to think the claim that breastfeeding helps you loose baby weight is from the same horseshit govt. propoganda campaign as that old chestnut "nits only like clean hair"?

[grubly]

I have always been a size ten but one mahoosive baby (11lbs) later took me up to a size 16. daily five mile walks and a sensible diet did nada. 6mths in, the baby established on solids and i went down two sizes over night. giving up breastfeeding totally at nine months was like taking off a fat suit. AIBU to think that the claim breastfeeding helps you loose baby weight is all a big fat con?

Agree OP, my experience was the same. Stopped BF son completely at about 15 months and suddenly the double chin, massive thighs, wobbly arms dropped off. Also felt lied to as breastfeeding made me stay fat!!!

Thanks for responding Tatty - can you see though that it is NOT as simple as calories in = calories out when you're breastfeeding? Or it isn't for me.
Before my pregnancy I could easily lose weight by eating a certain way and/or doing extra exercise, but now it isn't working. I'm about a stone over my pre-pg weight (gained textbook amount while pg) so it could well be that I am one of those who will hold on to some extra weight until I stop breastfeeding (and the size of my chest probably accounts for a few pounds on its own :( ). There is plenty of anecdotal evidence on this thread to support the theory that this is the way some women's bodies respond.

BTW, it's not my "thing" but thanks for assuming :)

Oh, and I don't think slim women are "bitches". I feel :( that I'm not able to wear the clothes I like but that's just vanity. I have met enough people through my life and work to know that it really is what's on the inside that counts, I was just venting HERE in the context of THIS THREAD. In everyday life it's just an annoyance, unless I'm tired and hungry when it's obviously the end of the world .

My mum is insistent that BF helped flatten her stomach again - it obviously worked for her because she has a flat stomach after 4 children, she said she thought it was using her core muscles and dragging it all back in

didn't work for me. bf dd for 12 months and hardly lost anything. stopped and weight fell off in a few weeks. am sitting here wearing too big size 8 jeans now dd is 15 months.

i lost too much weight bf ds2 and ended up at the gp wondering if i had a thyroid problem. did nothing to sort out my tummy though, which to me still looked 5 months pregnant.

Went down to being a stone lighter than I was pre-pregnancy soon after having DD. Now, still stuck at half a stone heavier more than 2 years after having DS. Breastfed both of them for the same amount of time. It's just your luck of the draw. But I did walk loads with DD in the pram, much less with DS.

For me it was like bf made my metabolism grind to a complete halt. I put on 3 stone in about 2 months and I was eating relatively healthily, feeding all the time and walking loads. Stopped bf when ds was 10 months and lost a stone almost immediately.
Obviously some people lose weight - my MIL for one. But I do object to the promotion of bf and you'll lose weight argument for bf - when I started putting weight on I was totally horrified, thought I was eating too much, tried to diet, lost no weight and ended up feeling wretched. Then I looked at mn and realised I wasn't a freak and the official bf and lose weight was a load of generalised rubbish.

I was a size 14 pre preg, and bfing took me to a size 10 by the time ds was 6 months old - it was amazing, I'd never been that thin !

Sometimes it works - with DD2 I was down to 7 1/2 stone withing 3 months due to bf. Was quite glad when she she stopped and I could put some weight back on.

Didn't work that way with DD1 though - took 12 months to lose all the weight, even though I was bf.

OK, so the weight has dropped off me when BF - but I looked shocking (I have a narrow face and got really gaunt).

It also gave my (really very lovely) in-laws etc a chance to follow-up 'Are you STILL breastfeeding?' with 'but it's really taking it out of you', 'it's too much - you should give up'.

So my weight loss was not altogether good news.

Luckily, the second time around, I haven't lost as much - and my in-laws are more supportive about BF generally since DFIL suffered anaphylactic shock and the consultant told him that breastfeeding is the way to go.*

*not for him, naturally - but for any infants in our highly allergic family

YABU Lost loads of weight by breastfeeding alone.Probably varies from person to person though.

Before I got pregnant I was a size 10 in jeans. Obviously I was in maternity jeans when pregnant. After 8 months of breastfeeding, I was a size 6. So yes, it can help you lose weight.

(I didn't like it, I looked too skinny to be healthy. Stopped breastfeeding a year ago and am now a large-ish 8, which works for me)

I always understood that you get your shape back quicker (because the womb contracts quicker...with each baby... owweee to after pains), but that you do retan some weight while BFng because you are producing mik, and so retain stores to do so.

That's my excuse and I am sticking to it... even tho I am only just approaching my pre bth kids weight now... and it's 2 yrs since I stopped Bfing... Perhaps it is the walk to school with them both that has made me lose the weight, or going back to work... who knows... I had flu before christmas and lost half a stone... so that was kind of a cheat really.

Perhaps we just get wider as we get older? I was about 7st2 at 23.... Am not that now nearly 10 yrs later... lol ;-)

Worked for me too. A bit too much both times, around 3-6 months post baby I was looking too thin. Had to add in an extra meal and keep snacking on nuts and avocados! I have quite a high metabolism anyway though - size 8 and I eat bigger meals than DH! :)

Surely part of losing weight when you stop BFing is that your milk dries up and the milk weighs something. Also, agree with comments re boredom eating when feeding.

Oh I put this down to one of the great myths of life! I put on 11kgs with pregnancy. After 6 months of bf, I had only lost 5kgs. It was only after I stopped bf at 12 months that I lost the other 6kgs. I had thought that the weight would drop off with bf....what a complete con!