Breastfeeding & Trying to Loose Weight

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mamato4boys1girl
mamato4boys1girl Posts: 151
in Motivation and Support
I just had baby #4 on the 1st of October and am exclusively breastfeeding him. I have to fit in workouts between when he will be nursing, like when hubby gets home I nurse him then change and rush off to the gym for a workout before he will want to nurse again. He has taken a bottle or two but doesn't really like them & that requires me to pump which I'll be honest I hate to take the time to do. Supposibly breastfeeding helps burn calories but I just don't know how much I believe that, cause I don't think I've ever really seen it to much!
I am just looking to see if there are any other breastfeeding moms out there who are trying to get the baby weight (or more) off. Have you adjusted your calories to include a little more for the nursing? Do you count breastfeeding in your exercise?

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  • bkmush
    bkmush Posts: 27
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    I am no longer breastfeeding since my youngest is 4 :) but I'm a huge fan of it...even though it made for some of the most challenging months of my life it's been one of the best things I've done as a parent. Both of my children breastfed exclusively the first 6 months (my first I never tried a bottle and my second wouldn't take it and I didn't push it that much). They both continued to breastfed until they self-weaned around 2 but of course as they got older they had more and more foods and relied on me less and less (in the final year i think it was more for comfort at bedtime or when they were sick). My 10 year old has had one fever her entire life. Neither kid has ever had an ear infection, flu or major cold. They have only ever been to the doctor for their yearly check-up. I don't claim that is all from breastfeeding but I'm thinking it had to have helped!

    Anyway, you just had your baby, give yourself some time. I know this is your 4th so you are more of a pro at this then I can ever imagine but remember that with 4 you know have the newborn, the other three AND yourself!!!

    When I breastfed I did struggle to lose weight...all the way till they weaned and then the weight started coming off. However, my doctor said I may have had a thyroid problem and it was out of whack post-partum PLUS I suffered post partum depression and was on zoloft - same say that attributes to weight gain some not but I know when I was on it I struggled.

    Anyway, I know it's not rock hard advice here - just someone saying congrats on giving your baby this gift and don't be too hard on yourself if you miss a few workouts for a good nap :) Drink drink drink and rest rest rest.

    I personally added 500 calories to the daily calories that was given to me at the time (at the time I did fitday.com as I didn't know of this site or maybe it wasn't even created yet?). So for me I was suppose to have 1800 and I consumed 2300 -- at least the first 6 months. You can play around with that. If you are drinking your fluids & resting you don't have to worry about not eating enough (unless you are being crazy and really cutting it).

    So you could try whatever MFP recommends + 500? I'd also try to eat some of your exercise calories and really focus on making every bite count because you need the nutrition!

    If you'd ever like, feel free to add me - I'm no expert but I've done a lot of work helping breastfeeding mothers and learned quite a bit.

    Congrats on your newest baby :) With 4 you must be a busy mama!
  • dlcam61
    dlcam61 Posts: 228 Member
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    Bump. I have another friend who has the same question, and I told her I'd research it and respond with an educated answer. I can do the same for you ;) Good job breastfeeding! The best thing possible for your baby :smile: I have 4 kids & I BF them all :flowerforyou:
  • mamato4boys1girl
    mamato4boys1girl Posts: 151
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    Thanks for the responses ladies! I have the breastfeeding thing down now, this being #4 I'm a pro!! I just have to work on eatting enough (good stuff) for me to be able to loose weight with the amount of exercise I can fit in for now.

    Guess there isn't really a big call for breastfeeding moms trying to loose weight. Oh well I'll keep on the look out and see if anyone else comes around. Would love to have some other mommies to chat with, get support and help keep each other motivated while we deal with our lack of sleep and having a child attached at the boob!!

    On another note:
    I had a WIC appointment this morning so I asked how many extra calories you should add to your daily intake while breastfeeding. She said at this point (he is only 2 months old) adding 500 would be good. And that I could slowly decrease that amount as he begins to nurse less. Eventually getting down to what they would have me at if I wasn't nursing at all when he begins eatting more food and nursing less and less. So I added the 500 for now & it definately makes my eatting look better, haha. I figure in about another two months I will start taking off a little at a time so that I am making sure to consume enough for both of us. Most days I get so busy that I know I don't eat enough so I have to tell myself to eat. But then I tend to go the other direction & eat more than I need, got to find that happy medium.
    Also found this information:
    It is true. To produce about 25 ounces of milk a day, it costs the nursing mother about 650 calories above her usual requirements. To meet this energy need, the Institute of Medicine recommends eating 500 calories extra calories a day. The remaining 150 calories are drawn from fat stores accumulated during pregnancy. It is important that the calories come from nutritious foods, especially meat-type foods for protein and iron and dairy products for calcium. Breastfeeding mothers usually lose 1 to 4 pounds per month without restricting their calorie intake. (Read about nutrition for nursing moms at About.com.)
  • carissapowell
    carissapowell Posts: 1
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    My daughter is 13 months old, and I've been breastfeeding this whole time. It's taken me a lot of work and almost a year to get to where I wanted to be. I'd still like to lose that last 5-10 lbs, but I figured once I quite breastfeeding it would come off a little easier. I'm an instructor for Baby Bootcamp North Dallas and bring baby with me every time I workout. That's been a HUGE help in motivating me to actually workout, since I don't have to worry about anyone else having to watch the baby. Is there a Baby Bootcamp/ Stroller Strides/ etc near you? The calorie counter on MFP has helped me make sure I'm getting ENOUGH calories when I workout.

