Nursing Moms?

mjrnner
mjrnner Posts: 18 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi,
I am the working mom of a 2 year old and a 3 month old who I am nursing (just the baby:). Looking to lose ~10lbs to get back to my pre-baby weight within a year of her birth. Anyone out there nursing and trying to lose too? I am pretty new here but liking it and have been pretty consistent so far.

Thanks!
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Replies

  • OregonCountryGirl
    OregonCountryGirl Posts: 53
    Hello! I am nursing my second daughter who is now 14 months!!! My oldest is now3.5 and I nursed her for 22 months..... I hope to NOT nurse this one as long but probably at least 18 months!
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    most of my friends on here are from the what to expect boards and a lot of them are nursing and losing weight. Just make sure you are logging it in your diary to ensure your production doesn't go down and you are getting enough calories.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
    I am still nursing but it's down to only once or twice a day most days. (my little one is over a year old :-) )

    If you go to your food diary as if you're entering a snack or whatever, you can type in 'breastfeeding' and it will bring up several options for you to choose from - pick one that sounds right for your nursing situation and it will give you credit for more calories so that you can continue to support your nursing relationship during your weightloss. :-) For example if your MFP calorie goal is 1500 and you go into your diary and log 'breastfeeding exclusively' it will give you an additional 500 calories. If it's not exclusive, enter the option that fits your situation and it will be less than 500.

    *editted for number typo ;)
  • kbonamour
    kbonamour Posts: 49 Member
    I am also a nursing mom to my beautiful 6-week old baby girl, Serenity. I'm thinking about switching to just pumping and then bottle feeding her what I pump because she is an incredibly slow eater, and no matter how hard I try to keep her awake, she always falls asleep during her feedings. It takes me well over an hour to nurse her at every feeding, and then she is hungry again 45 minutes to an hour later.
  • kbonamour
    kbonamour Posts: 49 Member
    When I log breastfeeding, it gives me an additional 500 calories per day. Should it only be 300 per day?
  • Summerleahd
    Summerleahd Posts: 314 Member
    Been nursing my baby for 10 months now :). I'll wean when she is ready. I was 206 the day I went in to have her, and am now at 156. Still working on those last 20 pounds.
  • Summerleahd
    Summerleahd Posts: 314 Member
    When I log breastfeeding, it gives me an additional 500 calories per day. Should it only be 300 per day?


    500 for the first 6 months, then 300 after. I've honestly stopped logging it after seven months since I felt I didnt need to and just stayed above 1500 calories, and I've had no problem with my supply
  • mjrnner
    mjrnner Posts: 18 Member
    Wow, lots of us! Thanks ladies! Yes I found the "breastfeeding" option, it gives me 500 calories since she isn't eating anything else right now. I nursed my first for about 14 months and will probably do about the same - already counting down the months to stop pumping though (9 more!). Great job to those of you who have already lost so much weight! Thanks for checking in and feel free to send me a friend request if you'd like - I'd love some support from other moms!
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
    When I log breastfeeding, it gives me an additional 500 calories per day. Should it only be 300 per day?

    Oops, sorry guys my 300 was a typo. 500 is correct for exclusive breastfeeding. I think I was thinking of pregnancy when I said 300. Sorry. Carry on. :-)
  • raisingbabyk
    raisingbabyk Posts: 442 Member
    Me :smile: So far so good. Down 30lbs and have had no supply issues!
  • xsarakhx
    xsarakhx Posts: 6
    I am currently still nursing my 14 month old daughter and I've stopped adding it to my diary because I felt like I was counting on those "extra calories" too much and it has helped me to stay more focused and hasn't dropped my supply at all. I have been trying to give her a cup of milk at lunch time since she doesn't nurse then and she is refusing to drink any milk from a cup, doesn't matter if it is breast milk, cow's milk or a bit of both.
  • xsarakhx
    xsarakhx Posts: 6
    And feel free to add me if you'd like.
  • jenny198004
    jenny198004 Posts: 2
    I'm nursing my 3 month old son eating 1800 cals per day i wasn't loosing anything, i just joined myfitnesspal on sunday eating 1200 cals per day should i worry about loosing my milk supply
  • dlyeates
    dlyeates Posts: 875 Member
    I'm a nursing mother (only morning and evening) to my 18 month old daughter. Will do that until she is 25 months old (27 months for my son....basically end of the school year).

