Breastfeeding calories

LosingMyselfin2011

Question about breastfeeding calories. I just had my baby so I want to be sure to be eating enough to maintain my milk supply while still losing weight slowly. I googled it and it says an additional 300-500 calories per day is needed. Upon searching here on MFP I found things listed under "food" as breastfeeding ..negative calorie intakes. Is it better to track this way (as a negative food calorie, some of them even have negative proteins, carbs, etc though I'm not sure where that info came from) or would it be better to list it as a cardiovascular exercise everyday so that the calories get deducted?
Thanks,
Kindra

S_Tennant

I list mine under my the cardiovascular exercise and it just adds the extra calories to my daily calorie intake so I'm getting the amount I need. I do 300 calories because my son is 9 months and isn't nursing as often but if your child is nursing frequently you should probably go with 500. Eating too few calories can reduce your milk supply, so you want to be sure your eating enough.

rachpetersen

add it as an exercise so it can account for your extra macros. at the beginning it is best to add more calories (ie. 500) and then later on once they eat less less (i.e..300-400, etc.)
personally i don't recommend starting any sort of diet or intense exercise regime until at least 6 weeks post partum as it takes at least this long for your milk supply to stabilize. Some women take a few weeks longer. If you don't eat enough or if you exercise too intensely in these crucial weeks you could seriously risk affecting your milk supply, which will be no fun for anyone. (on a side note, pumping before 6 weeks may also mess with your milk supply and is not recommended)

If you want the science behind the numbers here they are:
-Your body burns approximately 26 calories per ounce of breast milk it makes...so the 500 number is based on your baby consuming (and you producing) 25 ounces of milk a day = 650...then they subtract 150 cals to assist in weight loss = 500 cals.
-So with this being said if your baby is eating more often (like in a growth spurt that usually happens at 3, 6, 9 weeks and 3, 6, 9 months) you will need to up your calories for those few days as you will be producing much more milk.

Hope this helps...I am a breastfeeding momma of a 5 month old right now and things have been going well. Feel free to add me. I log every day and like to think I am helpful and supportive. Also don't hesitate to ask any more questions and I will do my best to answer them

FitterLish

Hi ladies

Just wondering where/how you log breastfeeding, I've searched both the food and exercise databases and cant find it in either. Would love your help as this would be great for me to track how many feeds a day my son is having as well as it's impact on my calorie goal!

JoRumbles

I'm adding mine as a "food" under a special meal I have created. I am adding 500cals at the moment as my baby is only 12 weeks. I hope to have reached my goal by the time he is 6 months and also eating solid food.

Nursing mothers are reccommended to eat no less than 1,800 per day for weight loss. MFP sets my daily allowance to 1,260, that plus the 500 gives me 1,760. Close enough as sometimes I underestimate how much I eat.

Most weeks I lose a couple of pounds. LAst week I lost nothing, week before it was a fluke 5lb!

shivles

Log it as exercise, 500 for a baby under 6 months and 300 for baby over 6 months