Calories and breastfeeding?

kristenlynn09 · November 2015

I've done some research, and I've read that you can burn anywhere from 250-850 calories while breastfeeding! That's such a big range. I want to be able to compensate for those calories in my diet so that my milk supply doesn't tank. I'm on the heavier side (5'4 170 lbs), so would that mean I would need fewer calories to sustain my milk? Currently I'm adding an extra 250 calories of "exercise" to factor in those burned through breasfeeding.

3dogsrunning · November 2015

850 is rather high. Most estimates are between 250-500 calories burned. The higher end is usually when you are exclusively breastfeeding, the lower when you start to introduce solids.

When I was nursing I set my goal to maintainance and included my exercise, letting the deficit come from nursing.
It may be up to the individual on how big of a deficit will affect your milk supply. I've seen recommendations of eating at least 1800 calories (but that also depends on how accurate you are logging).
If you aren't starving/struggling and you don't see an issue with supply, you are probably ok.

Yi5hedr3 · November 2015

400-600 is more accurate.

WinterSkies · November 2015

I aimed to eat a minimum of 1800 calories per day. When my daughter was nursing exclusively, I added 500 calories per day extra. Once she started solids and scaled back with nursing, I bumped that down to 300, then 200 calories. Now, she nurses once a day (at 14 months), and I don't eat back any extra calories. I have never had a supply issue, but I also had an oversupply to begin with.

You'll have to find what works for you. If 250/day is maintaining your supply, and you're not losing at an excessive rate, then stick with it! If you find that your loss is a lot more than 2lb/week, you might want to allow yourself 300 or 400 calories per day, to keep your loss at a healthy level. Have fun with your baby!

victoria_1024 · November 2015

If you're exclusively breastfeeding, it could be close to 500 extra a day. If you are doing solids or supplementing, it'll be more like 200-300. I did 500 extra until e started solids at 6 months and then dropped to 300. Once he turns 1 I'll drop again to 200. But it's all sort of a guessing game, so pick a number and then play around with it. If you're not losing weight, take off 100 extra. If your supply is going down, add an extra 100. You should try to log very accurately though and weigh your food. I've lost 75 lbs since February while exclusively nursing and my supply has been fine. In the beginning it felt like I was able to eat a ton and I still lost weight. Now that I'm so much lighter and only 5'2" my calories have dropped quite a bit. My supply seems to be fine though.

kristenlynn09 · November 2015

Thanks for the responses! I'm exclusively breastfeeding right now. She's only 3 months, so we probably won't be introducing solids for another 3 months. I'll put my calorie burn closer to 500 then and see how it goes. I've been hungry even after meeting my daily calorie goal, so it would be nice to include one more snack. And 75 lbs is super impressive!! Great work!

blankiefinder · November 2015

I didn't lose any weight while breastfeeding. I would say just monitor your weight average over time and adjust accordingly, but I would go on the conservative side rather than the higher range.

Purplebunnysarah · November 2015

Even after starting solids you should keep breastfeeding calories at 500 until baby starts to drop feeds.

HealthyBodySickMind · November 2015

Also you can log breastfeeding as a negative food in the database. I stopped adding back bfing calories when she hit a year old, but she's still going.

kristenlynn09 · November 2015

HealthyBodySickMind wrote: »

Also you can log breastfeeding as a negative food in the database. I stopped adding back bfing calories when she hit a year old, but she's still going.

Good to know! How do you add a negative food?

Calories and breastfeeding?

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