Do I need to eat extra calories if I am breastfeeding?

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shweta156
shweta156 Posts: 23 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I have a 4 month old who is exclusively breastfed. Do I need to eat extra calories? I do not want my food intake or lack of it to in any way affect her. I try to keep within 1200 limit however most of the times by the end of the day I am hungry.

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Yes...you are feeding two people. Maybe you should also talk to your doctor about what level of calorie restriction you should really have right now.

    When my wife was breastfeeding, her doctor told her it amounted to about 500 calories per day...she lost weight eating about 1700 - 1800 calories per day while breast feeding.
  • jasonp_ritzert
    jasonp_ritzert Posts: 357 Member
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    I agree with cwolfman, talk to your doctor. Speaking from another male perspective, my wife was able to eat pretty much anything she wanted and still lost her baby weight relatively quickly and our daughter breastfed for the first year.
  • littlelovelylauren
    littlelovelylauren Posts: 3
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    I'm ebf my 6 month old and I'm on 1,800 calories a day. I am not usually that hungry at the end of the day, but it depends on how much exercise I get.
  • shweta156
    shweta156 Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks everyone I will definitely make an appointment with the doctor. Also, in the meantime increase my calories intake.
  • prettyfitchick
    prettyfitchick Posts: 502 Member
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    I was wondering this same thing I am also ebf mom and was wondering do I just add an extra 500 to my calorie goal?
  • clyn27
    clyn27 Posts: 102 Member
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    I was always told you use an extra 500 calories a day breastfeeding. It also matters what you eat for some women. It's been a long time since I had to worry about supply so I forgot what the good foods are to up it if you notice a drop. There is a web site called babycenter.com. I love that site for anything child related. The ladies on that site can point you in the direction of food that is good for you and your milk supply.
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
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    speaking to a midwife or lactation consultant is a better option than an OB. an extra 400-500 calories per day is not unheard-of for maximum energy and to keep-up your milk supply. drink alot of water, too. (i used to pour a huge glass of grape juice before i would sit down to nurse - for some reason that helped me to relax and i could pretend it was wine LOL) keep in mind, a banana is about 100 calories, a glass of juice can be 200+ calories, so when you need "extra" it's really not going to be alot of extra food. :smile: you want to make sure you are making plenty of milk, and once you establish a supply, you want to keep it. :smile:
  • Ninkyou
    Ninkyou Posts: 6,666 Member
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    Yes, you should. At the very minimum, I've read an exclusively breastfeeding mother should eat no less than 1800 calories.
  • La5Vega5Girl
    La5Vega5Girl Posts: 709 Member
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    also, keep in mind that there are times when the demand will be greater. right before your baby starts a growth-spurt s/he will demand more milk so as to increase your supply. those times you might feel hungry all the time - a good cue to eat more. you can always cut back once the supply is increased and baby grows.
  • honkytonks85
    honkytonks85 Posts: 669 Member
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    http://kellymom.com/nutrition/mothers-diet/mom-weightloss/
  • shweta156
    shweta156 Posts: 23 Member
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    Thanks everyone you have been great help.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
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    Please refer to your OB for this question, too sensitive and important for MFP.
  • jmauerhan
    jmauerhan Posts: 82 Member
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    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Please refer to your OB for this question, too sensitive and important for MFP.

    An OB is a surgeon, why would you ask them about breastfeeding?

    It's not a "sensitive" thing really, it's fairly common knowledge and easy to find out that breastfeeding uses calories, and estimates for how many are on many websites.
  • Sam_I_Am77
    Sam_I_Am77 Posts: 2,093 Member
    edited January 2015
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    jmauerhan wrote: »
    Sam_I_Am77 wrote: »
    Please refer to your OB for this question, too sensitive and important for MFP.

    An OB is a surgeon, why would you ask them about breastfeeding?

    It's not a "sensitive" thing really, it's fairly common knowledge and easy to find out that breastfeeding uses calories, and estimates for how many are on many websites.

    Ha ha, I'm a guy and haven't had kids yet. My wife and I are trying and she was talking about her OBGYN so that's my relation for that one, LOL. Making sure your baby is adequately fed seems to important to ask of MFP IMO, that's all.

  • Cacheola
    Cacheola Posts: 50 Member
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    You need POTASSIUM, lots. 5100mg
  • Dinah93
    Dinah93 Posts: 27 Member
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    Speak to your doctor, but breastfeeding and calories isn't an exact science. 'An extra 500' is a bit of a difficult statement as extra to what? It may still be too low for a strict diet like 1200 calories. Some women can eat what they want while breastfeeding and the weight drops off. Some women really struggle to lose weight, for me personally any drop in calories decreased my milk supply but I didn't lose any weight at all. My body was taking the energy from my milk rather than my fat reserves, it was only when I finished breastfeeding I could lose. I was exclusively expressing so it was very easy for me to see the difference. When I dropped to 1500 calories from my daily average of around 2100-2400 I went from getting 950ml a day to 420ml which was not enough for my baby so after 3 days and no bounce back I had to up the calories again.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
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    I burned a TON of calories producing milk...I also had an oversupply, so my body was overdoing it a bit. All 3 kids, I lost the pregnancy weight very quickly...and ate ALL THE FOOD, ALL THE TIME while nursing.

    Trouble was, when the last one weaned, I kept eating with reckless abandon....and so we find me here, Lol.
  • UnicornAmanda
    UnicornAmanda Posts: 294 Member
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    Totally talk to your doctor! I'm not breastfeeding (yet) but I have heard that breastfeeding burns about 500 calories a day. I feel 1200-1300 calories is too little for most people who aren't even breastfeeding lol. Try looking up a BMR calculator online- most of the time they have an option that asks if you are pregnant or breastfeeding and it allows you extra calories a day.

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