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I am breastfeeding my 8 month old, and she is also on solids. Along with the rest of the world I decided to lose some weight in January. I have been cutting my calories down to about 1400-1500 a day, and have really stepped up on the exercise.
The problem is that yesterday for her 2 last feedings, my milk didn't let down. She tried and tried, but nothing came. I then fed her solids and tried to pump, but only got 1/2 an ounce. It seems like my supply has gone down dramatically. This morning was fine, but took longer to let down than normal.
Has anyone else experienced this? I am scared that my milk will dry up, and I want to breastfeed for the first year. Today I am eating more calories, and hopefully that does the trick.
A friend suggested that maybe I am pregnant. Eek!
definitely eat more calories, but make sure they're "good" calories (fresh veggies and fruit...lots of protein)...any time you exercise more, you're buring more calories than normal...therefore, if you exercise AND cut calories, you're taking calories away from your body that it normally uses to make breast milk.
i read somewhere that breastfeeding CAN burn up to 500 calories a day.
MAKE SURE YOU'RE DRINKING ENOUGH WATER!!! i drink anywhere from 2 to 3 LITERS of water a day...in addition to that, i usually have a medium glass of chocolate milk at night, and i drink one large cup of coffee in the morning. that's a LOT of liquid. your body needs that liquid to make milk!
if you're worried about your supply, get on amazon.com and order a case of mother's milk tea. start out drinking 4 cups of it a day. it doesn't taste great, but it's not horrible. put honey in it and you'll be fine. also, go to your local vitamin store and buy fenugreek capsules. take 3 pills at least twice a day. if you start to smell like maple syrup after a couple of days, then you're taking enough. after 3-5 days you should see an improvement. also, you should still be taking prenatal vitamins. once you see an improvement in your milk supply from the tea and the fenugreek, you can cut the tea back to 1 or 2 cups a day and you can cut the fenugreek back down to 2 pills twice a day...also, eating oatmeal every day can help boost supply too.
i still breast feed my 14 month old daughter. most of the time i don't feel a let down at all, but she's getting a few ounces b/c it satisfies her and i can see a little bit of milk in her mouth when she lets go.
You're definitely eating too few calories, especially if you are exercising. I was told to eat 300-500 calories over what I ate while PREGNANT. That's 600-1100 calories over maintenance. I'm not exercising much and I'm eating 2000-2100 calories. I'm losing weight and maintaining my milk supply. I really restricted my calories about 6 weeks ago and my milk supply really suffered.
mrskash is right on with her suggestions. I have increased my milk supply by taking 1860 milligrams of Fenugreek three times a day. I had taken it for 10 days with no results so I switched brands. Within 4 hours of taking the first dose of the new brand, my milk supply doubled during my first pumping session. Fenugreek can increase your milk supply by up to 900%. I also eat oatmeal every day for breakfast and drink 160-200 ounces of water A DAY. I haven't tried Mothers Milk but I will consider it if this brand of Fenugreek doesn't work out.
Have you started your menstrual cycle yet? If not, it's possible but unlikely that you are pregnant. If you have recently started menstrating, that may be the cause of your low supply.
More likely than not, the lack of milk is caused by too few calories.
Good luck!
Thanks for the advice ladies. I got so freaked out when this happened that I stopped counting calories altogether, and cut back on the exercise. My milk bounced back in no time, but how do I lose weight if I am not cutting my calories? I gained about 10 lbs over Christmas (have definitely cut calories from then!), and pre-baby this would never have happened. Maybe 5 lbs, but now it seems to come on easier than ever.
I have been drinking the Mother's Milk tea, and I don't know if I really believe it is helping, but I like it, so no harm done.
