Breastfeeding moms...

MommyWelch_x2
MommyWelch_x2 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
To all the nursing moms out there - how many calories do you allow yourself to keep your supply up? I see some moms eating 1200 calories a day and that seems like very little to me. Any answers would be appreciated! Thanks!

Replies

  • JoRumbles
    JoRumbles Posts: 262 Member
    You are supposed to eat a minimum of 1,800 is breastfeeding exclusively.

    I've only have 1,600 today, oops,....perhaps I'll go get something else to eat
  • oiseau17
    oiseau17 Posts: 142 Member
    I believe it's 300-500 calories extra per day to keep your supply up. I'm still nursing, but my daughter is two and a half, so she nurses much more for comfort than nutrition at this point. I didn't cut my breastfeeding calories out until she turned two. I still make milk at 1200 calories, but not like I did when she was exclusively nursing at one year old. When your baby is really young and you're still establishing your supply, I wouldn't skimp and aim for those extra 500 calories a day!
  • teamstanish
    teamstanish Posts: 274 Member
    I eat 1300-1500, but my daughter eats lots of solids (she is 14 months). I think it depends on how much your child nurses. Also, staying hydrated is really important so I always drink tons of water.
  • rekite2000
    rekite2000 Posts: 218 Member
    I eat 2400-2600 which is exercise and 500 for exclusively nursing. I net about 1650 a day.
  • victoria_1024
    victoria_1024 Posts: 915 Member
    I posted about this yesterday. I've been getting about 1800 a day but I feel like my milk supply has decreased because my baby has been really fussy lately. I am going to try increasing it to 2000 and see if that helps. I do work-out every day as well... the 1800 would probably be just fine if I wasn't working out.
  • molly_grue
    molly_grue Posts: 215 Member
    I added 500 extra when my son was younger, now that he is 18 months I add 300 extra since he eats a lot of food as well.

    eta: I am in maintainance so I eat 1900 including the BFing cals, plus exercise calories if I am still hungry. I ate about 2000 when I was trying to lose weight,
  • campbellbx
    campbellbx Posts: 25 Member
    Im eating 1200 anc have found my son is becoming very iritable and I wounder if it to do with this I am seeing a specialist on monday and will post back then with her answers.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I know I'm going to find this tricky to work out, partly because breastfeeding is so important to me that I won't want to try to lose weight (though I wouldn't mind if I did). I was losing weight, pre pregnancy, on 2400kcal, but I doubt I'll be as active as normal post partum. I'll probably try eating to my appetite and logging, and just seeing how it goes.
  • BrieBailey
    BrieBailey Posts: 11 Member
    You don't need to eat more calories when you're breastfeeding. It is myth! I am a long term breastfeeder, currently nursing baby number 3, and have never upped my caloric intake. I have a freezer full of milk and my baby is well fed! Everyone is different but I am currently taking a BF course and one of the first thing we talked about was the calorie myth. Good luck! x
  • jmcreynolds91
    jmcreynolds91 Posts: 777 Member
    When my little one was smaller and i was EBF i ate about 1800-2000 and lost about 1 pound a week. Now my daughter is 10 months and i nurse her about 2-3 times a day so i have gone down to 1700 calories and still loosing a good amount of weight a week. Its all about learning how your body works. It took me a while to figure it out. Best wishes to you. :)
  • tschaff04
    tschaff04 Posts: 296 Member
    Yes, add 300-500 cals onto your goal each day. I did that when I was exclusively bfing. Now that my little guy is 13 months old he has some solid foods along with nursing so I don't add that many on anymore. It's crucial to do so when their only food source is your milk though.
  • ks4e
    ks4e Posts: 374 Member
    I had unintentionally been consuming too little (due to a very hectic work schedule) and my milk supply had gone down. My baby was super fussy as well. I began to pump less and less when I was at work. Once I made a conscious effort to eat at least 1600-1800, on top of exercising, my milk supply no longer suffered.

