Reducing breastfeeding calories
Options
TheJamLady
Posts: 21 Member
For those of you breastfeeding, once baby was eating solids, at what point did you reduce from 500 to 300 breastfeeding calories? How often was baby eating solids & how much of a reduction in nursing before you made this change? At this point A is only eating solids once a day, mid-day & it hasn't really changed her nursing habits.
0
Replies
-
Well if -500 is for nursing a baby 10+ times a day or full time or at least every four hours, then I would reduce this only once baby starts reducing the amount of feeds. If baby was nursing less than every four hours I'd reduce to -300 and if baby was only nursing a few times in 24hrs I'd reduce it to -200. I think once you're down to nursing just once or twice a day I wouldn't count it at all.
Initially while baby is experimenting with food she probably isn't digesting most of it and it takes time for the body to learn how to digest it fully, so keep the -500. Only when food starts to replace nursing do you start to reduce the calories you need.0 -
My LO will be six months old next Saturday, and he eats solids once a day (most days). We're talking 1/2 a pouch of stage 1 foods, so not a whole lot of volume. He still nurses fully afterwards and nurses the same amount for the rest of the day (and through the night), so I have kept my 500 calories. I will reduce based on what kcasey said above because that sounds about right to me. I'd say right now, even with solids once a day, he still nurses 8-9x/day.0
-
I stopped counting bfing calories once my daughter started solids at about 8 months. She still nurses about 5 to 6 times a day, but I don't bother including it in my logging. I make sure to et 1800 or more calories and focus on healthy fats, protein, and lots of water. I am o longer pumping but I doubt 1800 calories has made a dip in my supply.0
-
My baby is 6 months old now and is eating solids twice a day but I haven't reduced yet....some days he seems more into solids than others.....he is still nursing about every 3 hours ....although he is no longer nursing 10 times a day, he consumes a lot more milk during each session than he did before, and he still likes to nurse after eating solids...also he already weighs 22 pounds so I feel like the 500 cals are justified! I'm not sure when to reduce though because I feel like the more he grows, the more he eats....0
-
I hear ya Laurab & RBX. My baby's 6 months too and though she's enjoying solids she always wants to nurse afterwards. She's an efficient nurser, way faster than my older boys were, but she clearly gets a lot each time. I'm going to keep my calories at 500 for a while, since I also notice that my body is still needing those cals for now. It's good to get feedback about what others are noticing at this stage. Thanks for all your great feedback everyone!0
