Breastfeeding Calories?
Options
tallulahalice
Posts: 19 Member
Hi all, wondering if anyone has advice on how many calories you should follow while breastfeeding.
According to MFP my normal daily intake for maintenance should be 1700, and for weight loss 1200.
Most info online that I've researched says 1800 to 2000 calories per day for breastfeeding women.
My nutritionist recently (knowing that I am breastfeeding) gave me a diet plan for 1400 calories per day, which worked a treat for my body but I ended up with a hungry cranky baby who I'm now trying to get off the bottle and back to the breast.
I've now gone back to eating anything/everything, not ideal! Just wondering if anyone had any experiences/info they could share.
Thanks in advance
According to MFP my normal daily intake for maintenance should be 1700, and for weight loss 1200.
Most info online that I've researched says 1800 to 2000 calories per day for breastfeeding women.
My nutritionist recently (knowing that I am breastfeeding) gave me a diet plan for 1400 calories per day, which worked a treat for my body but I ended up with a hungry cranky baby who I'm now trying to get off the bottle and back to the breast.
I've now gone back to eating anything/everything, not ideal! Just wondering if anyone had any experiences/info they could share.
Thanks in advance
0
Replies
-
From what I've read you shouldn't eat less than 1800 while breastfeeding. If you're bf exclusively, you need about 500 calories a day just for that (for a young baby, less when they're on solids).
So if you're eating 1440 for you, then add 500!
If that's you in your profile pic, I'm not sure why you need to restrict so much anyway!
My baby is due in 11 weeks. I plan on aiming for about 2000 calories a day as I'll still be active as I have 2 other children, and I plan on going back to the gym after about 8 weeks. I struggled with bf my other two, and I don't want to mess it up this time!0 -
From what I've read you shouldn't eat less than 1800 while breastfeeding. If you're bf exclusively, you need about 500 calories a day just for that (for a young baby, less when they're on solids).
So if you're eating 1440 for you, then add 500!
If that's you in your profile pic, I'm not sure why you need to restrict so much anyway!
^^This^^
It may take some time for your milk supply to increase, but keep going with it. Just spend time letting baby suckle as this will stimulate your milk production. Alternatively, some use a breast pump either after baby has fed or between feeds to help stimulate milk production.
There's also two groups you may find useful - 'Breastfeeding Support' and 'Post Partum Pack'.0 -
The extra 500 number actually builds in a small deficit.. Avg calories burned from exclusively bfing are 670/day. So the 1800 to 2000 number would give you a deficit, and should give you enough nutrition to feed both of you. If low cal has damaged your supply, it may be worthwhile to eat at maintenance while you reestablish it.
Eta, link because why not.
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.nutr.17.1.190
