Calories burned from putting baby to sleep?

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mistyladidah
mistyladidah Posts: 210 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Sorry if this has been asked recently. I just spent like an hour and a half putting my 12 lb baby to sleep. It wasn't sweat breaking, but still felt like work. Has anyone done this and worn their hrm? I don't want to eat too little because I'm nursing and don't want my supply to drop, but don't want to eat too much so I lose, or at least don't gain. Thanks for any input!
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Replies

  • nicoleisback
    nicoleisback Posts: 184
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    I would suggest adding this sort of thing in to your daily activity level. As a nursing mum I would never put your allowance below lightly active. If you take it in to account here, you shouldn't end up too low
  • shyningglory28
    shyningglory28 Posts: 5
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    Lol I've never checked but your right it does seem like work! I breastfeed my 19 month old and have been dieting for 9 months and have had no drop in my supply. I just make sure to eat good healthy snacks all day ( boiled eggs, low fat string cheese, veggies, fruit etc) I also make sure I eat 6 times at least a day and drink tons of water. Nuts are great for your supply and oats as well!
  • mistyladidah
    mistyladidah Posts: 210 Member
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    Thanks! I'm set at sedentary right now because I try to track everything. Someday I'll get another hrm and then I'll really know, but for now I think raising my activity level makes sense. Thanks again!
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    The only thing that needs logged is your breast feeding (usually gives a -300 calorie) and intentional exercise.

    Putting a baby to sleep is not exercise, not saying it's not work but it is all part of your "normal" day.
  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    10 000 - 15 000 that significant
  • mistyladidah
    mistyladidah Posts: 210 Member
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    It's interesting how varied of a response I'm getting. Now I really wish I had a hrm. 10000 seems sort of crazy high, it's only ike mild exercise 4 times a day with a weight. Not plyo or something. The way I have my calories set up is sedentary, like I said, but I've calculated my tdee based on that and then added 500 for milk production. I guess I'll just keep it as it is, and maybe I'll lose a little faster.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    Chad is just messing with you. I wouldn't log holding a baby. I also don't log carrying a 5-yr old on my shoulders, playing, etc.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    You do not log this activity as calorie burn. It's part of your daily routine and will probably be for several more months to a year, which means your body is going to adapt quickly. Change your settings from sedentary to lightly active to reflect the change in your routine. I know being a new mom is tiring, I have a 20-month-old who is still nursing and still does not sleep through the night. You're going to run more of a risk of having your supply drop or seeing weight loss stall if you get crazy with your calorie counting and start logging every activity compared to just increasing your activity level (the difference for me was about 100 extra calories a day, no big deal), adding in nursing calories, and counting calorie burn from exercise (as in workouts).
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    This should be counted as party of your daily activities, not as specific exercise.
  • mistyladidah
    mistyladidah Posts: 210 Member
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    Thanks, I wondered, but I haven't been back on the forums long enough to know who the jokers are now. I just really want to do this right, and not mess with my two-month-old's food source. Maybe I should specify too, I hold her and bounce up and down while swaying back and forth. It makes my calves burn sometimes, and my back muscles get sore, as do my arms. I'll just raise my level of activity to light with no exercise and go from there if this doesn't work in a couple weeks.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    10 000 - 15 000 that significant

    come on dude, stop messing around. she said she held the baby in one arm, so max calories burned will be around 5000-7500
  • mamahannick
    mamahannick Posts: 322 Member
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    I agree with everyone else to factor this into your activity level rather than exercise.

    I have always considered myself "sedentary" outside of actual exercise since I have a desk job, but since having my daughter I would definitely now classify myself as "lightly active". I spend a lot of time playing actively with her and chasing after her.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Has anyone done this and worn their hrm?

    HRM won't give anything close to accurate results for this type of activity. That's just not what it is designed for.
  • kgeyser
    kgeyser Posts: 22,505 Member
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    Thanks, I wondered, but I haven't been back on the forums long enough to know who the jokers are now. I just really want to do this right, and not mess with my two-month-old's food source. Maybe I should specify too, I hold her and bounce up and down while swaying back and forth. It makes my calves burn sometimes, and my back muscles get sore, as do my arms. I'll just raise my level of activity to light with no exercise and go from there if this doesn't work in a couple weeks.

    Yeah, it doesn't matter if you're bouncing, swaying, or wearing away all the flooring in your house from pacing for hours, it's still not exercise.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Has anyone done this and worn their hrm?

    HRM won't give anything close to accurate results for this type of activity. That's just not what it is designed for.

