Calories Needed per day while Nursing a Toddler

[physmom]

Alright... I´m going to start calorie counting soon but I just can´t seem to figure out how many I need per day. DD is almost 17 months old and still nurses a lot (at least 8 times per day). I know a nursing newborn requires an extra 500 calories, right? But what about a nursing toddler??? I can´t seem to find that info anywhere.

I´m trying to work out every day (I´m doing both level 1 and 2 of the 30 day shred) plus we don´t have a car so I get a decent amount of walking in each day and just normal household/child care stuff. So I´m not sure how that factors in there too. Going just by my height/weight/age for someone who has a desk job i.e. no other activity is counted I should eat 2123 calories/day. If I wanted to loose 2lbs/week how many should I eat then? If I wasn´t exercising/nursing it would be 1123, right? (500 calories less for each pound that I want to loose?). But adding in nursing and exercise leaves me confused...

Thanks in advance for the help!

[Amanda Williams]

It sounds like you might weigh about what I do.... about 165, maybe? I am eating 1750 a day and lost 3+ pounds last week. My guy is 10 months old and nurses about 8 times a day, but he is HUGE! 25+ pounds. I think you will see change if you just drop the first 500 calories. I have had wonderful success with the 30 Day Shred, as well. Keep up the good work!

I would be willing to buddy up with you if you're up for it...?
I track calories with Weight Watchers online, but it is easy to get off track some days...

[bronxmom]

I nurse a 17 month old who nurses a similar amount per day - sometimes it's longer and other times quite quick. I estimate 15 oz at 20 cals/oz for 300 cals/day. I track on the daily plate and what I do is set my calorie goal on moderately active; I really fit their description of lightly active but this takes into account the nursing. Then I track any dedicated exercise separately - e.g., I won't track the mile round-trip walk to the playground but I will track my gym workout or if I go for a long (over an hour) walk. Then I'll eat back the calories I burn during that exercise.

The way this works out for me is that I am set at aiming to lose 1.5lbs/week and dailyplate tells me to eat around 1,650 calories before exercise calories. If I stick to that I usually burn more than 1.5lbs/week, which leads me to believe I probably burn more calories nursing. But I figure this is a safe estimate and allows me to lose weight. The reality is that on days I don't exercise I have a hard time sticking to it and probably go over 200 or 300 calories; I still lose between 1 and 1.5lbs/week.

I highly recommend the daily plate.