Breastfeeding

I am breastfeeding (actually EPing) and wondering how many calories extra I should allow myself per day? I am hitting my cals but now my milk is a little bit less than usual. I know its from cutting calories. How may extra calories a day should I allow? Thanks.

Replies

  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    I'm not 100% sure but when I was bfing I was told to have an extra 500 calories a day so my milk supply didn't go down! I'd definitely check with your doctor to be on the safe side. Good luck!
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    Your baby is beautiful btw! I miss those days...sigh!:love::sad:
  • RobsGirl_lds
    RobsGirl_lds Posts: 211 Member
    You can log BFing I your food diary and I believe it increases your daily cals per oz you log.
  • KarinaKovacic
    KarinaKovacic Posts: 3 Member
    Really? I tried putting it in under cardio but it didn't come up. And thank you, it is fun having a newborn. 5 weeks next Tues.
  • KarinaKovacic
    KarinaKovacic Posts: 3 Member
    Ok I found it in the food diary. 30ml=20 calories extra to eat. Thank you!
  • I'm so glad yall are talking about this. My son is 18 moths old and I'm ready to wean him but I don't want to make my milk supply drop significantly and dry up.
  • Lisa1971
    Lisa1971 Posts: 3,069 Member
    I'm so glad yall are talking about this. My son is 18 moths old and I'm ready to wean him but I don't want to make my milk supply drop significantly and dry up.

    Can you still pump and then that way you'll still have milk for bottles?
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    For a younger baby, around 300 calories per day, for an older baby (who still breastfeeds a lot) closer to 500.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    Also, unless you are starving yourself and losing too fast, you will not see your milk get affected by restricting calories. It is very hard to maintain supply when exclusively pumping and in most cases losing supply with time is normal unless you try harder :( Check your breast pump, make sure you are changing the membranes regularly or you are losing suction with time, and try to add an extra pumping session or two, or to pump 5-10 extra minutes at a time, even if nothing comes out.