breastfeeding mama here.

rmfanfgljf
rmfanfgljf Posts: 1 Member
edited September 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a 9 month old son and I just joined mfp maybe a week ago. I am just wondering how to get my bonus calories so I can keep my supply up and still be healthy for both me and my little boy.

Replies

  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,250 Member
    I would eat your maintenance calories so you don't lose weight, and eat your exercise calories. That should give you enough to keep your supply up and give you and your baby the nutrition you both need.
  • eates
    eates Posts: 334 Member
    You can also include the calories you burn by breastfeeding to earn a "credit" for them. You add them in the food diary. I'm still nursing my 17 month old but I don't add those calories since he only nurses 2 times a day so it's not very much.
  • mamarh
    mamarh Posts: 95 Member
    i am also BFing my 8 mos old DS. and its hard to stick with the alloted calories. However, I figure an 8 or 9 mos old is getting most of their nutrition from outside food now so I really only count maybe 200 extra calories as my "breasfeeding buffer".
  • Mrs_McFadden
    Mrs_McFadden Posts: 1,139 Member
    It depends..my son is 6 months and 3 weeks. He is still exclusively breastfed. I'm very gradually introducing food. and we're talking about him getting a few tablespoons of solid food. So although calorie estimates may claim I'm only expending '300' calories nursing him- he's still nursing throughout the day and night because it's still his main food source. I don't really budge the number upwards of that because that is exactly what that is, an estimate, and I'd rather underestimate the rate of calories expended by breastfeeding than overestimate it.
    That said, I always add my breastfeeding calories to my food journal and it shows up as -300 (negative 300 calories). The reason why I like doing this - it simplifies my food logs for my own brain. I don't want to fret about doing any math or calculations, I just want to input because tweaking my lifestyle and what I eat to conform to the caloric goals and my drive toward increased nutrition is learning curve enough! So I just happily log in my foods and exercise and it all works out.
  • NoAdditives
    NoAdditives Posts: 4,250 Member
    It depends..my son is 6 months and 3 weeks. He is still exclusively breastfed. I'm very gradually introducing food. and we're talking about him getting a few tablespoons of solid food. So although calorie estimates may claim I'm only expending '300' calories nursing him- he's still nursing throughout the day and night because it's still his main food source. I don't really budge the number upwards of that because that is exactly what that is, an estimate, and I'd rather underestimate the rate of calories expended by breastfeeding than overestimate it.
    That said, I always add my breastfeeding calories to my food journal and it shows up as -300 (negative 300 calories). The reason why I like doing this - it simplifies my food logs for my own brain. I don't want to fret about doing any math or calculations, I just want to input because tweaking my lifestyle and what I eat to conform to the caloric goals and my drive toward increased nutrition is learning curve enough! So I just happily log in my foods and exercise and it all works out.

    Wow, he's only eating a few tablespoons of food? But about 6 months my son was eating a full 2.5oz jar of food in one sitting!
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