Breastfeeding calories.

sandralina
sandralina Posts: 126 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does MFP support breastfeeding in their daily calories? If they do I might just be blind (LOL). I intend to start logging daily meals just to get back on track with logging, but I'm not necessarily worried about cutting calories and etc. just yet. For now I'm working on exercise. But when I do want to start (gently) cutting calories without affecting my milk supply, I thought it'd be nice to have that kinda factored in...

Anyone? :D

Replies

  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    congrats! :)
    im breastfeeding, and just added 500 to a custom calorie goal.. you can do that, or search the food data base for breastfeeding, there are lots of entries ranging from 150-500 negative calories or you can add it as an exercise. create your own, and set it as one minute and 500 calories (if EBF).
    it would be nice if they had an option to select though!
  • pamelak5
    pamelak5 Posts: 327 Member
    If I remember correctly, you basically add 500 calories a day to what your requirements would be otherwise. So, if you want to lose, you can try to add 500 calories to whatever MFP spits out for your weight loss goals (maybe try .5 lb/week for the time being?)

    Congrats on the new baby :)
  • sandralina
    sandralina Posts: 126 Member
    Yeah breastfeeding! :D

    We are no longer EBF as my baby is now a toddler (18 months). However, he does nurse frequently and several times through the night as well. So I guess I'll probably do 300 or so? =| I wish there was a little thing I could just point at my boobs, press a button, and have it make a musical sound and be like "Congratulations, you need an extra XXX calories a day to maintain your current milk supply!" and make my life easier... Haha.
  • sandralina
    sandralina Posts: 126 Member
    Oh and with that said -- when I originally started breastfeeding I had to gain an extra 10-15 pounds in order for my milk supply to kick in. (It was a long, hard 3 months of supplementing and struggling to raise my milk supply... just AWFUL). I haven't gained a single pound since my supply finally leveled off and established. Assuming I lose weight slowly (Max I am looking at is half a pound a week), do any of you think that would affect my supply? I'm not overly worried about it as he is now a toddler, but I don't want to shoot my myself in the boob "just" to lose weight, as it isn't only my health that it would affect...
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    they don't really have a thing for it.

    some people just record 300-500 extra cals in their exercise diary so it adds to their total, if you do that it's important to eat those extra cals.

    you could always include them in your custom goals.

    another option is tinkering with the weight loss rate or age till it gets to the right extra amount.

    finally in your food diary you could record it as adding a food and then put it as negative cals but then you'd have to explain to anyone who looks at your diary and wonders why you are drinking breast milk and why it has negative calories. LMAO.

    seriously though, you are doing a good thing. get a method and stick with it. make sure you are well nourished for the sake of you, your baby, and your hair and nails. you need enough food.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
    Yeah breastfeeding! :D

    We are no longer EBF as my baby is now a toddler (18 months). However, he does nurse frequently and several times through the night as well. So I guess I'll probably do 300 or so? =| I wish there was a little thing I could just point at my boobs, press a button, and have it make a musical sound and be like "Congratulations, you need an extra XXX calories a day to maintain your current milk supply!" and make my life easier... Haha.
    lol that would be so much easier! there are entries for older children in the data base and i do believe 300 is the amount, but it depends on how often they nurse :)
    half a pound a week should be fine and not effect your supply.. especially now that hes older :) just keep up with your fluid intake and eat as healthy as possible :)
  • sandralina
    sandralina Posts: 126 Member
    Thanks ladies. I'm going to go ahead and add it to my food diary and just explain to the curious that breastmilk is magical or something... Haha! ;)
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
    Yeah breastfeeding! :D

    We are no longer EBF as my baby is now a toddler (18 months). However, he does nurse frequently and several times through the night as well. So I guess I'll probably do 300 or so? =| I wish there was a little thing I could just point at my boobs, press a button, and have it make a musical sound and be like "Congratulations, you need an extra XXX calories a day to maintain your current milk supply!" and make my life easier... Haha.
    lol that would be so much easier! there are entries for older children in the data base and i do believe 300 is the amount, but it depends on how often they nurse :)
    half a pound a week should be fine and not effect your supply.. especially now that hes older :) just keep up with your fluid intake and eat as healthy as possible :)

    based on him being older, and nursing so frequently and if you are his only food source, I'd choose 500. La leche league knows this stuff. google it. also those parenting and pregnancy sites know the extra cals nursing moms and pregnant moms need.
  • mamosh81
    mamosh81 Posts: 409 Member
    i would add 500 extra calories threw exercise seems to be easiest and then see after about 3 weeks how it works for you and adjust acordently
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I've read a few things that explain that the 500kcal suggested for BFing is because you actually need 700kcal for exclusive BFing, so it's allowing for 200kcal to come from body fat already.

    I had a similarly poor start to BFing my DS, but thanks, in the main, I believe, to an undiagnosed tongue tie. I'm hoping that this time round will be easier because a) I know my local La Leche League b) Thanks to mfp I know how to get enough calories into a day c) If it gets to be a problem I know who's happy to prescribe motilium.

    I'll be interested to see how it goes for you. Just 6-7 before I'm BFing again too! Eeeeek!
  • sandralina
    sandralina Posts: 126 Member
    SQUISH!!!!!!!!!!!! don't be like me and disappear -- I require squish pictures when your new LO is born!!!
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I've been on since December 2010, and while I take breaks, I don't think I'll ever go permanently.
  • touchafaith
    touchafaith Posts: 112 Member
    Hi! I'm currently breastfeeding my almost 6 month old. The past week I've been giving her a little breakfast but up to then she's exclusively breastfed. I add an extra 400 calories by putting it under breakfast in my food diary which creates a negative but at least then I know how many calories I have left for the rest of the day. Congrats on breastfeeding for 18 months already, your a hero. My daughter still feeds every 3 hours at the moment, it's exhausting!
  • sandralina
    sandralina Posts: 126 Member
    Touchafaith - It is extremely exhausting. There are definitely days I was like "Oh my God... I just don't want to do this anymore." But it always passed, and seeing him grow up so healthy and happy is totally worth it! :) It was very, very rough for the first 3 months -- I honestly didn't think I'd make it past a month, then past 2, then past 3, and then 6... but I worked too damn hard to ever give up. And I didn't, even when he was getting 20 ounces of supplemented formula a day because I simply couldn't pump/produce enough. My poor husband endured so much ranting, raving, screaming... Haha. Dark days! Keep it up!!!!!!!!!!! :D You're doing great!! Some days I feel like I should just be topless all the time because of the constant little nursing sessions. He now drinks about a sippy cup's worth of water a day but just prefers milk and won't take no for an answer. He has dairy intolerance still so "real" (hah!) milk isn't an option and he hates milk substitutes, so, we just keep plodding on. LOL. Love it though. :)

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