Hi everyone,

I'm wondering how many of you have done low carbing while breastfeeding, and if you can pass on some tips that work for you?

I feel best eating low carb, so I tried to return to it while nursing my second baby, who is now eleven weeks old. But I started at Atkins induction and within 16 hours she was fussing at the breast and her diapers were lighter. That really freaked me out.

Atkins induction is really low carb, but do any of you have either personal experiences or other information you can pass along about what a good carb range might be for a nursing mom? I have tons of weight to lose - sixty pounds! - so even a carb amount that will allow me to shift weight while nursing would make me happy. I'm not looking for a quick fix, but want to feel healthy again.

Any advice would be welcomed. I want to lose weight but I really don't want to compromise my milk supply. Given how my baby has reacted to Atkins induction, I guess I must be sensative and need to be careful.

I've been low carb since around 6 weeks postpartum (100ish). As long as your healthy fats are up, then I wouldn't even be worried.

I see it like this- we've been eating low carb, higher fat for millions of years and that is almost all exclusively nursing, formula is such a new thing. Our bodies seem to naturally thrive in this manner.

I wouldn't say the fuss was from low carb but probably from overall lower intake. I'm not familiar with Atkins induction - is it high in fats?

Yes it is high in fats....but on Atkins induction, a person is supposed to consume no more than 20 grams of carbs per day. So I am trying to figure out if, as a nursing mom, others are consuming more carbs than this because it seems as if my supply took a hit whilst starting Atkins induction. I consumed 1900 cals +, so I don't think it was the calories.....I thought I was eating lots of fat, but maybe I wasn't eating enough?

I would love to eat lots of fat and protein and continue LC whilst nursing, if there's any possible way to do it.

I think you can eat lower carb while nursing, but not Induction levels. You shouldn't be limiting fruits or vegetables, and I would personally recommend having small amounts of starches like winter squash, sweet potato, rice - as long as they are not a trigger food for you. Basically, you should be looking at more of a low carb maintenance plan at this point, rather than the more extreme Induction version.

Ahhhh I see. Maybe that's why my supply took a hit. I will try maintenance levels and see how my body and baby respond. I really hope this will do the trick for me

Wow, 20g! Yeah I think that's probably going to be too low for nursing an 11 week old (11 months, maybe ok). They just drink so darn much at this age (I'm there too!). I don't have problems at 100g though, which is still lower carb by all means!

Thanks Sacha . I will try out 100g of carbs and see how that goes with my milk supply. That is sooo many more grams of carbs than I was eating on Atkins induction that I can't help but think it might be more manageable while nursing.