes and I cannot afford to buy a whole new wardrobe.
I know that I need to have approx 500 extra calories a day to produce enough milk for him - but how can I go around losing some weight ?

Can anybody help me ?

Message withdrawn

You don't have to eat 500 extra calories. For many women their metabolism slows down to conserve energy for breastfeeding (dammit!) so you don't need any extra at all. And if you do need extra, it will come from your fat stores -that's what they are there for. I'm also breastfeeding and trying to lose weight. It is perfectly safe to do so.

I could do with losing some as well - it's not baby-related though, I've been overweight forever.

Just thought I'd mention that my HV reckons you need to bf past 6 months to get any real weight loss - no idea if it's true!

Good luck

ruthiebaby, i have just started weightwatchers and you are allowed extra to eat when exclusively bf an under 6month old baby. TH amount I eat is huge and I am never hungry and I am losing loads so look on the weightwatchers website for your local meeting. good luck.