    My baby is 5 months old and I also consume lots of nursing tea to keep myself on track. Consuming too few calories also made me hang onto my weight, and within a week of upping my calories, I finally began to lose a bit.
  • serai93
    serai93 Posts: 11
    i eat 1500 a day. my son will be a year old next month, and my supply is well established so i am not to worried about it hurting my milk. i kinda think it all depends on your body. i have some friends that have to eat a lot just to help maintain their milk supply!
  • Ninatz
    Ninatz Posts: 2 Member
    My daughter is 4 months and exclusively breastfed. I eat somewhere between 900-1400 in a day.
    My milk supply is fine and my baby is not fussy or in anyway underfed.
    I exercise 3-600 cal a day 5 days a week.
    As far as I can understand your body burns somewhere between 4-600 calories a day to produce milk for a fully breastfed baby. As she starts to eat more and more solids the number will go down to 2-400 cal a day.
    If you feel your milk supply is going down, your baby seems unhappy or you are in doubt you should maybe eat more to allow your body for the milk production. I guess we all work differently and the most important thing is to listen to your body.
  • pnwnommy
    pnwnommy Posts: 2
    I think everyone's body handles breastfeeding and calories differently. I didn't start losing weight until I started eating more...my baby is almost 9 months old, mostly breastfed and nursing all night and I net about 2200 calories a day and have lost 7 lbs in about a month, which I am happy with. I think the best thing to do is play around with it...err on the side of having more calories for your milk supply, and if you don't lose weight that way, start slowly decreasing the calories, maybe by 50 or so a week. By doing that you should hit the net calorie number that keeps you losing weight but also doesn't mess with your supply - at least, that's what I have done and it is working great.

    I have also found that I get the best results when I increase my protein intake and cut back on carbs and sugar. If I net 2200 but most of that is carbs/sugar I don't lose anything. Not sure if that is related to breastfeeding or just general weight loss!
  • Mrswheels01
    Mrswheels01 Posts: 201 Member
    My son is EBF and 6 months. I've been eating about 2000 a day and have been losing weight without effecting my supply.
  • jfrankic
    jfrankic Posts: 747 Member
    You don't need to eat more calories when you're breastfeeding. It is myth! I am a long term breastfeeder, currently nursing baby number 3, and have never upped my caloric intake. I have a freezer full of milk and my baby is well fed! Everyone is different but I am currently taking a BF course and one of the first thing we talked about was the calorie myth. Good luck! x

    I do not know the science behind this, but perhaps this varies from person to person. I also had an abundant milk supply with my son and had 600+ ounces easily stored in my freezer in no time, not even really trying....just pumping once a day. Then I started lots of cardio and cut my calories to 1700 and my supply tanked very quickly. Cutting/netting fewer calories was the only change and I struggled to nurse for a full year after.

    My advice is to NOT make too drastic of a cut. You can lose weight any time, but nursing your baby is priceless and, speaking from experience, it is much harder to increase supply once it has been jeopardized.
  • jaceedk
    jaceedk Posts: 3
    I have a 6 month old and eat 1200 calories. I have always struggled to lose weight, and breastfeeding did not help me get rid of the baby weight. I started dieting and exercising In January, it did not effect my milk supply. Fluid intake is what I notice effects my supply the most.
  • belle_of_the_bar
    belle_of_the_bar Posts: 474 Member
    I eat about 2100 calories a day and have been losing consistently. I generally do eat back my exercise calories too, so I try to make sure and net about 1600.
  • shakespearessister
    shakespearessister Posts: 42
    I use 1200 as my base but add between 240-500 per day for breastfeeding, depending on the age of the baby, and how much they're nursing. I'm nursing my 4th baby and I concentrate on nourishing myself with the calories I'm allotted and have never had an issue with supply. Some moms have definite supply drop off when they cut calories drastically. I have another friend who was eating plenty of calories, but her supply dropped off because she wasn't nourishing herself with the calories (a lot of empty calories...she was losing weight but couldn't keep up her supply.) You just have to pay attention to your body.
  • PicaMiran
    PicaMiran Posts: 1 Member
    Just to add: if you are adding calories and still have trouble with your milk supply, consider using Fenugreek and thistle (both herbs), taken in capsule form for potency or in tea which also seems to help. I took Fenugreek when I was nursing with my first and though I had *no* trouble eating enough, I had trouble keeping up my milk supply at first. Fenugreek REALLY works! Hope this helps, and don't hesitate to go to a consultant if you are struggling, it happens :)
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
    I eat 2100 calories - my son is 7 months old and eating solids as well as nursing.
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
    You don't need to eat more calories when you're breastfeeding. It is myth! I am a long term breastfeeder, currently nursing baby number 3, and have never upped my caloric intake. I have a freezer full of milk and my baby is well fed! Everyone is different but I am currently taking a BF course and one of the first thing we talked about was the calorie myth. Good luck! x

    This is the first I've heard of it being a myth - my doctor and dietician have both told me that your body uses more calories to produce milk than it does during pregnancy. Is this new information/research?

