Do you actually lose weight if you breast feed, or is it a myth?

[fussytodd]

I would love to hear some experiences as I've heard mixed things.

Lots of people say you lose weight.

Others say that you actually need to eat a lot, otherwise you don't produce enough milk - so you don't actually lose weight.

Personally, I couldn't breast feed for very long, as I wasn't producing enough milk. I was also not eating huge amounts of food though. So who knows ! Any experiences appreciated. I may be onto my second one next year and would really like to try again and see if I get more milk this time.

I had two periods of BFing and lost my baby weight very quickly after both kids. I don't know if this is genetics or lifestyle but I am generally quite active and returned to walking daily straight away, plus EBFed and didn't overeat at all.

I didn't lose weight while breastfeeding until I stopped overeating, which makes sense. I breastfed continually for 6 years (2 DC), including tandem feeding, and losing weight was definitely down to 'eat less, exercise more'. I only slightly reduced calorie intake (1700 per day) and the weight dropped off in a way it hasn't since.

@fussytodd

I would love to hear some experiences as I've heard mixed things.

Lots of people say you lose weight.

Others say that you actually need to eat a lot, otherwise you don't produce enough milk - so you don't actually lose weight.

Personally, I couldn't breast feed for very long, as I wasn't producing enough milk. I was also not eating huge amounts of food though. So who knows ! Any experiences appreciated. I may be onto my second one next year and would really like to try again and see if I get more milk this time.

If you’re in the UK it probably wasn’t your milk supply unless you actually got your milk tissue measured by a midwife?? It is more likely that your baby had an undiagnosed lip or tongue tie which meant they couldn’t establish the supply they needed.

To prep for the second insist on a midwife feeling for your milk tissue, and when baby is born really push hard to make sure even ‘minor’ tongue ties are corrected because when it comes to breastfeeding even minor tongue ties can ruin the early establishing period. If diagnosed and needed you can pump on a schedule until it’s fixed so you can have a reasonable milk supply at the 6 week mark.

I bf all of my 3 dc until 18 months and I had a totally flat stomach days after giving birth. Ive always been slim but became v lean with bf and could eat as much as i wanted and put on zero pounds. I think it's actually stood to me, my youngest is 4 and im 37 and i never put on any weight since.
I think its one of the healthiest things a mother can do for their baby and their own body tbh.

@TheKeatingFive

I didn't. I held on to 10 pounds no matter what I ate.

When I stopped BFing it melted off like magic.

Same as me xx

I lost a huge amount of weight and had an over supply of milk. I barely had the chance to eat as I was on my own with a baby I couldn't put down, was lucky if I had a bowl of cereal and a sandwich in a day. It took 5 days for my milk to come in and i fed on demand.

For me I think the oversupply was because my baby wanted to nurse hourly day and night. It all regulated around 9 months pp by which point I'd lost about 5 stone, boobs deflated and baby fed every 3 hours or so in the day.

I came home from hospital at my prepregnancy weight and then ate my body weight in biscuits for the next 8 months, gaining 10lb. It came off when I stopped.

I lost almost all the pregnancy weight fairly quickly despite a horrendous diet composed almost entirely of minstrels, then regained some when I went back to work and dropped day feeds (despite also dropping the minstrels). So for me i would say yes

Both times i have been 2 stone overweight while breastfeeding (18m then 12m). I ate a lot but I've always eaten a lot. I was back to busy on feet work on 12 hour shifts at 9 m with 1st baby and 3m with 2nd baby and a 40minute walk uphill each way so I'm not convinced it was a calories in/calories out thing for me. As soon as I stopped I lost 2 stone in a month both times. Must just be a weird thing where my body holds on to fat. Not sure if it makes any difference but I was an overproducer.

