Breastfeeding and Slimming World

[rosiepeace]

I hope everyone is doing really well here.

I'm not doing too good at the moment - due to Adam not settling on the breast in the evenings he's been moved to bottles then. He's still breastfed during the rest of the day and night though and i'm expressing when he's on the bottle as well but he just doesn't seem happy during the evening unless he's had a bottle. He was on the breast from 5.45 till 8 tonight nearly none stop except for when he dozed off or had a nappy change and when then he was given a bottle and still took 3 oz.
As for sticking to the plan - that's just not working at the moment at all - am just grabbing what I can.
I'm hoping things will settle down soon.

 

[BritMumInCanada]

how old is Adam now Rosie? sounds to me like it might be cluster feeding combined with a growth spurt. It is quite common for them to feed like that in the evening and very normal, what it will be doing is upping your supply to their demand.

this link is good - kellymom.com :: Cluster Feeding and Fussy Evenings

also I just saw on an earlier post from you that you are having other issues with him being fussy inbetween feeds and your health visitor diagnosing reflux.

Does he bring up milk or does she think silent reflux? Have you noticed any improvement since using the gaviscon? If not it might not be reflux at all and might be what is known as oversupply.

especially if you notice any green nappys, which is caused be too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk, which is a common problem with oversupply.

It is something I battled with with my now 4 year old (although I did bf him till 26 months) and I am now also having the same issues with Felicity. I didnt actually work out the oversupply issues with my son though unfortunately and just battled through with it, until my supply settled down and his stomach matured at about 6 months.

With a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, they get too much of the watery foremilk and not enough of the fatty hindmilk, the foremilk goes through there system alot quicker meaning they want to be fed again quite soon after the previous feed. Also too much of the foremilk causes lactose in the gut, which also causes alot of gas and stomach issues, giving them pain and of course the green nappies. Again they want to feed often to soothe their stomach.

If you do think this is what the problem will be, what you need to do is a complete drainage of the breasts (preferably first thing in the morning), pump both breasts until completely soft. Then do block feedings. Try 3 hourly at first. What that means is you only feed from one side in a 3 hour period, don't offer the other side at all. So if they want to feed again in a 3 hour time period then you put them back to the same side, if that makes sense. If you find the 3 hours doesnt make much of a difference to their fussiness, then you can try 4 hours blocks, or 5 hours and so on.

It has worked wonders for me. Felicity is not having so many issues now.

there is more info here http://www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html, or feel free to send me a private message.

 

[ILoveCake]

Britmum is right, all of mine have clusterfed in the evening, it eases at 6 months when they have solids.
If adam's having a growth spurt in 2 days it will settle when your supply has increased.

I have a teething little guzzler here too at the moment, tooth number 3 is poking through.

 

[salski]

how old is Adam now Rosie? sounds to me like it might be cluster feeding combined with a growth spurt. It is quite common for them to feed like that in the evening and very normal, what it will be doing is upping your supply to their demand.

this link is good - kellymom.com :: Cluster Feeding and Fussy Evenings

also I just saw on an earlier post from you that you are having other issues with him being fussy inbetween feeds and your health visitor diagnosing reflux.

Does he bring up milk or does she think silent reflux? Have you noticed any improvement since using the gaviscon? If not it might not be reflux at all and might be what is known as oversupply.

especially if you notice any green nappys, which is caused be too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk, which is a common problem with oversupply.

It is something I battled with with my now 4 year old (although I did bf him till 26 months) and I am now also having the same issues with Felicity. I didnt actually work out the oversupply issues with my son though unfortunately and just battled through with it, until my supply settled down and his stomach matured at about 6 months.

With a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, they get too much of the watery foremilk and not enough of the fatty hindmilk, the foremilk goes through there system alot quicker meaning they want to be fed again quite soon after the previous feed. Also too much of the foremilk causes lactose in the gut, which also causes alot of gas and stomach issues, giving them pain and of course the green nappies. Again they want to feed often to soothe their stomach.

