Breastfeeding

kimmydear
kimmydear Posts: 298 Member
edited September 27 in Food and Nutrition
Anyone else breastfeeding and doing MFP? I added 300 calories to my daily allowance and am pretty much just tracking so I am more aware of what I'm eating. The exercise is hit or miss still. Anyone having success while bfing?

Replies

  • jtndle
    jtndle Posts: 54 Member
    I just weaned my 14 month old this week but had been nursing before then. Since he was older I had used the option for nursing an older baby that added in 300 calories per day. Worked great!
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    I'm nursing my 3 year old, but she nurses so little I don't log it. She mainly nurses right after she wakes up in the morning, nap time and just before bed.
  • MirandaDeCrane
    MirandaDeCrane Posts: 78 Member
    I'm nursing my 16 month old still :) I quit pumping at work, so she nurses about 4-5x in the afternoons/nights...i'm at 38lbs lost, and really saw the increase is success as she weaned a little. (I am a ravenous, starving beast while breastfeeding LOL)

    How awesome to see so many nurse past one year!
  • Karleyyy
    Karleyyy Posts: 857
    I put it under exercise as 300 and it works fine! When my 8 month old was younger, I allowed myself 500.
  • MirandaDeCrane
    MirandaDeCrane Posts: 78 Member
    I wasn't really sure how many calories I burned because she was a toddler, so I upped my activity level a little...seems to work ok :)

    That makes me curious as to how many she does burn!
  • Pea4jjab
    Pea4jjab Posts: 216 Member
    I am nursing our 11 month old, but haven't given myself any extra calories for it. I've been using MFP for just over 2 months now. I've only lost 2 lbs. total. This is unfortunately how my body works while nursing though (our youngest is also our 9th child) :)
  • alyssa92982
    alyssa92982 Posts: 1,093 Member
    I just added an extra 300 to my total daily allowance in my settings. So far so goo-supply good and 4 month old seems happy . I'm back to prepregnancy weight
  • janew68
    janew68 Posts: 37
    I read somewhere that you burn between 300-600 calories a day, depending on how ofter you nurse. I'm exclusively breastfeeding, anywhere between 6-8 times a day, so I allowed myself the higher number, and my baby is 10 weeks old. This definitely makes sense, because before I even started MFP (just over 3 weeks ago), I had already lost about 26-27lbs, and I wasn't dieting or exercising.
  • maoribadger
    maoribadger Posts: 1,837 Member
    From a bit of reading around it looked to me like the reccomendation is if trying to lose weight you still eat a minimum of fifteen hundred cal and preferably closer to eighteen hundred while exclusively feeding and Dont lose more than two pound a week so i used custom goals and set up eighteen hundred with a carb protein fat ratio of fifty twenty five twenty five to allow for sufficient fat that my milk isnt affected and lost two pound in first ten days despite a couple bad days while adjusting. Seems to be working for me so far and i Dont log the breast feeding as i have accounted for it. My little one is eight weeks
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
    I just stopped feeding my 3 year old. He was only feeding once a day, so I wasn't allowing for it at all, though it may have been a key factor in why I lost weight so much faster than mfp thought I should.

    If I have any more children I don't expect to try losing any weight until they're mainly reliant on solids, so from about 18 months. I expect to use mfp then too. I'm trying to find my maintenance calories now, which seem to be around 1800, and I'll add 300 or more to that.
  • SunnyDuckz
    SunnyDuckz Posts: 59 Member
    I'm nursing my 2 year old and add it under snacks~ 'breasfeeding older child'. He nurses sometimes 4-5 times daily still. So far, so good... I wasn't able to lose any pregnancy weight (except an initial 10 lbs, lol) but have lost 15 lbs since starting MFP. I think if DS starts nursing less or I hit a plateau I'll stop logging it.

    I excersise every day and burn 400-600 calories. I have a hard time eating back all of my excersise calories some days, but I've had good results so far and no drop in milk production (that I can tell) :D
  • SunnyDuckz
    SunnyDuckz Posts: 59 Member
    I'm nursing my 3 year old, but she nurses so little I don't log it. She mainly nurses right after she wakes up in the morning, nap time and just before bed.
    I love seeing other 'extended breastfeeders'! I like your avitar picture too... I've wrapped up my kiddos the same way, although now I use the Ergo more than the other wraps.
  • kristydi
    kristydi Posts: 781 Member
    I'm nursing my 3 year old, but she nurses so little I don't log it. She mainly nurses right after she wakes up in the morning, nap time and just before bed.
    I love seeing other 'extended breastfeeders'! I like your avitar picture too... I've wrapped up my kiddos the same way, although now I use the Ergo more than the other wraps.

    I'm loving seeing all the people nursing past a year too.

    The carrier in my avatar isn't a carrier really. It's my DH's long sleeve button up shirt. We were on a hike that was longer and more challenging than expected. She was worn out and I was caught without a carrier. I was so glad I had learned to wrap that day.

