Supply drop - is it possible I'm not eating enough?

[Noelani1503]

I'm on day 5 of my first whole30. I've been following the rules, and hopefully the spirit, of the program. I feel amazing. I had a mild headache with some nausea for maybe an hour on day 3, but otherwise have felt no ill effects. I've felt so great, I thought I must be doing something wrong.

But I've noticed a drop in supply for my 10 month old. I worked (15 hrs as a nurse) on day 2, and usually experience a drop the day after I work (I'm guessing due to not drinking and pumping enough). But it always bounces back to my usual slight oversupply. And I have no other drops until I work again. I'm only working twice a month right now. I haven't bounced back since my last shift 3 days ago and I'm starting to get worried. I drink a ton of water, and a cup of two of herbal tea every day. I thought maybe I'm not eating enough but I'm not hungry with the 3 large meals I'm eating. I had a snack of veggies and walnuts the day I worked but haven't wanted a snack any other day. I'm getting 2 servings of fruit and one starchy vegetable a day, and make sure to have half an avocado or half a can of coconut milk with breakfast and lunch, and cook with plenty of ghee, olive oil, or coconut oil. Is it possible I'm not eating enough, even though I'm not hungry and have no cravings? How can I fix this?

[ultrarunnergirl]

Sounds like you are doing well with your water consumption. You might try adding another starchy veggie serving per day, or you may need to add a fourth meal. It is entirely possible that you aren't eating enough, most of us underestimate how much we truly need, especially when eating such nutrient dense foods.

[slesca]

My supply dropped when I did a Whole 30. I couldn't get it back up, as there is only so much water a person can drink and it's hard to avoid the situations where you just can't eat during a Whole 30- parties, work lunches, etc. I think the excess I was eating prior (even though it was a lot of sugar/grains) kept my milk plentiful. I reassure myself that while I have to supplement with formula, perhapst the milk I do have is of better quality?

[Loulabelle]

In Switzerland we are advised to drink fennel tea to boost milk supply naturally. It really does work so could be worth a try if you can find some. 

[Hannlib]

I find fennel tea very useful for my supply.

I'm on my third whole 30 while nursing. My supply hasn't been adversely affected at all. However my nursling was 15mo when I did my first. I've never had a great supply (adequate but not abundant iykwim) and although I wanted to do a whole 30 or even just eat more paleo/primal sooner I didn't feel in a position to start cutting out food groups any time before she was one. I know some women do and it works great but I felt like my supply would have been compromised at that time. If it had been, I would have stopped my whole 30. To me it makes no sense whatsoever to clean up your own diet and then have to feed your infant the most processed food stuff on earth (not bashing, my eldest was formula fed). Just my opinion but I would eat whatever I needed to eat to prioritise my supply.

OP I'd definitely start by eating more (just more of all the good stuff) and yes to the fennel tea - I replaced all tea and coffee with it my first round and I think my supply actually increased.

Also I'm sure you know the basics of supply and demand ie offer more feeds and / or pump more regularly in order to stimulate more milk production and therefore increase supply :-) good luck!