Breastfeeding

kimspearey

I have been allowing myself an extra 500 calories per day for breastfeeding but since doing a course run by the world health organisation it seem that actually it’s around 300-400 calories per day that I should be allowing for breastfeeding especially as this isn’t my first baby and my body is already quite adapt at feeding a human productively. How can I make adjustments for thing and what is the best macro ratio for maintaining milk production that is good quality for my baby. I’ve been upping the carbs abut I think I should probably be having a bit more fats and drop the carbs a little bit.

sardelsa

How many weeks postpartum are you? I would start with the higher amount then adjust as necessary. You definitely do not want to go too low. Many woman set their calories to maintenance to account for milk production. Keep an eye on your supply and make sure your weight isn't dropping too fast.

hesn92

I originally set my goal in MFP to gain 1/2 lb a week at first and went with that. (I did not add breastfeeding calories back in, I just figured if I set it to gain 1/2 lb, that would add 250 to maintenance, and then I would burn roughly 500 from breastfeeding) I am not trying to lose weight fast though, I only want to lose about 1/2 lb a week because I am susceptible to milk supply issues since I work full time. It gave me 2450 for example, and I wasn't losing very much after a few weeks and I lowered it to 2350 and things have been going really well for me. So for me it was just trial and error, I don't know for sure how many calories I'm burning by breastfeeding, but I think 500 is a good estimate depending on how old the baby is.

kimspearey

Thanks, I thinknn no I’ll set to maintenance then and see how I go.