To think the “breastfeed and the weight will fall off” thing is a load of shite?

[Pantalaimon88]

I have an 11 month old. I was sold the whole “BF makes you lose the baby weight!” I lost an initial stone in the weeks post baby, which I’m guessing was fluid. Since then, I have maintained and I’m 1.5 stone heavier than pre pregnancy.

I log my food intake and try to keep it as low as I can, but from experience if I drop below 1700 cals a day, I feel very lightheaded and unwell. Pre pregnancy I’d eat 2000cals a day and easily maintain my weight. I go on walks with the buggy, I spent 3 months religiously pounding on an exercise bike during DC’s naps, lost not a single lb. It actually feels as though my body is holding onto the extra weight deliberately.

I’m so depressed by it all, I hate my body. I was going to BF to natural term but I’m considering stopping when DC is 1, mainly for this reason. Nothing I do seems to change my body in any way. I thought once DC was eating proper food and BF dropped significantly, perhaps it would pick up. It hasn’t.

Has anyone else found this?

Well I have stopped breastfeeding for about 2 weeks no and gained almost 6 lbs.

I wish I hadn’t stopped now as I could eat so much crap and not gain weight while BF.

Vulpine. Liposuction. Yes! 😆

Agree - load of nonsense. I was ravenous when bf. Weight came off pretty quickly when I stopped.

I think a lot of it's because once you have kids you are less physically active - even though it feels like you're doing loads, it just isn't comparable to proper exercise usually, although it is definitely exhausting!

Hmm I dont know. There's a lot of people saying they couldn't lose weight because of increased appetite. I think a poster said they had to eat sugar (words to that effect). If appetite is increased you can still eat healthily. Taking some fruit out of the fruit bowl is as easy as taking chocolate out of the cupboard.

I breastfed my eldest and I'm breastfeeding my 3 week old. I've lost just over a stone and I'm into some pre pregnancy clothes. However with ny eldest it took 2 years to lose the weight but that was due to eating too much of the wrong food. I also carried differently and this time around I had HG so wasn't as big anyway.

Stopped BF a week or so ago and I've lost loads of weight since. My boobs alone feel half a stone lighter

There are much worse myths about BF than convincing people to give their kids the best start in life by telling them it'll help with weight loss. Where I live, midwives, HVs and even the doctor have told me BF is a contraceptive. Which is widely known to be a complete myth by any sane and rational people.

In all honesty, though, I think they need to stop saying crap to "convince" women to breastfeed instead of being honest about the realities of it, maybe then people would be mentally prepared for the downsides and stick with it for longer instead of feeling like they're doing it wrong when it doesn't work the way the NHS/NCT/HSC tell them it was supposed to.

Yeah, with all my friends who've breastfed, the weight only "fell" off one, but I figure that would've happened anyway as that's her natural shape. I found ww worked really well, however, your body does change shape

I've been breastfeeding 2 DDs for four years....still as fat as I was pre pregnancy

Yes it was bollocks 😂😂😂

Anyone who is gaining or maintaining weight is probably... eating. I was so sleep-deprived that I hardly ate anything. So, yes, I lost tons of weight. I do say that I lost weight while breastfeeding... I don't say I was a total zombie who never had a hot drink and had to rock their baby to sleep at insane o'clock in the morning while covered in baby vomit. My firstborn is and was a terrible sleeper. I think they stole all my sleep quota. x

I’m not sure why ppl have such trouble understanding that not everyone’s body is the same.

I couldn’t lose weight when bfing no matter what I did, including drastically cutting calories. I lost it with ridiculous ease when I stopped.

i steadily lost weight throughout 20 months of bf and the following 6 or so months without giving it any thought at all. DS has definitely changed my desires to eat. I'm pregnant again now and massive though.

I lost over 2 stone while breastfeeding. But, my child is very demanding and I'm still feeding her in to toddlerhood.

I think a large part of my weight loss is down to not being able to get drunk and binge eat every weekend now. Also, breastfeeding curbs your night time social life a bit

I lost a lot of weight v fast bf, but it ramped up when I stopped dairy

I only lost weight after I finished bf, my appetite seemed to be enormous!

I was also disappointed to discover this was a myth for me anyway. I’ve got about 1.25 stones still to lose at 6 months which is a lot slower than most of the women in my antenatal group, and it has been a grind! I googled it and found that the BF hormone can make you more hungry and make fat cling so it’s a bit of a double whammy. On the plus side it’s basically winter so I can put my fat arse away for a few months

I gained 4 stone during both pregnancies. Breastfed both and lost the baby weight and more within 3 months of each.

Worked for me.
Put on 5 and a half stone when pregnant, lost 4 and a half within 6 month breastfeeding and literally didn't try it just fell off.
The last stone was gone by the time baby was a year, again just breastfeeding.

I lost loads of weight when I was BF but my DS was feeding on demand day and night and I was barely managing to eat properly. I was also walking miles and miles each day with buggy. It wasn't a healthy weightloss. I was stressed. I got compliments when I went back to work, which I didn't appreciate at the time, because I felt so tired and not healthy. I've since put it all back on and more within a 2 year window . I have other friends who have gained or stayed the same during this time. At least your baby is getting what they need...

I have not read through, started scanning and saw the word"calories", and don't want to get into a rant...

Spoke to a researcher at King's, London some years ago, and at that point she said they realised that about 25% of women lose tons of weight, from baby weight to even more than that. 50% end up losing more or less their baby weight, and 25% end up weighing a significant amount more than before they became pregnant.

Probably an older mumsnetter now. But just enjoy your baby. Plenty of time to sort out the rest of it

Thanks all. There definitely seems to be a mix of experiences but I’m glad I’m not the only one who has really struggled with weight. Clearly the “weight falling off” really works for some people, but for others it doesn’t at all! It shouldn’t be constantly pushed as a reason to bf. There are dozens of great reasons to bf, that isn’t one of them.

Of course my gorgeous baby is worth it

I struggled to lose weight while breastfeeding - almost like my body was holding on to the weight. Lost it all when I had stopped feeding in all 3 children. I think it must depend on the person as I have friends who were very gaunt when breastfeeding. By the third child I just accepted that was what my body does and knew that it would resolve itself later on. Not so easy first time round as was getting frustrated with my lack of weight loss.

I maintained my weight while bfing for about 15 months (which was fine as I'd not gained during pregnancy due to HG.

Then I went through a busy period at work. The weight did fall off - I went from a 10 to an 8 in a couple of weeks and then the 8 was loose.

Since I've stopped, at 23 months, I've properly piled it on, hovering at a 12/14 now, she's 3, and can't seem to shift it (SSRIs may be a factor too though).

I think we're all different, but often bf is during a period of relative inactivity, so it just replaces normal exercise as such.