    Congrats on baby #4!
  • mamato4boys1girl
    mamato4boys1girl Posts: 151
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    carissa - Unfortunately we live on an AFB that is in a very small town so there are not a lot of options here. The base gym does have a workout room designated to parents with a blocked off area for kids to play in but after taking my kids several times last year and having them get sick a lot a friend decided to clean the toys off one day and they were disgusting. It seems that they do not clean as much as they claim to and since parents bring their children in with colds, cough and snotty noses that are running every where without cleaning up after them I decided to not take my kids again. They were getting sick to much when I was going so now I try to work in my workouts when my hubby is home. But since he will be leaving in March to go overseas I will have to come up wtih a new plan. I did adjust my calorie intake to add the extra 500 for breastfeeding so now I just have to make sure that I am eatting good foods and enough of them. Good job on the breastfeeding. My 1st was the only one that I didn't really, he lasted about a month but never caught on no matter how much help I got so we switched him to bottle. The last two breastfed until I got pregnant with the next one cause then my milk dries up. So they each had about 3 months of formula on top of their 9 months of breastfeeding. I plan to keep going with this one for atleast the first year cause hubby will be gone and there will not be any surprise pregnancies this time!
  • Tiffeney
    Tiffeney Posts: 87 Member
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    I too am still breastfeeding , but she is 2 years yes I no she is to old to be still nursing , but you have not heard her cry I am hoping she weans soon ! Anyway there is no way I can deduct 500 cl do to she does not nurse that much maybe 3-4 times for about 10 minutes at the most. Really I am tired of guessing how many calories she is getting so I only give my self 50 extra calories a day and that seemed to work .
  • StabR80
    StabR80 Posts: 320 Member
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    I too am still breastfeeding , but she is 2 years yes I no she is to old to be still nursing , but you have not heard her cry I am hoping she weans soon ! Anyway there is no way I can deduct 500 cl do to she does not nurse that much maybe 3-4 times for about 10 minutes at the most. Really I am tired of guessing how many calories she is getting so I only give my self 50 extra calories a day and that seemed to work .

    she is not to old to nurse! :) Good for you, She will let you know when she is done :) My daughter is going on 16 months and we are still going strong. I have been ready to be done, but she has a diff agenda and I am ok with it. I do not count bf'ing myself, I did at the begging but I just dont now b/c I have no idea how much she actually gets since the majority of the time she nurses in the middle of the night ( my own fault, I jsut have deal with it) If i Had to guess I would sayshe might get 12-18 oz from me.
  • treadingpurple
    treadingpurple Posts: 53
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    I too am still breastfeeding , but she is 2 years yes I no she is to old to be still nursing , but you have not heard her cry I am hoping she weans soon ! Anyway there is no way I can deduct 500 cl do to she does not nurse that much maybe 3-4 times for about 10 minutes at the most. Really I am tired of guessing how many calories she is getting so I only give my self 50 extra calories a day and that seemed to work .

    Good for you that you are nursing a toddler! Not too many realize this, but the longer you breastfeed, the healthier both you and your baby are. Your decrease your risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and your baby/toddler gets extended immunity benefits. This comes in very handy when they are around other kids like a day care or at the park. When i have a baby, I plan on doing "child-led weaning", where the child decides when they are done nursing. If you go to www.mothering.com, they have all sorts of moms who breastfeed past 1 year old you could chat with.
  • treadingpurple
    treadingpurple Posts: 53
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    I just had baby #4 on the 1st of October and am exclusively breastfeeding him. I have to fit in workouts between when he will be nursing, like when hubby gets home I nurse him then change and rush off to the gym for a workout before he will want to nurse again. He has taken a bottle or two but doesn't really like them & that requires me to pump which I'll be honest I hate to take the time to do. Supposibly breastfeeding helps burn calories but I just don't know how much I believe that, cause I don't think I've ever really seen it to much!
    I am just looking to see if there are any other breastfeeding moms out there who are trying to get the baby weight (or more) off. Have you adjusted your calories to include a little more for the nursing? Do you count breastfeeding in your exercise?

    There is a book on Amazon.com called "Eat Well, Lose Weight While Breastfeeding". I can't remember the author, but my caregivers daughter used the tips in this book to lose her baby weight while nursing her first baby. You might also consider doing baby and mom yoga, which can help you lose weight and can even be fun for your baby.

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