[angel_rose105]

I have a 7 week old son, and am breastfeeding exclusively. I was wondering if losing weight was healthy and safe for the baby? My Dr says that if I stick to the healthy food pyramid and aren't hungry, then it's fine. But I've noticed that he doesn't seem to be getting enough milk. I drink alot of water, and there's always milk there for him to drink, but maybe it doesn't have enough calories in it? I'm losing up to 5 lbs a week just by switching to healthy foods, I'm having as much as I want and aren't getting hungry. Is this a problem for my son? He's right on track with his weight, as I just had his 6 week appointment, and the Dr says he's really healthy. But I was wanting to know if he was feeding all the time because he wasn't getting enough calories because I wasn't eating more? He feeds every 1-2 or 3 hours during the day and 1-3 hours at night. Mainly the lower end of the scales... On the days where I slip up and consume foods that have a high density of calories and alot of them, he sleeps longer? Last night however, I got 7 hours sleep, which the most I've had since he was born!!! Usually I don't get more than 4 or 5 and most nights it's 2-3 hours. I think I only got a good sleep because he'd been feeding ALL day.... and I MEAN ALL DAY, and wasn't associated with a slip-up as I haven't slipped up all week. Does anyone else have any similar experiences?

[GreatBigMonsterMomma]

It's a growth spurt, most likely. If memory serves, there tends to be one right around six weeks. And nursing every hour during a growth spurt isn't at all unusual, nor is nursing every two or three hours outside of that. Breastmilk is like ultimate baby food, which means among other things that it is utilized by the baby's body very efficiently. And that does mean the baby is going to eat fairly frequently. I don't think either of my girls slowed down in the slightest til three or four months, and then only a little, as in every three or four hours instead of every two.

You might want to try to make sure he's getting your hindmilk, which is fattier than the milk he gets initially. You may well have a lot of milk, and he might be filling up on the foremilk, which isn't as satiating. You'd need to talk to a lactation consultant about that to be positive, but I have had occasional problems with that in the past. You can try expressing a little milk before you nurse him, or knead your breast while he's eating to encourage let-down (which you might or might not feel; I did with my first daughter but rarely with my second), which is a signal that he's getting the hindmilk.

But really, if he's gaining weight properly, you don't have any problems. Keep in mind too that what you eat does flavor your milk somewhat, & he might just really like the flavor of some of what you're eating.

As for the sleep issue--thought about co-sleeping? It took me & the girls a couple of months to get into the hang of it, but it got to where they could latch on & nurse without waking me up fully. Makes for a much more well-rested Momma. If nothing else (and 'scuse me if you're already doing it, I'm just throwing stuff out there), make sure he's within arm's reach of you in bed, so you're not having to get up and get him and nurse him and then go back to bed and try to sleep. He will eventually start sleeping longer & longer stretches, but unfortunately three or four hours at a time is pretty much par for the course in the earliest days.

[almostheaven]

Yup...what ^she^ said.

And breastfeeding is actually supposed to help with weightloss.

[HoosierHeather]

I think it's completely safe to lose weight while breastfeeding, so long as it's not sudden or drastic. A few weeks postpartum I decided to start paying attention to what I was eating and "diet" and even though I thought it was healthy & sensible, I lost a lot that week and noticed a great decrease in my milk production (I was solely pumping so I did actually see the difference in what came out). Just remember that you put it on slowly & it's healthiest for it to come off that way too.

[She-Mullett]

I agree with what everyone else said. Just lose slow and steady and be good to your body. If you go too fast, your milk supply could drop. Also, I agree that it sounds like a growth spurt. I swear, my babe had one every other week! It gets better. She sleeps through the night and nurses for 5 minutes every couple of hours now. Hang in there, motherhood is not for wimps! Not saying you are a wimp, but that is one of my favorite sayings that I've heard!

Good luck on the weight loss, but remember to be good to yourself. You need a lot of rest as a new mommy and as a breastfeeding mommy. Don't go too restrictive on calories and fat and don't work out too much.