Too Much Weight Loss/ Breastfeeding 9 Mo

I have some concerns about too much weight loss while breastfeeding:

• My baby girl is 9 months old
• I am 5' 6"
• pre-pregnancy:118 lbs

Now am at my all time lowest of 110. I eat about 1800 calories, and eat whenever I am hungry. I am not exercising at all.

Should I be concerned about the quality of my milk? My daughter is healthy and always happy, but I'm not sure I can stand to loose much more weight. Any others out there with this issue? I feel obnoxious talking to my friends about it, they don't really want to talk to me about being too skinny :)

It takes pretty significant starvation before your milk would be affected. Your calorie intake does seem a little on the low side for a bfing mom; that looks like about what your intake should be without nursing. Nursing requires 200-500 more calories a day. You might look at trying to increase the calorie count of your food, especially healthy fats. Avocado and full fat cheeses are the first things that come to mind.

But unless your health is in significant risk, your body will take care of your baby first and your milk will be fine.

:ita with the PP. Baby will get what she needs. But I think that in your shoes I'd aim for at least 2000 calories a day, probably more. Whole milk yogurt, cheese and crackers, peanut butter, avocados. Yum! And if you're the sort of person who isn't a big eater at mealtimes, spread the snacks out over the course of the day.

I also concur with the previous posters. An additional note is that I read somewhere (it was reliable but I'll be darned if I can remember where!) that a BFing mom should consume a MINIMUM (as in to lose weight) of 1800 calories a day. That may be why you are losing weight. Some additional foods are bananas (both high calorie and high fat), butter (it's delicious on almost anything!), pasta (who doesn't like some pasta salad, which dressing is also high calorie/fat). Eggs are also very healthy for you and baby. Hope those ideas help and I'm very jealous of your issue! Do you want some of my weight? j/k :)

I ended up lighter than my prefered weight when LO was 8-9mo (5'8" and 125lbs, i prefer to be over 130lb). I attributed it to a loss of muscle mass due to my greatly reduced exercise, since most of my clothes were fitting okay and I didn't feel overly tired or ill. If you feel okay I think your milk should be fine.

If you are eating whenever you are hungry, then how do you know how many calories you are eating? I never have any idea about my calorie intake, so I have a really hard time wrapping my head around how people know that number. I would suggest keeping snacks with you at all times. My purse was usually filled with trail mix or fruit with a small jar of PB.

Regarding talking to your friends, if they give you a hard time about being concerned about too much weight loss then they need a firm reminder that it is a health concern for you. It is a major pet peeve of mine, this double standard about weight concerns. Why is it okay to talk about losing weight for health but we tiptoe around gaining weight for health? I had some issues with this when I was an athlete in college and heard plenty of hurtful remarks. "you are so skinny, I hate you", or the crowd pleaser "why don't you eat a sandwich?" And, not to be too negative to krysbe, but when someone says "I wish I had your problem" it makes me want to scream!

Thanks Ladies. I think these are good suggestions. Eating more can sometimes be a struggle, I am used to eating for hunger. Though my appetite is considerable, I am losing about a pound a week. I know my calories because I have periodically monitored it over the last 9 months through MYFitnessPal.com

I totally agree about the double standard, whenever I express concern over my weight health I am met with eye rolls and jealousy. Though I enjoy being thin, I don't like the feeling that I cannot control or stop the weight loss. The butter suggestion made me laugh...I suppose that would be one way to ensure weight gain.

Ultimately the health of my daughter is my biggest concern. I feel great, strong and happy as ever. I'm just so blessed to still be nursing at 9 months :) And happy to hear my milk should be unaffected.

I think some of the double standard is due to the fact that as we have gotten fatter as a society, the image of "normal" as seen in models and actresses has actually gotten thinner--even unhealthily thin. So what you may correctly identify as being too thin, your friends identify as a societal ideal. Our goal, however, should be to encourage health in each other--whether that is gaining, losing, or maintaining weight.

On a side note, you might try adding some exercise in, if you have the time. The time part is my difficulty right now.

Hi,

I agree with PP's. Just wanted to let you know you're not alone. I have the exact same issue..funny..my pre-pregnancy weight was also 118 but now I've been at my all time lowest as well..about 108! Im constantly hungry, so I eat and snack throughout the day. Took me a while to get used to..but now when I have cravings, I indulge..I figure I won't be able to do that for long and why not enjoy it for now. :)