I think that some people drop weight easily while breastfeeding, while others hold onto a few pounds till they are done. I have heard both stories from other moms. I am so tired of carrying the extra weight. Am off to the doctor this week for her opinion!
i lost all of my baby weight by the time my daughter was 6-8 months old, but i still have 30lb that i gained before i got pregnant due to medication i was on...that's what i'm working on now...
to lose weight, i would suggest counting calories just to be aware of how many you're taking in...and definitely be aware of WHAT you're eating...buy a bag of apples...keep one on your nightstand and one on your end table in the living room...when baby nurses, you need to eat SOMETHING and drink at least 8oz of water for every time you nurse your little one. i heard of one woman who drank 20oz of water every time she nursed her baby.
stay away from processed sugars as much as you can...try to get the majority of your sugars from fresh fruit and veggies. get a bag of baby carrots and snap peas too.
read this: "Studies have shown that most healthy breastfeeding women maintain an abundant milk supply while taking in 1800-2200 (or more) calories per day. Consuming less than 1500-1800 calories per day (most women should stay at the high end of this range) may put your milk supply at risk, as may a sudden drop in caloric intake."
i got that from http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mom-cal ories-fluids.html
if you didn't already know about kellymom.com, it's awesome. as is dr. sears' website. check them both out. you can find answers to just about ANYTHING you'd wanna know about babies and parenting...i think that once your baby limits the breastfeeding to 4 - 6 times a day you can probably cut a few calories, but i wouldn't significantly cut calories before then. breastfeeding DOES burn about 500 calories a day, especially at first. i don't think that number is accurate for me. my daughter only nurses like 5 or 6 times a day.
all in all, i think that if you find some time to do a cardio work out and some crunches every day you'll build muscle now and you'll have better endurance for when you CAN exercise without worrying about your milk supply...i think you could safely cut calories back now (SLIGHTLY) or exercise, but not both.
i wanted to add another suggestion for your milk supply...you could probably get by with 2000 calories a day and moderate exercise and maintain an adequate supply...IF you a) drink plenty of water...get a 1L size bottle and drink at least 4L of water a day. more if you can. soda doesn't count...and b) POWER PUMP. if you don't have a breast pump, get one. power pumping WORKS...i'll use myself as an example:
for the first 6-7 months of her life, my daughter nursed EVERY HOUR that she was awake and 3 times at night. she was up for an average of 13 hours a day...so that's 16 times a day...BUT after she went to bed at 7pm, i'd pump 5-10 minutes, rest for 5-10 minutes, and repeat that for an hour every night. also, first thing in the morning, as soon as she was done nursing (or while she was nursing on one side) i'd pump the side that she didn't nurse from. for a while i would also pump for 5 minutes AFTER every time she nursed (from the opposite side)...by the time i stopped this routine (after 3 or 4 months my freezers were full and it was too time consuming) i was nursing her EVERY HOUR during the day and pumping and freezing 8-12oz each day. that's pretty miraculous.
I find that I don't make enough milk if I'm not drinking at least 60 ounces of water AN HOUR. That's right. I'm peeing like crazy and I have a huge bladder.
Women produce the most milk first thing in the morning. I feed my son right before bed at 7pm then feed him again when he wakes up (5am) from the same breast. When he's finished eating, I pump the non-nursed breast and usually yield 4.5-5 ounces. I then spend 5 minutes pumping the nursed breast in order to build up my supply.
Milk production is all about supply and demand. The more often your breasts are emptied, the more milk your body will make. Investing in a pump is wise, even if you are a stay-at-home mom. Just a manual pump for use after a nursing session will work.
It's also hard to find the balance between eating the right amount of calories and losing weight. I personally have given up on losing more weight until I'm finished breastfeeding. The first week I didn't count calories I lost 4 pounds. I don't think I've lost any since then but I'm also not gaining. I don't eat junk but I do eat when I'm hungry. While it's irritating because I have a friend who is 7 months pregnant and weighs 120 pounds, being able to breastfeed is more important to me than getting back down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I just keep reminding myself that I'll be skinny again eventually and that I'm doing the right thing for my son.
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