Breastfeeding Calorie Calculator

The breastfeeding calorie calculator equips you with the essential knowledge of the physiology of breastfeeding and the health of lactating women. 🍼

If you'd love to find out:

• How many calories does breastfeeding burn?
• How many calories are in breast milk?
• How many calories do you burn pumping?

Keep on reading to become confident with your breastfeeding calories and diet and get to know how to properly use our calorie calculator for breastfeeding. If you wish to follow the subject even further, try the baby's milk intake calculator.

Mom's milk is everything a baby needs – it's easily digestible, contains all the vital ingredients, and protects against both viral & bacterial infections and allergies. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breastfeeding as the sole source of food for children up to 6 months – we should also remember about the proper supplementation of vitamin K and D (depending on the climate).

So what makes breast milk so unique? 🤱

Lactating women produce different kinds of milk, depending on the time of lactation; the first milk, also called the colostrum contains more proteins and less fat than the substance created later on – it also acts as a mild laxative, allowing for an easier passage of the baby's first stool.

The milk "matures" two weeks following the baby's birth, changing along with the offspring's needs. When fully matured, it contains mainly:

• Proteins – Immunoglobulins, lysozyme, and lactoferrin serve as a protection against infections;
• Lactose – 1.5x more than in cow's milk;
• Oligosaccharides – Work as a probiotic;
• Fats – Deliver 40-55% of the baby's energy;
• Minerals;
• Growth factors;
• Enzymes;
• Hormones; and
• Vitamins.

Want to know something more about the human breasts? Discover our other related tools:

• Breast cancer risk calculator
• Breast cancer recurrence risk calculator

Now let's move to the other parts of the calories burned breastfeeding calculator:

Human breast milk contains 70 kcal in 100 grams. When nursing twins or triplets, a healthy woman can produce as much as 2,000 to 3,000 grams of milk daily!

For comparison, a healthy 6-month-old baby needs around 90 kcal/kg and consumes 769 grams of milk daily.

The amount of calories burned with breastfeeding depends on the period of lactation; according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a healthy lactating woman needs:

• An extra 330 kcal/day during the first 6 months of lactation; and
• an extra 400 kcal/day after the 6th month of breastfeeding. 🤱

Yes, pumping burns the same amount of calories as breastfeeding. Whenever you nurse or pump, the milk production looks the same and requires the same amount of energy.

Suppose you want to know how many calories you burn while pumping. In that case, you need to remember how many months you've already been lactating:

• ≤6 months – 330 kcal/day.
• >6 months – 400 kcal/day.

All you need is five short steps!

1. Enter your state
   • Lactation 0-6 months or over 6 months;
   • Pregnancy in 1st, 2nd or 3rd trimester.
2. Input your age.
3. Input your height.
4. Input your weight. Remember you may choose from plenty of available units!
5. Estimate your physical activity level:
   • Basal metabolic rate – computes your basic caloric needs without any physical activity included. (see: Basal metabolic rate calculator)
   • Little/ no exercise;
   • Exercise 1-2 times/week;
   • Exercise 2-3 times/week;
   • Exercise 3-5 times/week;
   • Exercise 6-7 times/week; or
   • Professional athlete.

6. That's it! 🎉 We've got it covered; the breastfeeding calorie calculator will show you the estimated amount of calories you need per day and a few tips regarding your diet.

Not sure how many calories are burned with breastfeeding? Here's the short answer!

• During the first 6 months of breastfeeding, your body burns around 500 kcal extra per day; however, if we account for the postpartum weight loss in that period, the calorie count reaches only 330 kcal/day extra compared to what you would burn outside of a pregnancy.
• During the 6-12th month of lactation, you may burn an extra 400 kcal/day by solely producing milk.