Breastfeeding and weight loss

Leah_62803 · April 2017

I'm hoping to find someone with some knowledge or experience with this. I've plugged in my stats in several different tools to see how many calories I need to lose weight but I've gotten several different results.
It's doubly confusing to me because I'm a breastfeeding mother...but my baby is older (17 months) so he's also eating solids. When I look up how many calories I need to add to maintain my milk supply, it keeps saying 500 but that's for newborns or babies who are exclusively breastfed (mine is not since he eats solids).
I feel like I'm probably overthinking this but I'm worried about it.

I'm 5'4 with a pretty sedentary life but I've started walking every day. I started at 195 lbs and now I'm at 177.6 lbs, most of that from before I started counting calories, just eating better. The 195 wasn't baby weight either. I lost the baby weight quickly and don't count it.

I've got my calories set at 1600. I add exercise calories in and sometimes I eat them, sometimes I don't. I even include 200 calories burned for breastfeeding. Lol.

Would you change anything? I don't think I need to go lower because I have lost a couple lbs like this. I'm just worried about my milk supply. I know baby doesn't *need* it anymore but neither one of us are ready to wean right now.

Leah_62803 · April 2017

I should also mention that I'm not in a huge hurry to lose the weight. I want to lose it by April 2018 so I have a whole year.
I mean, I won't complain of it comes off sooner but if I need it to go slow that's ok.

sonicmermaid · April 2017

I'm nursing my 8 month old and have been eating 1800-2000 calories, and in 4 weeks I've lost 19lbs. Which is a lot to lose so quick, I think. But I never lost the baby weight after having him - this is me only just losing it now, but I don't know if that makes a difference. If I were you, I'd eat your maintenance calories for a week or two and see what you lose. If you lose 0.5-2lbs a week, just keep eating at maintenance until you stall. If you lose more, then up your calories - if you lose less, maybe lower your calories. That's just what I'd do though. Sorry not much help.

victoria_1024 · April 2017

Honestly by the time my toddler was that age, I didn't really eat much back for breastfeeding calories. Maybe an extra 100-200 a day if you're still nursing a few times a day. But if you're losing weight doing what you are currently doing, I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't be too worried about milk supply since it's well established at this point.

My 2 year old has now pretty much been weaned since January and I miss my extra breastfeeding calories!

Leah_62803 · April 2017

Thanks. My supply should definitely be well established by now! He still nurses several times a day. Sometimes just a 5 minute "snack" and sometimes longer (usually before naps and bedtime). Plus he still nurses a few times during the night.

BigBadVanna · April 2017

Like previous poster said, your milk supply is well established by this point. Supply/demand is going to have a much larger impact than your calorie intake.

annacole94 · April 2017

I counted a few calories at that age, but honestly, you couldn't stop lactating if you tried at this point, if your toddler keeps nursing. It IS probably 100-200 calories worth, so it will accelerate your loss if you don't count it. At your weight, losing around 1 lb/week is a good goal. If you find you're losing MUCH faster than that, add some calories back in for a while.

Leah_62803 · April 2017

annacole94 wrote: »

I counted a few calories at that age, but honestly, you couldn't stop lactating if you tried at this point, if your toddler keeps nursing. It IS probably 100-200 calories worth, so it will accelerate your loss if you don't count it. At your weight, losing around 1 lb/week is a good goal. If you find you're losing MUCH faster than that, add some calories back in for a while.

That's good to know! I asked about it in a breastfeeding group but most responses were from women with much younger babies who said I shouldn't be cutting any calories or I might lose my supply. Or replies from moms talking about "baby weight". This isn't baby weight...it's just me being fat. Lol.

kimny72 · April 2017

All the calculators are just guessing based on population averages. Pick whichever one you want, stick to that number for 4-6 weeks and see what happens. If you are losing weight at an acceptable rate, stay at it. If you are losing really fast, increase your cals a little. If you are losing too slow, decrease a little. Real world results are the only way to really know the right number, so just pick one that looks reasonable and go for it

ruqayyahsmum · April 2017

My sons 14 months and for me if i drop my calories away from maintenance my supply does drop ( i nurse boyo every few hours day and night and i express in between too, extreme prem born 15 weeks early with health issues, he needs the milk )

annacole94 · April 2017

Nursing a toddler is a whole different thing than a baby. I got to the point where I could go away for a few days and resume nursing with nothing in between. Even if you do something that lowers your supply, it should be reversible.

Harbin2017 · April 2017

I agree with the post above. I weaned my baby like 1 month ago and in the process i noticed that i was still producing milk after a week of last breastfeeding or so. Baby was 10 months old. I don't think you need extra calories at this point.

jesshb900 · April 2017

WW suggested something like an extra 500 cal if baby was exclusively nursing, extra 250 if baby was nursing and getting formula or solids as well. You could try that for a few weeks, see what it does to your weight loss.

Breastfeeding and weight loss

Replies

Categories