    I usually use my Beco these days, or my ring sling for quick trips with a cranky kid.
  • jovon_84
    jovon_84 Posts: 7 Member
    I'm still bf my 17 month old however he just nurse 3 times a day at most so I haven't been logging it.

    Oh and I have an ergo that we use a ton too:)
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    The rule of thumb is 500 calories for breastfeeding exclusively. It does go down once they start getting more nutrients from solids.

    And you probably want to double your water intake too!
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    The rule of thumb is 500 calories for breastfeeding exclusively. It does go down once they start getting more nutrients from solids.

    And you probably want to double your water intake too!

    Oops, was trying to reply to the post who asked about how many calories. To loose weight, 300 probably works, as long as you don't drop too low below your goal, and drink lots of water.
  • SunnyDuckz
    SunnyDuckz Posts: 59 Member
    I'm nursing my 3 year old, but she nurses so little I don't log it. She mainly nurses right after she wakes up in the morning, nap time and just before bed.
    I love seeing other 'extended breastfeeders'! I like your avitar picture too... I've wrapped up my kiddos the same way, although now I use the Ergo more than the other wraps.

    I'm loving seeing all the people nursing past a year too.

    The carrier in my avatar isn't a carrier really. It's my DH's long sleeve button up shirt. We were on a hike that was longer and more challenging than expected. She was worn out and I was caught without a carrier. I was so glad I had learned to wrap that day.

    I usually use my Beco these days, or my ring sling for quick trips with a cranky kid.

    Wow, that is genius :) Good job!
  • VanillaBean81
    VanillaBean81 Posts: 1 Member
    Help! :) I'm new to MFP and breastfeed my 9-month-old daughter and/or pump 4-6 times a day. How exactly do I account for the extra calories that breastfeeding requires/burns? Is there a way to change my daily allowance of calories somehow? I've been poking around the site but haven't seen a way to do it ...
  • kimmydear
    kimmydear Posts: 298 Member
    Hi! I just did it through:

    My Home
    Goals
    Change Goals

    Then I manually added 300 calories.

    Kim
  • crystalslight
    crystalslight Posts: 322 Member
    In the food diary database under generic exclusive breast feeding- it takes off 500 calories. My LO is only 4 months old. So I figure this is pretty accurate.
    From past experience, I haven't been able to lose weight while BFing. I think my body goes into production mode and holds on to the weight. I also talked to my Dr about it and she said that when BFing your hormones are wacky and some women won't lose weight while BFing but if they are exercising and eating well. When they stop it'll come off really fast.
    With my last 3, This has been the case. I'm hoping with the help of MFP that I can actually lose some weight WHILE BFing.
    Good luck. Hope all of us MOMMIES start to lose weight. :)
  • MJLavaty
    MJLavaty Posts: 72 Member
    I tried MFP months ago while BF and couldn't lose weight...although I now realize I wasn't eating healthy and just saving my calories for one meal mostly. Now I have just started again and taking all this into consideration. I'm trying to meet all the nutrition requirements instead of just calories...I tried other weight loss means to and it seemed to not matter how many cals I ate or how much I exercised I couldn't lose the weight. And I was ravenous. Hopefully I can now.

    Seems like you all were/are able to lose weight while BF...wondering if there are anymore like me out there?
  • Tiffeney
    Tiffeney Posts: 87 Member
    I am still breastfeeding too my daughter is 30 months old or 2 & 1/2 ! I have been at this since January join the site at the end on March and so far only lost a pound ! I do not add the calories since I was not seeing a change ! I seem to do better when I drink alot of water ! I am really not sure if she is even getting any milk . I ask her & she says yes ! I never pumped with this one I am a stay at home mommy and am always running or fighting with them so never had enough time to do that for this one ! I BF all three of my children and my oldest that is 16 is my step daughter that we have full custudy off since I was 23 and she was 5.
  • modestguineapig
    modestguineapig Posts: 23 Member
    I'm brand new to this site also and was wondering the same. Would it work to keep your calorie intake goal the same and just add an exercise "breastfeeding" as 250 calories (conservative estimate for 6 month old with 2 solid "meals" a day)?
  • mvanwey
    mvanwey Posts: 5
    the rule of thumb is 20 calories per ounce produced, so its really easy if you just pump, but a little more difficult if you are just a nurser. i do both since i work as a RN. i burn about 600-750 calories/day! i add back in 500 calories to my daliy cal intake !
  • PositiveMummy
    PositiveMummy Posts: 56
    I bf my 4 month old and just put -200 for bf into snacks, then I try and make sure I eat all my allowed calories (my normal is 1200). My milk is fine and she seems happy, I've lost 14lbs in just over 3 weeks :) She is also now having a little bit of baby rice for tea as well as her normal feeds. I LOVE breastfeeding and wouldnt ever want to risk her milk not being good enough, but I have no worries so am gonna keep going!
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