    Yeah this is in the wheelhouse of a Body Media Fit, maybe a fitbit (though fitbit does a good job at counting steps, so only the moving around part would register).
  • pplf2001
    pplf2001 Posts: 133 Member
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    consider getting a fit bit-- that looks at your steps/movement throughout the day and will update in MFP with your calories. I think that's easier than trying to figure out if you're sedentary, lightly active, etc.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Thanks, I wondered, but I haven't been back on the forums long enough to know who the jokers are now. I just really want to do this right, and not mess with my two-month-old's food source. Maybe I should specify too, I hold her and bounce up and down while swaying back and forth. It makes my calves burn sometimes, and my back muscles get sore, as do my arms. I'll just raise my level of activity to light with no exercise and go from there if this doesn't work in a couple weeks.

    you'll start to feel really hungry etc before your milk supply drops. Also, dehydration is more often the cause rather than insufficient calories. Even if it does drop, it'll come back quickly after a decent meal and drinking plenty of water.

    If you're looking after a baby, you'd be lightly active, not sedentary, that should take care of any extra calories from rocking the baby to sleep etc, and other things like playing with the baby, general household tasks, going for gentle walks etc... (long walks should be logged as exercise though).

    also, there's no rush to lose weight, even if for one week here and there you don't lose because you're making sure your milk supply keeps up, it's not going to matter in the long term, so long as the overall trend is moving in the right direction. If you see no loss for a few weeks in a row, then you can drop your calories or increase your activity. You'll probably find taht the amount of milk your baby takes varies, as they take more when they're going through growth spurts, so don't be afraid to eat more if you suddenly feel really hungry and baby's suckling more than usual. Weight loss probably won't be linear either, but so long as the overall trend is for weight loss over time, all is good

    btw I breastfed both mine, one for 2 yrs and the other for 2.5 years, so the above is from experience

    ETA: don't mistake your baby's extra feeding during growth spurts as a milk supply problem... all the extra suckling is to stimulate more milk to be produced, not because your supply has dropped. Lots of mothers make this mistake and think they have a supply problem when they don't... but when this happens you probably do need a few more calories to make the extra milk.
  • asaffell
    asaffell Posts: 43 Member
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    Thanks, I wondered, but I haven't been back on the forums long enough to know who the jokers are now. I just really want to do this right, and not mess with my two-month-old's food source. Maybe I should specify too, I hold her and bounce up and down while swaying back and forth. It makes my calves burn sometimes, and my back muscles get sore, as do my arms. I'll just raise my level of activity to light with no exercise and go from there if this doesn't work in a couple weeks.

    you'll start to feel really hungry etc before your milk supply drops. Also, dehydration is more often the cause rather than insufficient calories. Even if it does drop, it'll come back quickly after a decent meal and drinking plenty of water.

    If you're looking after a baby, you'd be lightly active, not sedentary, that should take care of any extra calories from rocking the baby to sleep etc, and other things like playing with the baby, general household tasks, going for gentle walks etc... (long walks should be logged as exercise though).

    also, there's no rush to lose weight, even if for one week here and there you don't lose because you're making sure your milk supply keeps up, it's not going to matter in the long term, so long as the overall trend is moving in the right direction. If you see no loss for a few weeks in a row, then you can drop your calories or increase your activity. You'll probably find taht the amount of milk your baby takes varies, as they take more when they're going through growth spurts, so don't be afraid to eat more if you suddenly feel really hungry and baby's suckling more than usual. Weight loss probably won't be linear either, but so long as the overall trend is for weight loss over time, all is good

    btw I breastfed both mine, one for 2 yrs and the other for 2.5 years, so the above is from experience

    ETA: don't mistake your baby's extra feeding during growth spurts as a milk supply problem... all the extra suckling is to stimulate more milk to be produced, not because your supply has dropped. Lots of mothers make this mistake and think they have a supply problem when they don't... but when this happens you probably do need a few more calories to make the extra milk.

    THIS! Such good advice.

    I use the first year after a baby to focus on habits, not the scale. Drink a lot of water, nurse your baby, and I stick to about 1800 calories a day to sustain my workouts and breastfeeding. BUT I also get hungrier during her growth spurts so I'm less rigid about nailing my calories over listening to my body.

    Even with severe malnutrition though, you can nurse a baby with adequate water.
  • Pepper2185
    Pepper2185 Posts: 994 Member
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    Great advice, neandermagnon! Couldn't have said it better.

    After 15 months of putting my baby to sleep, I'm in the best shape of my life, haha!

    Being "on call" 24/7 will use up more calories, but I've always looked at it as an extra midnight strength training session :)

    Good luck with the little one!
  • mistyladidah
    mistyladidah Posts: 210 Member
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    Ok, great! The resounding response is to just up my activity, so that's what I'll do. I definitely will pay attention to her cues too, and if she's growing I'll account for that, and I'll be sure to get my fair share of water. I wouldn't even be worrying about calories but the scale was going the wrong way, so I decided to be proactive before I got up to 200 again. Thanks again everyone!

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