Does breastfeeding honestly help with weight loss?

[whatdoyouthank]

Am I going to turn into a slim goddess over night or is it a myth?

Not for me either. Lost a bit once I stopped breastfeeding.

Yes, in my case. I was ravenous when I first started bf DD, and eating way more than my recommended calories. But I was back down to my pre-pregnancy weight in about 9 months with no exercise and after almost 2 years of bf I have maintained this weight even though I eat loads. I'm going to slowly reduce my calories and exercise more in anticipation of stopping bf.

I think you have to get over 6 months. Every mum I know still feedin after 6 months gets really skinny

No, breastfeeding helped me regain my figure, it’s true. I’d lost several stone in each pregnancy and ended up lighter than when I started due to vomiting. I quickly put it back on post pregnancy and stopped being skinny a tiny about two months post partum.

It didn't for me either time, it wasn't until I stopped both times that I lost the last 10/15 lbs. and I ate very well and worked out 5-6 days a week, I'm a personal trainer.

It made me really hungry and gave me a major sweet tooth so I put weight on.

Not for me. I was ravenous the whole time.

Not for me - put on nearly 4 stone, big baby (75th to 95th percentile) and 6 months on, still don’t seem to be shifting that last stone.

DS is a bad sleeper so am continuing to load up on biscuits!

Yes for me, I have never got back up to my pre-pregnancy weight and I eat lots! DS is 2.5 so its probably not even that much milk anymore.
He also isn't the best sleeper so being up in the night probably uses calories too?
Plus I don't drive so there's a lot of pushchair pushing.

Basically having DC is great for weight loss in some cases! Unfortunately I was slim to start off with so have to make a concious effort to not be to skinny.

It did for me. So much with child number 1 that I stopped feeding at 16 months as my bmi was so low they were worried I wouldn't conceive again!

Not for me and my diet was normal. I bf for a year, when I stopped I suddenly lost the weight. I think my body holds on to fat when I am bf.

It'll make you feel starved tbh

It made me hold onto weight unfortunately. I didn’t even really eat anything more although my body does respond best in terms of weight loss to a low carb diet - something I haven’t been able to return to since having my first child 6 years ago for some annoying reason! I held onto weight when breastfeeding both my kids and then found it easier to lose it after stopping after about a year each time. Bloody annoying. It’s rare but it does happen. Something about the fat holding onto reserves or something. The plus side is once you stop you don’t have that worry about putting it on and can lose it more easily.

Sadly not, which could be because it encouraged me to be sitting down for ages at regular intervals (probably eating)!! I noticed my thigh area was actually thicker than normal 🤷‍♀️

Breastfeeding burns around 400-700 calories per day.

So, if you stick to a normal balanced diet, you'll lose weight. If you sit on your arse eating cake all day, you won't.

Two of my good friends became skelfs through breastfeeding. Their (quite little) babies just sucked all the calories out of them. I've been feeding non-stop for 5 years (3 babies) and I'm still about a stone and a half heavier than I was pre-pregnancy. I've lost two stone this year but that's through really watching what I eat. The more kids you have the harder it is to exercise regularly. It's such a juggling act. Mind you saying that I could be on the exercise bike right now and I'm not!

It fell off me both times. With DS2 I lost so much weight I looked awful.

I put on a little weight before I had DS, and that fell off pretty quick. I struggled to put on any weight before I had DD which left me feeling really exhausted and struggling to get enough calories.

Not for me, although I only did 6 months at my longest stretch (because I bloody hated it )
I wondered if the weight loss came after extended periods of bfing but previous posters have disproven this!

I've lost weight but didn't gain loads in either pregnancy (not on purpose, one of my symptoms was not fancying food in the evening!)
Similar to PPs I got more of a sweet tooth!

Absolutely for me, lost several stone each time, which went back on pretty quickly each time I stopped. Was eating a lot as well.
Went down to about 9 stone each time I was feeding. The only other time I was at that level was aged about 14. Normally my weight seems to stay around 11 1/2 stone.

I eat pretty much whatever I want and I’m losing a pound a week . One of the great things about breastfeeding!

Best diet ever, it was so easy.

Combined with a Fitbit the 2.5 stone of baby weight absolutely peeled off and by the time DS was 6m was the skinniest I've ever been in my adult life.

Then I went back to work, stopped feeding and put half a stone back on. Gah.

Not for me really. This time around weight loss has been fairly slow despite a very big baby (99th centile)! However I don’t know what would have happened if I bottle fed. Friends who have exclusively bottle fed seem to have struggled even more (obviously not a representative sample).

Not for me.