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MARYWHITLEY
3/12/07 7:02 P
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| I had the hardest time trying to take in the proper nutrition while breastfeeding. Don't we all want to lose the weight while making sure the little one is getting everything he needs. It is a tough balancing act. I found some great resources as far as directories with lactation consultants and general breastfeeding feedback and advice on sites like www.babyfit.com and www.mamasource.com. Hope that helps point you in the right direction. There are other moms out there that can help.
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DAMCKIN_99
3/11/07 4:23 A
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CARRIE2211
3/10/07 11:38 P
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| I raised my calories by 500. My son is a year and is still going strong, so I havent lowered my calories.
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First 6 months or exclusive is about 500 extra. Second 6 months or when babe is eating solids is about 300.
The main thing is eating healthy to hunger. For me personally I need about an extra 500 with my exclusive breastfed 7 month old. When he is going through a growth spurt and nursing more I find I need more like 600 extra and higher fat.
Listen to your body, and watch your babe still gets enough
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It really depends on how many nursing sessions per day you are doing. If you are EBFing a newborn, you need more than a 12 mo old who's down to 3 or 4 sessions a day. www.kellymom.com has good links on weight loss and nursing. There a two important things to remember, though... 1) You MUST have adequate fluid intake. Drink your water. 2) If you cut too many calories, you risk your supply and your own metabolism. When you do cut calories, do so slowly - a sharp cut in calories is more likely to affect your supply than a gradual one, even if you end up at the same spot in time.
Exercising is great, too, although it can change the taste of your milk. Again, gradual is the key here. You can't just go run a 5k after not doing anything since the baby was born. A gradual increase in activity - start at 10-15 minutes/day if you aren't doing anything now - will prevent this change in milk taste. Some babies might not even be bothered by it, but if you have a fussy one, then they may start a nursing strike, and then you'll have your hands full with another problem.
Just remember 9 mo on, 9 mo off... and the key for a safe and healthy return to optimal fitness for ALL postpartum mothers is a gradual approach.
If nothing else is working, call your hospital, OB, LLL or local breastfeeding center. Ask for someone that is both an RD and IBCLC. They are out there!
Oh, and good job, Mommy! 
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MELISSA977
3/9/07 12:08 P
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Hi, your body does need about 500-600 extra calories for milk production. You should consult with an IBCLC while dieting to make sure everything is going as it should!
How long have you been BF?
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I lost most of my weight while nursing my DD. I was doing WW through it all so I'll translate their nursing guidelines into calories.
Full time nursing baby - 10 extra points a day - that averages out to ~ 500 cal, depending on if you eat high fiber vs high fat food.
Part time nursing (less than 5 full feedings a day) - 2 points per nursing session. So call that ~ 100 cal per nursing session, up to a max of 500.
Chatting with other nursing moms on the WW site we all agreed that we both lost better and nursed better if we ate at the high end of our caloric/point allowance, ate all the extra we were allowed to for nursing, and made sure to eat extra if we were working out also (eating our "activity points" in WW terms).
If we didn't eat enough our bodies just refused to drop the weight because they were afraid of a famine. That and we might start having problems producing enough milk.
Remember - a safe rate of loss while nursing is only 1# per week. Any more and you not only risk depriving your baby of nutrition, you also risk your baby getting too many toxins from your former fat. yup, your fat is one place your body stores toxins and they then get released into your body, and your milk, when you lose weight.
Have fun with your baby! Part of me still misses nursing.
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| I recently went through the same with my 10 month old. You do need the extra calories, however I found that your activity level does play into it. You see milk production does use calories, which is why some mothers find it helps lose weight. When my son was 6 months old I started working out (running, weights, other aerobics) and found that I did lose weight and was unable to produce milk anymore. And had to wean my son.
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| Technically you need 500 extra calories per day. I've been BF for 12 months now and he is starting to self wean. I found that I really needed those extra calories early on but once he leveled out his eating a bit, my calorie needs went down too. Now, I'm down to eating about how I did pre-pregnancy.
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SP_COACH_DEAN
3/5/07 1:56 P
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Hi O
SP has a sister site at www.babyfit.com (also free) that has information for pregnant and nursing mothers. You'll find lots of good info there.
Hope this helps.
Coach Dean
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| I thought that you were suppose to add like 500 or something like that.
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OVERWEIGHTWIFE
3/5/07 1:11 P
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hi everyone!
If you're breastfeeding, do you need to add calories to your daily intake? If so, how many?
thanks!
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