Burning extra calories carrying toddler

swingkid1975

When you're carrying extra weight while exercising (i.e. a toddler in a backpack on your back) do you add that extra weight to your own weight to get the true calories burned to enter in your log or do you just enter the calories based on your own weight and figure you really burned more than it says you did?

Heatherbelle_87

There is a walking option for carrying an infant or hiking with different pound loads. The calorie burn wasn't so different to me that it mattered. I would rather underestimate what I burned then over estimate without and HRM. (Note: My son has always been in the 90th percentil so my 2 year old was a 30-35lb load, now he's a 42 lb load at 3)

usmcmp

There aren't many exercises I would do carrying my kids. I don't count their weight on walks or hikes. Can't think of anything else I would log as exercise in which I would be carrying a kid.

wonderkitten711

When I was carrying the kiddo at work (I'm a nanny) more frequently when he was younger, I would log the walking and stuff I did while holding him as the "carrying infant or x-pound load" activity just to keep track of my activities, since I was trying to remind myself that all activity counts for something and is better than being a bump on the couch. I may or may not also count some of the games we play where I lift him up and down and such as strength training (he weighs 30 pounds, its totally a bench press ~.^).