Add breastfeeding as calories burned?

Are any ladies adding breastfeeding to their activity log?  How many calories burned are you entering?  I'm breastfeeding exclusively--about 8 times per day--and entering it as 250 calories burned.  I'm not sure if I'm over/under estimating or if I should even count those calories burned in my daily log.

What are other nursing moms doing?

I just upped my activity by one level as opposed to logging breastfeeding every day. I then eat 300 calories less than my maintainence calories (I would normally do 500 calories less while not breastfeeding but I picked 300 just to be on the safe side).

Hey there!  Did you know that you require 600 more calories a day while breastfeeding!?  Crazy huh?  You only require 300 more calories a day when you are pregnant.  So yeah... 600 calories burned while breastfeeding.  :o)

Unfortunately, it is not known exactly how many calories are burned producing breast milk. Any calorie number is simply an estimation.

After my 4-year-old was born, the doctors told me to increase my calorie intake by 500 calories a day. After my 3-month-old was born, they told me it wasn't necessary to increase my calorie intake as long as I ate a well-balanced diet.

I did a search and found that producing breastmilk burns 200 - 500 calories a day, but it didn't take into account the actual feedings. I feed my 2 month old ~7 times a day for about 45 minutes at each feeding (pump 3 times while at work), and I wish there was a way to isolate exactly how many calories were burned at each feeding/pumping. I just put 350 calories on my activity log. I guess if I burn more, then it can just be like a surprise present when I reach my goal weight faster.

Doing some online research, I found that it burns approximately 20 calories per ounce of milk produced. I know that my son takes 5 ounces of milk per feeding and nurses/bottle feeds 8 times in 24 hours which means I would be burning 800 calories in that 24 hour period (I pump twice at work and nurse him six times each day).

I just wanted to state that when i had started this i full time breastfed and did so  until he was 15 months- i 5'4 went from 190 to 145 lbs and that was eating 1800 to 2000 calories the whole time with only 30 min work outs 4 days a week!

i would say it burns about 500

Awesome, congratulations! Isn't it nice to be able to lose weight with minimal effort? If only it could be that easy all the time!

Bier-how old is your baby now?  I think you had him before me...and you're still able to nurse 6 times a day?  My son will barely take 4.  I'm really really going to miss the extra calorie burn!

Mine's 10 months old now. I wish he'd eat less on a daily basis but he's never spaced out his feedings to more than 3 hours apart (except at night). I nurse him at 3:30am, 6:30am, 5:30pm, 6:30pm, 7:30pm (he cluster-feeds in the evenings--I guess he only nurses 5 times) and then he gets bottles at 9:30am, 11:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Plus, he eats solids three times a day. This is why I was flabbergasted when they told me he'd lost a 1/4 pound between 6 and 9 months. He's only in the 20th percentile for his weight at 17 pounds, 12 ounces.

As my dad says: he's definitely a boy--all he can think about is boob!

ETA: I don't know what we'll do when I stop breastfeeding at 12 months. He's going to eat us out of house and home!

I can't believe he eats all that and is only 17 pounds.  My son is 9 months old. I nurse 4 times a day--6:30am, 12:30pm, 4:30 pm, and 8:00pm and he eats three times a day...and he started packing on the pounds at 6 months.  He was 25th percentile the whole time...even at his 6 mo appt.  We go next week for our 9 month appt and he now weighs about 21 pounds.  I'm sure he'll be off the chart.  It's crazy how big he got since his last appt.

I know! It's crazy how much he eats. I just think he's an inefficient nurser. He doesn't always eat at 3:30am; it all  depends on how his last night feeding goes. Sometimes he falls asleep while nursing and if that's the case, he adds in that 3:30. He gets at least one formula bottle a day because my milk supply just can't keep up (at least during the week when I have to pump; he's fine on weekends when he nurses the whole time).

My daughter was totally over nursing at this age. We switched her to formula at 6 months and she had dropped to only a handful of feedings. She's never been a good eater, either, and is a whopping 30 pounds at almost 5 years old.  Evidently we breed the skinnies! I'd love to have a little chunky baby!