If you do think this is what the problem will be, what you need to do is a complete drainage of the breasts (preferably first thing in the morning), pump both breasts until completely soft. Then do block feedings. Try 3 hourly at first. What that means is you only feed from one side in a 3 hour period, don't offer the other side at all. So if they want to feed again in a 3 hour time period then you put them back to the same side, if that makes sense. If you find the 3 hours doesnt make much of a difference to their fussiness, then you can try 4 hours blocks, or 5 hours and so on.

It has worked wonders for me. Felicity is not having so many issues now.

there is more info here LLLI | Oversupply, or feel free to send me a private message.

Amazing and very interesting! Thank you x

 

[rosiepeace]

Thanks Britmum
He's not having green nappies at all so I don't think it's oversupply of milk at the moment. But thanks for the info on that it's really interesting - I've never heard of oversupply before so it's nice to know and something I can keep an eye on.
He has been bringing up milk after and during a feed which is why the health visitor suspected reflux - there was an improvement with the gaviscon but that seems to be not working as well now - I've been back to the GP who is checking to see if he can have rinatine (spelling probably wrong!) which will help instead - my neice was on it and it's just a drop before a feed as far as I remember which means I will hopefully not have to resort to a bottle with it like we have to with the gaviscon - he was objecting alot to being given gaviscon via syringe so we switched to the bottle which makes things much easier on him.
I'm also trying to get him used to a bottle as his last night feed at the moment so I can get to bed earlier to get more sleep as I'm totally shattered at the mo - Andrew is also getting up in the night as his back teeth seem to be coming through and causing issues so I need the sleep.
Many many thanks for the info though, I think he had a growth spurt 2 weeks ago, am not sure if this is another one on the way as he's been feeding nearly every 2 hours today from 2.30am whereas he was going 3 during the day and 3-4 during the night.

Glad to hear that things are going well with Felicity though

 

[nataby]

Hi,

Just a quick question...do you all eat your extra ha's you get for bf? I feel guilty eating all of mine as I think it is an awful lot on top of what I can already have!

Thanks

 

[nataby]

I meant to put HE's instead of ha's!

 

[Honeyoc]

Nataby I felt the same as you eating all those HEs but I lost 5.5 my first week, STS second week, third week I was away on holiday so gained 1.5 but the next week I lost 4 so that's 8lbs in 4 weeks, not bad! I WI tomorrow morning so we'll see how it goes but so far it seems to be working. I eat all my HEs and 10 syns a day!!

 

[nataby]

Thanks Honeyoc. Well done on your weight loss, I will try to have more faith in the programme. My daughter is 4 and a half months old so I only have just over a month left of all the extra HE's, best make the most of it!!

 

[Honeyoc]

LOL mine is 5 months tomorrow so I only have one more month eating like this!!

 

[Minxymoo]

Don't you get extra for the entire time you breast feed?

 

[ILoveCake]

Not sure minxy. I lowered mine once she was on 3 good sized meals a day as my loss seemed to slow.

 

[BritMumInCanada]

Yeah you still get extra healthy extras for as long as you are bf just not as many when you start weaning and breastmilk is not there only food.

 

[BritMumInCanada]

Well I am finally back to eating sensibly, went a bit mad after felicity was born, had lots of guests week after week and then had to do an elimination diet going dairy free to try and sort out her stomach issues, but finally worked out it was oversupply issues which we have improved on a lot now.

However, I have decided to do weight watchers pro points for a bit as I want the restriction for now with portion control etc and have to say the new pro points is fab although OMG I get SOoooo many daily points breastfeeding.

