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Vitamin B-12 May Prevent Birth Defects
Vitamin B-12 May Prevent Birth Defects
Women of childbearing age (especially those who are pregnant or trying to conceive) are advised to eat 400 mg of folic acid (folate) daily to prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida, from occurring in their babies. New research shows that vitamin B12 may also play a role.  

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Your Nutrition Plan for Extended Breastfeeding

Customize your BabyFit.com Nutrition Program
-- By BabyFit

Now that the nursing relationship and your milk supply are humming along, you can begin to decrease your caloric intake when you start adding solid foods to your child's daily diet. Here's how.

From the Start page on BabyFit, click on Account/Email Preferences in the left-hand column. Scroll down and click Edit My Program Preference, then select Partial Breastfeeding. Click Save & Submit. You're done! The chart below illustrates, as an example, how a woman's calorie range changes throughout the phases of pregnancy and postpartum.

Phase Calories
Pre-Pregnancy 1,800- 2,100
Pregnancy 2,100- 2,400
Formula Feeding 1,800-2,100
Nursing (1-2 months) 2,200-2,500
Nursing (5-6 months) 2,300-2,600
After Weaning 1,800-2,100

*Please consult with your physician or midwife for a recommended post-pregnancy calorie range. These are only general guidelines; each woman's calorie needs are going to be slightly different and will increase in relation to exercise.


ADJUST YOUR NUTRIENTS

Your body's nutrient needs will change along with your calories. Our programs automatically track your post-pregnancy nutrient requirements. You don't have to track all of your nutrients all the time, so if you would like to change, add or omit nutrients, here's how:

From the Start page, click on the Nutrition Tracker. Next to the title "My Nutrition" is a pink button that says Change My Nutrition Goals. Click that button, then either remove nutrients by clicking on the pink "Remove" button or add or adjust nutrients by clicking the purple button "Add Another Nutrient to Track." There are 75 nutrients, vitamins and minerals you can track. (From the main page of the Nutrition Tracker, scroll down to see the nutrients you have selected to track.)
NUTRIENT Formula Feeding Nursing
Calcium 1,000 milligrams 1,200 milligrams
Folate 400 micrograms 500 micrograms
Iron 18 milligrams 27 milligrams
Protein 50 grams 70 grams
Zinc 8 milligrams 25 milligrams
Fiber
(gradually increase if consuming less than recommended)
25 grams 28 grams

Nursing: Losing 1/2 pound per week is OK--as long as you're eating healthy and not restricting calories so much that your milk supply decreases. Weight loss should result from exercise and nursing--not dieting. Be sure to follow the calorie guidelines above. Remember, your body needs plenty of calories for recovery, energy, building strength, and milk production.


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Member Comments About this Article
"At this point you can transition to our sister site SparkPeople.com and set up a weight loss plan making sure you are eating at the top end of the recommendations and you should maintain your supply while also seeing weight loss." -- TANYA_BABYFIT
"Ok my bf child is 30 months old and i want to know how many calories do i consume a day if she only bf through the night and at nap time. I really want to lose weight and the bc i recently got on made my weight go over what it was when i was pregnant. Help" -- PEACHES183
"Breastfeeding a baby beyond six months of age is usually no longer exclusively breastfeeding. When babies are only partially breastfeeding calorie requirements go down. How much to decrease them is based on whether or not mom has returned to pre-pregnancy weight and how many times a day the baby is still nursing. If your BMI is high and you still have not returned to your pre-pregnancy weight, you don't want to drop your intake below what you needed for pregnancy. Once you have returned to your ..." -- TANYA_BABYFIT
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