How many calories do you burn breastfeeding?

[luvmylbb]

I know that they say you burn anywhere between 300-500 calories when nursing a newborn, but how many do you think you burn nursing an older baby? My little one is 16 months old and nurses anout 3-4x a day how many calories do you think I should add for taht ?I was thinking about 150? Am I close on that figure?THAnk you

 

[Elaine Keller]

I don't know how many calories are burned with breastfeeding but when my daughter was about 14 months I started WW and I added in NO points for the breastfeeding because her main source of nourishment was not breast milk. Believe me, it didn't slow anything down. I didn't get her off of me until she was 2. And that was only because I insisted!

 

[Elaine Keller]

Hi again luvmylbb, I also wanted to say that I remember you posting about wanting to lose 10 lbs. Well, it might be a little harder while you are breast feeding because our bodies hang on to some fat while producing milk.

 

[robin4health]

Yeah, my sister said that as soon as she stopped breastfeeding, she dropped 10 pounds with no effort. That gives me encouragement. I still have about 10 pounds that I am holding onto from my baby, so hopefully they will finally come off when I wean her off. She is 11 months old now, and I'm not sure how long I am going to breast feed. She is not showing any interest in stopping, that is for sure!!!

 

[cjbate]

I would say 2 pts (WW) for each nursing. So, that is 6 to 8 points, which translates to 300 to 400 calories. Roughly. I don't know if they are still getting the quantity of breastmilk at 16 months they were when they were younger, as that age they are getting food etc. So maybe you don't burn as much when the kid is older. Is what I mean.

I did not have any trouble going down to my old weight while breastfeeding, I added in the extra 10 pts per day, which I did til he was 1 yo. I was doing WW though. I have known people to wean in order to lose weight, only to find out that wasn't the problem with them. Maybe everybody is different.

Hope this helps!

Jen