Once I have got back into a good momentum and kick started my weight loss I will be returning to slimming world and I will also still be around on the boards too of course

Hope you are all doing well. Honeyoc you have been cooking up some lovely meals recently

 

[salski]

Ive been told categorically by my dietitian to stop slimming world. He said its not a long term weight loss plan and I shpuldnt even think of dieting whilst I am breastfeeding....I am still going to pop on, but will be not following the diet myself for a months or so. Sal xx

 

[Cheekypasterfield]

Well I am finally back to eating sensibly, went a bit mad after felicity was born, had lots of guests week after week and then had to do an elimination diet going dairy free to try and sort out her stomach issues, but finally worked out it was oversupply issues which we have improved on a lot now.

However, I have decided to do weight watchers pro points for a bit as I want the restriction for now with portion control etc and have to say the new pro points is fab although OMG I get SOoooo many daily points breastfeeding.

Once I have got back into a good momentum and kick started my weight loss I will be returning to slimming world and I will also still be around on the boards too of course

Hope you are all doing well. Honeyoc you have been cooking up some lovely meals recently

Hi Britmum, I've done the same moving to WW and then come back to SW.

Good luck with the new plan.

 

[Honeyoc]

YAY welcome back Britmum!! WW propoints for breastfeeding is very generous isn't it?! It's a good plan getting your portions back in check. I personally found WW stressful at dinnertime with baby and cooking and weighing, it stressed me out majorly! Now I'm enjoying SW so much that I won't even consider WW lol. Maybe Australian WW core, I love that plan! DH and I are going to Perth and Sydney for a month at Christmas time and I think I may follow it then as it would be easier getting the right brands of breads, cereal, yogurts etc. Hopefully I'll only be a few pounds from target by then eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

I've been enjoying cooking sooo much too! Now that Rosie is a teeny bit bigger (5 months today lol) she just gurgles and amuses herself in her rocker as I cook so I can really go for it. Her naps and sleep time at night are also like clockwork, it really helps with organising my day. It's also been so helpful having a veggie box delivery because it forces me to be creative and decide what to cook based on what we get rather than make a list of meals and then buy what I need. I'm enjoying this style of cooking! I think I finally have grocery shopping down pat, finally! We get all our meat and fish, dry things like rice etc from Costco (they have amazing meat there!), fruit & veggies from the organic veggie box delivery and everything else (like yogurts, cereal bars, milk etc) from Waitrose. DH is very happy with all the yum food too

Gosh I'm rambling again lol, good to see you back Britmum, I've missed you

Salski how can your dietitian say SW is unhealthy for breastfeeding?! What was the reason for him to feel this way? I've had so much more energy since I started and if anything my supply has increased lol, porridge every morning may have something to do with this. My little one is also in the 95th percetile for weight and 80th percentile for height, heh heh, so she's definitely not lacking! It makes sense to listen to what your doctor says though, hope to see you back when you stop BFing!

 

[ILoveCake]

Salski, you should always follow what your doctor advises.xxx My doctor fully supports me being on sw but maybe its more detrimental for me to stay at this bmi? My baby is 9 months old now....nearly 10 months, and she is thriving and I've been following sw since she was 4 months. As a mother you should always trust your instinct. We will be around for when you want to join us again.xxxxx

Honey, I am very jealous of your mystery vege boxes! I tend to get stuck in a rut, I always buy the same old veggies.

 

[TeamD]

Hiya, so pleased to find this thread. I did SW before I got pregnant and gave up while I was pregnant. Now my little lady is 6w old and I need to get back on the plan.
I have my wedding in Oct so I really need to clean up my act.
I hope you all can be my inspirations.

Good luck x

 

[salski]

Thanks guys - I think its more for me mental health rather than anything else. I am at 32.5 for my BMI and I have put 2 stone on since being pregnant. They are basically saying its a healthy weight gain for pregnancy and not to worry about anything until after breastfeeding has finished. The diet doesnt allow for the amount of calcium I need as a gastric bypasser. I should be having much more dairy than what I am allowed. But hey ho - I shall be back! and I will be bobbing on here as hubby is still following
Keep up the good works guys X