Breastfeeding & TDEE

ashleydumouchel

Breastfeeding mamas, how are you estimating your TDEE? I added 500 calories (eating 1700) to account for what I think baby needs...but can't find a good answer as to what this amount is anywhere.

Do you change how many extra calories you eat based on feelings? I exclusively feed from the breast (he won't drink from a bottle) so I have no way of estimating how much baby actually eats each day.

Thanks!

LKArgh

How much your baby eats does not matter for weight loss purposes. Estimate 300 calories for a young baby, up to 500 for an older baby, assuming you nurse on demand.
The simplest I would suggest is to eat at your maintenance, whatever this is. If you do not account at all for breastfeeding, and do not set a weight loss goal either, then breastfeeding will create the deficit for you and you will not be starving either. If you see you are not losing after a few weeks, then lower by 200 calories or so. If you are losing too fast, increase by 200 calories and see what happens.

emmnwhite59

I'm eating bulk lactation cookies and oats plus drinking bulk oat milk, gatorade and normal milk, while taking proscribed meds to increase my flow. I'm not gaining weight but not losing it either. I was told not to do workouts that have me losing fluids either

victoria_1024

When my baby was young, I added 500 calories a day to account for breastfeeding. Once he turned 6 months and started eating solid food I decreased to 300 calories a day extra. More than likely when he gets closer to 1 I'll decrease it to 200 or so, depending on how often he's nursing at that point. The more they nurse, the more calories you need. But it's all sort of a guess. Try 500 extra a day for 3-4 weeks and see how much you lose. If you aren't losing much, you could drop 100 calories a day. Aim for losing 1 pound a week so you don't lose too quickly. I've managed to lose 62 lbs since my 8 month old was born so it is possible to lose weight while maintaining your supply!!

ashleydumouchel

Thanks everyone!