Breast Feeding

laurakrowe
laurakrowe Posts: 52
edited September 24 in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone here breast feeding?
Do you add extra calories to account for it? Do you count it as exercise? Calories burned?
I am currently exclusively breast feeding our 5 month old baby (no formula, no solid foods) and i know that MUST count for SOMETHING? Am I right??? :wink:

Replies

  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    You can add it into your food diary and it'll add 500 cals to your daily goal. Or, you can manually adjust your goal to reflect that 500 so you don't have to add it every day. You need at least 1500-1800 cals a day while you're nursing -- if you're used to eating a lot more, step down your intake gradually so you don't experience a drop in supply.

    Yay for breastfeeding! :)
  • frogtox
    frogtox Posts: 36
    Supposedly you burn an extra 500 calories a day breastfeeding, which always seemed odd to me because you only burn an extra 300 during pregnancy. I believe it though, because I put on 8 pounds within a couple months of weaning. VERY depressing!

    I have a friend who has created an exercise and adds this to her daily calories burned. I'd do this, because you don't want to risk undereating, especially if you're nourishing your DC.

    BTW, congrats on EBFing for so long. It's hard work, and no one but another BFing mom can quite 'get' it.
  • WildcatMom82
    WildcatMom82 Posts: 564 Member
    You can add it into your food diary and it'll add 500 cals to your daily goal. Or, you can manually adjust your goal to reflect that 500 so you don't have to add it every day. You need at least 1500-1800 cals a day while you're nursing -- if you're used to eating a lot more, step down your intake gradually so you don't experience a drop in supply.

    Yay for breastfeeding! :)
    What she said :) I add it to my food log - my baby is almost 10 months old and eating a lot of table foods so I use the infant 6-12 months option (only 300 extra cals) but for a baby your age definitely go with the 500. And if you workout make sure to eat those calories, too! Your net calories should be 1500-1800. I started slow and still had a bit of a drop in supply around week 2, so I stepped back the workouts and upped my cals here and there to get it back. GL!
  • ering
    ering Posts: 183 Member
    I add it in my food diary. I was adding it as excercise untill I read on here that you could add it into your food diary. I like it that way better. It's easier for me. :)
  • laurakrowe
    laurakrowe Posts: 52
    This is our third baby (and last! baby shop is closed!!!) I breast fed our first 2 - DD#1 till 27 months and DD#2 till 30 months. i agree - while breastfeeding the weight stayed off - it was AFTER that i gained so quickly!!!
  • squitzwife
    squitzwife Posts: 51 Member
    that's interesting. I could NEVER loose weight while breastfeeding. It was like my body was storing. I wonder if I wasn't eating enough and by body was storing fat to make up for the difference.
  • tootsiekef
    tootsiekef Posts: 14
    I am breastfeeding. Have been for 8 months. My son is on baby food now, but I still add in an extra 500 calories. I have been losing weight pretty steady and I am pleased with my progress. I did notice at first that my supply went down. I supplemented with some natural viatimins that seemed to help. It is called fenugreek...not sure if I am spelling it correctly. I got it at GNC. Not sure if you will need it, but my supply has never been really high. I would recommend focusing on what you eat instead of worrying so much about calories. Your baby needs the nutrients from veggies and fruits. If you stick to those as your primary food source, you'll be giving your baby everything he needs. Yes, I do eat meat and carbs, but try to make them the side dishes, instead of the main dishes.
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    This is our third baby (and last! baby shop is closed!!!) I breast fed our first 2 - DD#1 till 27 months and DD#2 till 30 months. i agree - while breastfeeding the weight stayed off - it was AFTER that i gained so quickly!!!

    *high five* I didn't have a chance to gain weight after our first because we got pregnant with her little brother when she was still nursing at 10 months. She nursed all through the pregnancy, which kept me from gaining too much pregnancy weight, which was nice, and then #2 nursed until he was 2 years old. And then I just kept eating and eating and blew up like a balloon. :laugh:
  • ajbeans
    ajbeans Posts: 2,857 Member
    that's interesting. I could NEVER loose weight while breastfeeding. It was like my body was storing. I wonder if I wasn't eating enough and by body was storing fat to make up for the difference.

    Very likely. I think some women naturally have a hard time losing while nursing, but I think much of the time it's because they're just not eating enough or sleeping enough because they're so busy with the baby.
  • ering
    ering Posts: 183 Member
    that's interesting. I could NEVER loose weight while breastfeeding. It was like my body was storing. I wonder if I wasn't eating enough and by body was storing fat to make up for the difference.

    Baby #5 is 9 months old and I never lost weight while nursing any of my babies!!! I'd loose a little bit but it seems like the last 15 or so doesn't come off untill after I wean baby.
  • laurakrowe
    laurakrowe Posts: 52
    OMG same here!
    DD#1 was 17m old when i got pregnant w/ #2 - and nursed my whole pregnancy. I barely gained any weight that pregnancy (over 40lbs weight gain w/ #1 and about 20lbs w/ #2) and then ... I BALLOONED!
    I've lost 40lbs so far since #3 was born - i know it's all due to breasfeeding.


    i added it as an exercise - 500 calories.
  • HonestOmnivore
    HonestOmnivore Posts: 1,356 Member
    It does count! Depending on how much your child is taking in it can really end up. It's concidered the very best way to lose weight after having a baby =) If you have a lot of weight to lose I'd not count the calories and think of it as icing on the top! If you only need to lose a few pounds (less than 20) you can determine the aproximate calorie count by figuring out how much your baby is eating. To do this get an infant scale (the kind you lay the baby in) and weigh your child before and after nursing. If you chang the baby's outfit, add or remove a blanket or change a diaper between weigh-ins it won't be acurate.

    The actual calorie count seems low - aproximately 20 calories per ounce. If you count it I would find an equivilent exercise to the calorie count you're counting.

    Nutrition Facts
    Serving Size: 8.7 oz

    Amount per Serving
    Calories 172 Calories from Fat 97
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 10.8g 17%
    Saturated Fat 4.9g 24%
    Cholesterol 34mg 11%
    Sodium 42mg 2%
    Potassium 125.5mg 4%
    Total Carbohydrate 17g 6%
    Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
    Sugars 16.9g
    Protein 2.5g 5%


    Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate/nutrition-calories/food/generic/human-breast-milk/#ixzz1EbzwMPIk
  • frogtox
    frogtox Posts: 36
    Same thing here... I got pg with #2 when DD was 7 months old and still nursing. My supply dropped big time so had to wean her not too long after that. Then I BFd DS til he was 10 mos. THEN I put the weight on.
  • WildcatMom82
    WildcatMom82 Posts: 564 Member
    that's interesting. I could NEVER loose weight while breastfeeding. It was like my body was storing. I wonder if I wasn't eating enough and by body was storing fat to make up for the difference.
    This was totally the case for me. I felt like a loser because all these people were losing weight like crazy and saying it was because of BFing and no matter what I did I stayed the same. I was so used to eating in the 1400-1600 calorie range that I was doing it out of habit and it wasn't near enough. Since joining MFP the lowest amount I eat is 1800 with some days getting as high as 2400 and it only took a little over a month to lose 10 lbs.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories