Nursing & Losing Weight

I had a baby 3 months ago and am now trying to diet & nurse. While I am losing weight, I am now having problems producing enough milk. Anyone in the same boat or have any suggestions?

My wife is in the same boat as you. We are dieting together.

She produces less milk when stressed. I think the inherent nature of a diet includes physical stress, but there are many emotional stresses going on with a new baby too. Is dieting stressful for you?

I've noticed these things actually work (not just from reading about them):

Mother's Milk Tea and Fenugreek both increase your milk supply. Mother's Milk has Fenugreek in it plus other things, but sometimes you get sick of drinking the tea.

Drink way more water than you think you need.

A beer (especially bottle-carbonated, has yeast in it) or a glass of wine really helps her and a lot of people. Our midwife suggested this (but we've noticed it independently).

I too am still nursing, although my little one is nearly 20 months and she's not nursing for nutrition the same way yours is.  This is the second baby I've nursed into toddlerhood. 

My best suggestion is to pay very close attention to the amount of milk you need to produce right now to meet the baby's needs.  I can't remember off the top of my head anymore what those needs are for a three month old, but most of the baby sites and "What to Expect.." books lay it out for you.  It's very difficult to cut calories while you're nursing and still nurse successfully.  Your body will give to the milk machine first and then burn off what you can spare.  As I recall, nursing moms need an additional  300-500 calories a day in order to adequately meet milk supply.  If you cut that 300-500 calories from say, an 1800 calorie diet you will impact milk supply AND your body will hold on even harder to its fat stores because it needs the fat to make the milk.  My best suggestions would be these:

1. Drink a TON of water everyday. I'm sure already doing it because you can't help but to.  I got so thirsty for the first 6 months and it was because so much of the water was going to the nursing. 

 2. Eat really well. You will lose weight on 1800 or 2000 calories a day (or whatever is ideal for your weight) while you nurse if you eat very nutritiously.  Don't worry so much about low carb or low fat right now. Just eat really healthfully.  It will help you make more milk for the baby and your body will make better use of the fuel you're giving it.   If your body doesn't think it's being starved for fuel it will work more efficiently.

3. Concentrate on exercise as the primary form weight loss and body re-shpaing right now.  Firm up those muscles that were underused or completely stretched out during pregnancy.  Getting fit again will do a lot to help your self image and it will help get those areas you're not happy with starting to look good again.  The numbers on the scale may not change too much, but your clothes may fit better and you'll feel better.  Don't go too overboard though, unless you add a few more calories in to make up for it.  Burning a ton of calories can have much the same effect as cutting too many calories in terms of not giving your body enough fuel to sustain nursing.

 As mentioned above, nursing "super foods" will also help increase milk supply over time.  Fenugreek and Mother's Tea are both good options, but after a while on the fenugreek I couldn't stand the smell of myself.  Beer is a good option too.  The darker the better.  A can of lite beer won't be nearly as effective as, say, Guinness.  I can't stand Guinness, but a 1/3 cup or so a day for a week and I increased my milk pretty drastically.  Oatmeal and eggs were good nursing "super foods" for me too.  And again, plenty of water.  Especially if you're exercising.  You need to meet your own hydration needs plus milk production on top of that.

The last thing to keep in mind is that your baby may be hitting a growth spurt.  Which means more nursing for you to keep up with the demand.  The more milk you tell your body to make by nursing a lot, the more it will produce.  Just make sure you're giving it the calories and fluids it needs to do that successfully.  Those extra calories you have to consume to make that happen won't go to fat on you, they'll go to fat on the baby! ;)

 Good luck!  I love nursing my babies, even though it means a slightly chubbier me for a little bit longer!

 

I know how you feel about trying to lose weight right after you had the baby because you want to get back to normal size and fit into your pre-pregnancy clothes right away, but if you want to nurse long term, you shouldn't cut calories too much right now, you should still eat sensibly and exercise moderately. If you can wait till at least your baby is 6 months to fully establish your milk supply, then you can diet, exercise and you will lose weight. I didn't diet until my son turned six months (2 months ago) and I started dieting on 1700 very healthy calories a day and I started losing weight fast but my milk supply was not affected. Don't worry about your weight right now, when you stop nursing eventually, that weight will fall right off plus you will have a healthier baby and the satisfaction knowing that you contributed big time to the overall health of your baby, you can only nurse right now, once you stop that's it, but you can diet anytime.

    My baby just turned 7 weeks today and i have been on a caloric intake of 1500-1600 so far all has been well. i love`nursing him but i have really been wantin to take off the extra weight. i am so far ok w/ milk production- how many cals have u been eating?? After going to another site and talkin w/ others i would add 300 cals for nursing rather then 500- although if your body isnt satisfied u will know u are burning more then that. i agree that rather then eliminating to many cals make sure to excersize instead. i would be interested to hear how u do so maybe we can buddy up too!

I did Weight Watchers after I had my second child--started when she was 6 months old. I had been advised that waiting until then was better for both me and the baby--and frankly, I wasn't really ready to start trying to lose before then. That being said, I had great success. I felt like I always had a lot of points, and it was easy to make healthy, yet high-protein choices and remain within my points allowance. And the weight just fell off!

Ideas for improving milk supply:

Make oatmeal a staple--it's a great breakfast and fills you up, and stimulates milk supply

Eat lots of protein--lean, of course

Drink lots of water--I aimed for 100 oz a day

Get plenty of sleep (hard to do with a young baby, I know, but it's key)

There's an herb called fenugreek that you can take (available at most drug stores and health food stores). I took 3 capsules twice a day. It made me smell like maple syrup, but it worked. There are other herbs/teas (Mother's Milk Tea, for one) that can help with this. Ask your pediatrician or better, a lactation consultant.

Check baby's latch--even babies who are "pros" at nursing at the breast can develop lazy latch habits that impede effective sucking--with less stimulation, the breast produces less milk. And even if the baby is feeding well, a weekend where it's just you and the baby in bed, with the baby nursing frequently, will help boost supply.

Also, don't hesitate to contact your local La Leche representative. The ones who helped me through some rough patches were very nice and extremely helpful (not weird or preachy or any of the other bad raps this organization has somehow gotten).

Good luck! Nursing my babies was one of the most fulfilling things I've ever done.

does that herb fenugreek make the milk taste diff and do u have to take that much - if i were to take it just so my milk doesnt slow down??

Original Post by shauna_182:

does that herb fenugreek make the milk taste diff and do u have to take that much - if i were to take it just so my milk doesnt slow down??

I imagine it must, but my babies never seemed to have an issue with it. I'm not sure you would need to take it if you're not having production issues--I would ask a lactation consultant. But it works really fast--I think it was within a day or two that I saw a big jump in the amount I was able to pump (and remember, a baby is a much more efficient milk extracter than a machine!).

 

Thanks for the info!