    I started eating healthier when she was 8 months old and I did lose a lot of my supply. I also wasn't on here or being really smart about my eating either. I restarted my journey on here when she was 15 months old. I got tired of people asking if I was expecting again!!!

    I don't log it because if she nurses for more than 5 minutes at either time it's a miracle. It can be done!!!

    I want to remind all new mothers that it took you 9 months to put on the weight and it can take longer to take it off. Don't stress out!!! Enjoy your children and it will happen!!!
  • 2xrta4xm
    2xrta4xm Posts: 7 Member
    I'm exclusively nursing my 3.5 month old daughter so am adding the extra 500 cals per day which brings my total up to around 1900, if I excercise I try to eat back the cals too, seems to be working so far - lost 3 lbs last week, another 28 lbs to go to reach my pre pregnancy weight. :)
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
    I'm nursing my 3 month old son eating 1800 cals per day i wasn't loosing anything, i just joined myfitnesspal on sunday eating 1200 cals per day should i worry about loosing my milk supply

    1200 is the minimum for a woman that is *not* breastfeeding. If you're breastfeeding your 3 month old exclusively (no formula or other foods) then your body needs about 500 calories per day to keep that up. So you might want to consider setting your goal manually to 1700 or else adding in the 'breastfeeding' every day in your food diary so it will give you those extra calories to eat. Breastfeeding is kind of like a workout, it takes calories for your body to be able to supply milk for the baby. :)

    P.S. I love your photo. :)
  • jenny198004
    jenny198004 Posts: 2
    i give him a bottle of formula every night so he'll sleep longer
  • sdduck
    sdduck Posts: 1
    Just what I was looking for myself! I have 3 kids and my youngest is 4 months old. I too, am looking to lose 10 lbs. But I'm afraid of dieting might not be good for nursing, help! How many calories are suppose to consume while trying to lose weight?
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
    i give him a bottle of formula every night so he'll sleep longer

    If it's just that one feeding that he gets something other than breastmilk, I'd say estimate your calories at around 400. The options that MFP gives are exclusively being 500 calories and nursing an older baby being 300. But you are really really close to exclusive so I'd go with 400 since it's right in the middle. That should be enough to keep up your nursing needs but not too much. But that's just one random person's opinion from the other side of the computer screen ;) so take it for what it's worth. :-)
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
    Just what I was looking for myself! I have 3 kids and my youngest is 4 months old. I too, am looking to lose 10 lbs. But I'm afraid of dieting might not be good for nursing, help! How many calories are suppose to consume while trying to lose weight?

    Take whatever goal that MFP gave you (assuming when you completed your profile you told MFP that you want to lose weight, they already calculate it so that you will lose weight just eating that amount even if you don't exercise) and then add in some for nursing. Consider nursing to be a workout that you need extra energy for. If you exercise and log those exercise calories burned here on MFP, it 'gives back' those calories and tells you that you can eat more. That's b/c the calorie goal they give you will make you lose weight even if you don't exercise. So when you *do* exercise and log that in, the site pretty much says 'dang, you didn't have to exercise to lose weight, but you did! Great job! You've earned yourself a snack for your hard work!' Nursing is the same way. It's like an extra exercise that you don't have to do to lose weight, so you need extra energy to sustain it. Go into your food diary and click to 'add food' to one of the categories (like under snacks or whatever you want) and then type 'breastfeeding' into the box. Pick one of the options given that sounds right for your situation, add it to your diary, and then take a look at your calorie goal listed at the bottom. MFP will add back some extra calories b/c you told it you're breastfeeding, so it knows that you need extra calories to sustain that activity. Whatever your calorie goal was before, you will notice it goes up by that amount that is listed for breastfeeding. You do have to do this on a daily basis, though.

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