>>My question: Could the rapid weight loss be responsible for the baby being
>>fussy and/or sleeping at the breast? I know that dieting while breastfeeding
>>can affect milk volume. Should I be concerned about the weight issue? Or
>>just deal with supply issue?
>>Thanks,
>>Donna LLL leader Alaska

Current literature takes the position that low caloric intake does not
negatively impact milk supply but my 32 years of experience in working with
breastfeeding mothers, especially within the last 10 years of "thin is in"
tells me that rapid weight loss does reduce milk supply.

I have 1-2 mothers a month from my "stylish" part of town whose milk
supplies plummet when they restrict calories and work out excessively at
the gym in order to get back into their size 6 clothes. With a resumtion of
caloric intake they regain their supplies.

If a population has adapted to a limited caloric diet and women conceive
and carry their infants to term, their metabolism is adapted to provide for
their infants. But a population that has a bountiful supply of available
calories and that encourages pregnant women to eat well does not prepare a
mother's body for severe caloric restriction.

I suspect that the researchers who come to different conclusions have not
seen the reduction in calories that I see. I also suspect that studies in a
few years will show what most of us see in our practice--abrupt reduction
in caloric intake reduces milk volume.

Pat Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
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