I wanted to see if anybody else had any experience with low carbing and breastfeeding. I waited to start going low carb until my daughter turned a year old since now breastmilk isn't her main foodsource, so if my supply goes down or changes at all, it's not a huge deal. So far she hasn't complained but I don't think I'm in ketosis yet, so we'll have to see how it goes.

I'm not now, but I did breastfeed for years while low carbing. I started when my youngest was about six months, and kept going until she weaned at four years old.

One great advantage of nursing a toddler was that you could ask her about things like the taste and amount of milk. She assured me there was always lots and it tasted "like warm ice-cream". This was when I was on around 20g of carbs a day, and exercising hard.

I've since spoken to internationally recognised experts on breastfeeding and was assured that the mother's diet has almost no bearing on the quantity of milk. Only a severe famine will reduce the volume, and even then, not by much. And ketones do not pass into breastmilk.

Im no internationally recognized expert, but I can tell you My supply went right in the trash when I even THOUGHT about reducing carbs. I felt like I was attached either to my DD or the pump 24/7. I know a lot of others that had the same experience.

I think it just depends on you! you may be one of the lucky ones.

My daughter is absolutely thriving on formula, tho, since 5.5 months. check her out!

hey, how do I post photos here?

willits

darwins playground

[IMG]Evie1[/IMG]

lets see if this works............

I lowcarbed while breastfeeding and it went fine for me.

With my second baby, I wasn't low carbing while breastfeeding, but I absolutely was NOT hungry EVER. The only thing I wanted was a sandwich baggie of cheerios once a day. It was SO WEIRD!

Anyway, it didn't make no never mind to the baby and he ended up sucking off ten extra pounds.... 'course, I ended up porking THAT back on after he weaned since my appetite came back with a vengence. Whatever!

Anyway, bottom line, for me, low carbing during nursing worked just fine. Just remember to get all your water... the body can't make that, but it can certainly drain YOU of all YOUR nutrients for breastmilk!

Happy nursing!

Julia

I'm still breastfeeding--he's 10 months old now, and still gets about 80% of his nutrition from me. Right now I'm carb cycling, high carbs (175g) on my 3 weight training days, and low carbs (60g) on the other 4 days. Never had a problem with milk supply, though I am careful to keep my calories not too low, and my protein high.

I think the biggest reason some low carbers have a drop in milk supply is that they unknowingly let their calories drop too low. Tracking your food intake here on MyPLAN or on FitDay is a good way to keep track of that.

i'm also breastfeeding my 2 month old son. i just got back on low carb last week. i chose the paleo diet since it incorporates some fruit carbs which i hope will maintain my milk supply. i've heard of other low carbing moms losing their milk supply cuz of the diet. i wonder if it's due to low carb or low calorie? i'm trying to not go too low with either. so far ds doesn't seem to mind.
unfotunately, breastfeeding in itself hasn't provided any weight loss for me. anyone else have this problem? i'm hoping that low-carbing while breastfeeding will help get this weight off. but i've also heard that some moms don't lose weight until they stop nursing. any thoughts?

I've found the same...I can lose fat while breastfeeding, but it's such a slow process it seems like I'm barely moving, And this is with just being mindful of what I eat. When I seriously buckle down and track calories and exercise, I can lose a bit faster, but still not like when I'm not nursing at all.

I have a theory that some of us breastfeeding mom's have a more "efficient" metabolism...that our bodies slow down faster than other's to conserve resources to make milk.

However, a big plus with nursing is that the fat I (we) lose is coming mostly from the hips and thighs, which are women's "stubborn fat" areas--very hard to mobilize this fat if you're not nursing, so it'll be an advantage in the long run.

speaking of appitite, I didn't have much of one when I was preggo but once I gave birth and started breastfeeding I became a bottomless pit. It may have been the breastfeeding or it may have been stress, or maybe both, but even now I am still hungry a lot more than I was last time I low carbed.






























































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sorry about the last post, my dear daughter go a hold of the keyboard and I though I got rid of all of her "work" but apparently didn't.

Hahaha! My 10mo does that to me ALL the time.

Hello all.
I am also LC'ing and breastfeeding my four month old. I have been in ketosis for about 3 days now (4 days cheat free on induction so far!) and I have not noticed a drop in supply and I can still pump about 3-5 ounces total each night (trying to get a supply of milk stored for when I start teaching in a couple of weeks). I try to get lots of protein and fat in each day for enough calories as well as plenty of legal vegetables.

I'll keep everyone posted if my supply changes. I have also been taking Feungreek (when I remember anyway)--a couple of 500 mg capsules a day. I was on Kellymom tonight though and saw that they recommend 3500 mg to get the benefit of Feungreek per day! That is 7-12 capsules per day according to the site! Yikes! Has anyone taken it and how many capsules do you take?

Prior to returning on induction this past week (after quite a few starts and cheats I must admit), I was trying to "lower carb" (40-75 carbs per day), but was not losing at all and was struggling with massive cravings....hopefully I will be one of those women that can lose while nursing! I'll keep you all posted...
Take care...

Busymommie, I never tried Fenugreek, but the mods over at KellyMom are pretty strict about allowing false info to be posted, so if they suggest that much, then it's most likely correct. Wouldn't hurt to e-research it more, though, before you try.

It took me a few weeks of low carbing before my cravings went away completely. It's also harder when you're still in peak milk production--your body wants you to EAT EAT EAT, lol. Hang in there!

I took about 8 fenugreeks a day and it helped me.

I'm so sorry I didn't read this post a month ago!! I quit nursing my 5 month old because I was told that I couldn't lc and nurse, that ketones would pass into my breast milk and my supply would diminish. I wanted to continue nursing, but I was so hungry all the time and having a really difficult time loosing weight with a low fat (2000 cal/day) diet, and I just really wanted to loose the weight. I had a really hard time weaning b/c I didn't really want to... Enjoy that special time of nursing while you have it!