As for the other part of your question, I have pcos and hypothyroidism and did have slightly lower milk supply in one breast. But still produced a lot of milk from that. I ate approx 1800 cals per day and lost all my baby weight (but had only gained 6kg) within a month. After the 12 mth mark I lost 5kg more and became slimmer than before I got pregnant, and at the 18 mth mark I lost 2kg more. I do think the benefits of weight loss are probably only really seen in mums who bf way past 6 mths & who aren’t hugely overweight in the first placez

I'm nearly 6 months into BF and weigh quite a bit less than pre pregnancy, despite being starving and eating lots of toast and biscuits between meals. Can't complain!

I lost a lot of weight bfing but it piled on when I finished. And then some 😬

10 days after I gave birth, I was lighter than I had been pre-pregnancy. I put on a normal amount of weight during pregnancy. But it fell off me as we tried to establish breastfeeding - I have never been so hungry or thirsty.

I had the opposite of a PP. I lost weight while bf twins but put on afterwards as kept eating for 3 😂

I did definitely. I breastfed all 4 until a year (last baby until about 2 and a half) I ate like a complete pig, cake and junk every single day and I was back to my pre pregnancy weight within about a month. But I'm not super skinny. I'm a size 12 and would probably be classed as overweight by about half a stone to a stone on BMI calculator. Plus I'm fairly tall and for some reason didn't put on tons of weight during pregnancy. But absolutely not through being careful. All 4 of mine were constantly feeding day and night though. My friend is breastfeeding her first and he isn't quite 3 months old yet and sleeps from about 9pm to 7am. Blows my mind! My 3 year old still doesn't sleep through!

I exclusively breastfed both my boys .

With my first born I did not lose any weight ( I even gained a few kilograms 😳)! I was sleep deprived, I was always hungry and I was snacking on the wrong foods ( junk ).

With my second born, I lost it all including my baby weight from my first pregnancy. There were a few differences the second time around . I wasn’t as sleep deprived and that made the biggest difference! Sleep deprivation is the absolute worst for weight gain because you are starving and craving the wrong foods. Secondly my husband had 4 months off so between the two of us we had time to cook healthy meals, I had extra support and my mental health was in a good place . Lastly I made an effort with exercise ( I started doing yoga and walking to start off with and then I took up running ).

I lost 20 kilo and got myself under a healthy bmi . I did it with very little effort in 7 months and I feel that breastfeeding helped but it wasn’t the main contributing factor .

I gained weight both times. The hunger was like nothing I’ve experienced before.

I didn't. It made me hungry so I ate and could eat loads. Then once I gave up breast feeding I still had the massive apetite so kept eating large portions!

Not without dieting as well.

I breast fed two babies for 9 months each. I was back to pre pregnancy weight of 8 st 10 lb, very quickly both times.

It depends what you eat!

I most certainly did, especially when he got a bit older and started moving around. I didn't have time to eat loads. The weight dropped off to an alarming point.

Everyone's different I suppose!

I ate loads and lost loads, I had a whopper of a baby though that loved her milk. Must have been producing gallons of the stuff quite early on.

I'm not sure if I did eat loads more but I was hungry and ate what I wanted if that made sense.

Weight dropped off me.

Someone told me exclusive bf uses 800 calories a day.

I was eating loads… so then when bf stopped (at about 20 months) I got chubby quite fast!

For the first year I lost a lot of weight, I weighed about 10kg less than I ever have as an adult and couldn’t find jeans to fit me anywhere. After a year it sort of stabilised and now 5.5 years of breastfeeding without a break (2 children, the oldest has not fed for some years) I weigh exactly what I always have.

I have a different perspective. I didn't breastfeed either of my babies but post pregnancy I was the skinniest I have ever been and my baby weight just fell off me. I think it was because I was very anxious and had a lot of nervous energy. I also think that carrying around a large baby most of the time burned a lot of calories as you are effectively constantly weight lifting and building muscle which burns more calories. My weight loss stabilised after my babies became mobile and I didn't have to always carry them everywhere. That's my theory anyway.