    I know that in areas of famine women are able to breastfeed their babies, but in a Western first-world situation, would there be a nutritional benefit for mom/baby to forgo the extra calories?
  • Mlkmaid
    Mlkmaid Posts: 356 Member
    I didn't change my habits when I was nursing my two sons because I wanted to lose my baby weight. I didn't diet - I just ate healthfully and breastfed. I nursed both mine for over a year. I'm confused why, if you're trying to lose weight, you'd want to eat MORE calories. ???
  • zephtalah
    zephtalah Posts: 327 Member
    You don't need to eat more calories when you're breastfeeding. It is myth! I am a long term breastfeeder, currently nursing baby number 3, and have never upped my caloric intake. I have a freezer full of milk and my baby is well fed! Everyone is different but I am currently taking a BF course and one of the first thing we talked about was the calorie myth. Good luck! x

    This is the first I've heard of it being a myth - my doctor and dietician have both told me that your body uses more calories to produce milk than it does during pregnancy. Is this new information/research?

    I know that in areas of famine women are able to breastfeed their babies, but in a Western first-world situation, would there be a nutritional benefit for mom/baby to forgo the extra calories?

    Actually, in areas where there is little food it often affects the mothers milk supply. Yes, they still can breastfeed, but the babies do not thrive because they are not getting quantity or quality milk. I have some friends who live in Paupa New Guinea and work with the mothers there. Many of the babies at 6+ months are still less than 8 pounds who were EBF. Breastfeeding is great and I highly recommend it, but please let's stick to the realm of fact. It takes a mothers body 26 calories to produce one ounce of breastmilk. If you take an average of 25 ounces a day and multiply that by those 26 calories you end up with a 650 calorie deficit from breastfeeding. The typical -500 calories add in for EBF mothers is with a 150 calorie deficit built in the aid in weight loss.

    Now that my rant is over, I am currently nursing my 6th & 7th children. They are 15 months old and I am eating about 2000-2100 calories a day. When I was EBF the twins I was eating around 2500 calories per day and losing weight. Since they were born I have lost 77 pounds. I excercise too, but I had to be careful when they were younger. If I didn't eat enough and exercised to much, my milk supply suffered and so did the little guys. LLLI recommends that if you are nursing that you don't go under 1800 calories. Best wishes on your nursing and weight loss. :flowerforyou:
  • Mewlingstork
    Mewlingstork Posts: 266 Member
    I think it depends on each mom individually. :) But let's be clear on when baby is getting enough milk/supply is ok - enough wet diapers in a 24 hour period and healthy weight gain (as in along the growth curve for each particular baby). Not being fussy, that could be any number of things. This is a good link to KellyMom with some great info, particularly in the beginning of the post. :)

    http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/low-supply/

    What works for me is anywhere between 1400-2200 calories a day, net. I typically workout 4-5 days a week, sometimes weight lifting, sometimes cardio. I have been working out since 4 weeks post partum. My baby is 8 months old and still exclusively nursing.

    Do whatever works for you, Mama!!
  • Mewlingstork
    Mewlingstork Posts: 266 Member
    I meant to also write that I add 500 calories to my diary on here for breastfeeding! Oops! That's why my net is anywhere from 1400-2200. :)
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
    You don't need to eat more calories when you're breastfeeding. It is myth! I am a long term breastfeeder, currently nursing baby number 3, and have never upped my caloric intake. I have a freezer full of milk and my baby is well fed! Everyone is different but I am currently taking a BF course and one of the first thing we talked about was the calorie myth. Good luck! x

    This is the first I've heard of it being a myth - my doctor and dietician have both told me that your body uses more calories to produce milk than it does during pregnancy. Is this new information/research?

    I know that in areas of famine women are able to breastfeed their babies, but in a Western first-world situation, would there be a nutritional benefit for mom/baby to forgo the extra calories?

    Actually, in areas where there is little food it often affects the mothers milk supply. Yes, they still can breastfeed, but the babies do not thrive because they are not getting quantity or quality milk. I have some friends who live in Paupa New Guinea and work with the mothers there. Many of the babies at 6+ months are still less than 8 pounds who were EBF. Breastfeeding is great and I highly recommend it, but please let's stick to the realm of fact. It takes a mothers body 26 calories to produce one ounce of breastmilk. If you take an average of 25 ounces a day and multiply that by those 26 calories you end up with a 650 calorie deficit from breastfeeding. The typical -500 calories add in for EBF mothers is with a 150 calorie deficit built in the aid in weight loss.

    Now that my rant is over, I am currently nursing my 6th & 7th children. They are 15 months old and I am eating about 2000-2100 calories a day. When I was EBF the twins I was eating around 2500 calories per day and losing weight. Since they were born I have lost 77 pounds. I excercise too, but I had to be careful when they were younger. If I didn't eat enough and exercised to much, my milk supply suffered and so did the little guys. LLLI recommends that if you are nursing that you don't go under 1800 calories. Best wishes on your nursing and weight loss. :flowerforyou:

    That's neat info about your friends in Paupa New Guinea! And congrats on nursing 7 babies! Go mama!

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