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.

Yes, I lost the pregnancy weight quite quickly and think breast feeding had a lot to do with that as I didn’t go out of my way to lose it.

I ended up 10lbs under my pre-pregnancy weight despite eating a LOT of brownies. If I'd lost 5 lbs more I would have been underweight. It stabilised once I went back to work and started combi-feeding. Now have had to modify diet so I don't put weight back on.

@fussytodd

Did anyone have more luck feeding their second baby?

My HV always said when I'd get upset that I didn't manage to feed as much as I wanted, that with the second one I'll be able to do it.

Yes I found it much better with my second. My sister was the same . Tried first time but my ds was losing weight. Tried bottle to top up and he wouldn’t breast feed after tjat . Second time was no problem and I fed until 21 months .

I've put on weight breastfeeding. It's like my body is clinging to the fat!

@TheKeatingFive

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

When I stopped BFing it melted off like magic.

Me too

@Ozanj thanks for the advice. I am in the UK and yes I have heard it's rare to not actually produce enough milk, so that probably wasn't it. I just couldn't get it established. I did have a lot of support and pumped a hell of a lot too. But the more I pumped, the less milk I had and I ultimately just stopped pumping. At around 3 weeks I think, or maybe 5, I can't remember.

I pumped all day and night and would barely get a bottle of breast milk a day for her. My DD was constantly crying on the breast. It was horrific for her.

I didn't even have any colostrum at the hospital, which is why the midwives gave her the bottle, a few hours after birth. I think that's what did it as well.

But it was definitely weird that the more I pumped, the less I got. I followed all sorts of pumping schedules and tried different pumps as well. I had people from breastfeeding support visit me multiple times to help.

In any case, I'm also considering extracting colostrum this time, pre- birth. I'm also thinking about really really really NOT giving formula for as long as I can.

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I just never really got to the bottom of it. To summarise I think it was :

Intro to bottle too soon
Too much pumping and not enough time on breast
Maybe not eating enough

I did. Had a hugely increased appetite too and ate whatever and whenever I felt like for the 18 months I breastfed DS. Still couldn't keep any weight on, so I was skeletal by the end and glad to stop. I look much healthier now almost a year later and back to my "normal" pre pregnancy weight.

I lost weight but then I did gain a ridiculous 4stone when pregnant so it hard to continue gaining weight.

I only lost it once I stopped and it came off without trying then.

I lost a bit, despite eating fairly heartily, but found the last 10lbs or so very hard to shift in the first 6 months, it's like my body knew my baby was 100% reliant on me so it hung on to fat.

However, from 6-12m the remaining 10lb just gradually came off.

That was with baby 1 however. I found with baby two that the last half stone simply hasn't come off.

For the first 10 months I didn't loose weight but I was also eating a lot and living with my in-laws for about 4 months and she is an avid cook! As soon as I left there and had control of my diet I very easily lost weight. I read that there are hormones for some people in the first 6 months or so that keep weight on. I also know a few other women who it jus fell off without trying.

I didn’t. In fact it prevented me losing weight! In the end I stopped breastfeeding specifically because I was so upset about being fat and unable to lose weight. As soon as I stopped I lost nearly 2st.

I'm over 40 and still breastfeeding 26 month later, I go for moderate walks daily so no hard exercise and I can eat just over 2000 cal per day and didn't gain weight.

I don’t seem to lose any weight from breastfeeding. I have been dieting from 3 weeks post partum and that hasn’t affected milk supply so at least there is that. I think it’s an individual thing.

If I wasn’t breastfeeding I’d probably lose more weight because I wouldn’t be so tired (so could exercise more) I’d be more free (dh could take the baby for a bit) and I could go more hardcore on the diet!

I was absolutely ravenous and ate too much toast and cake so no.

Sorry I’m the bus and HRTFT- I lost tons with DC 1 despite stuffing my face!! I used to joke it was better than liposuction and I’d be pulling him out from high school to feed him 🤣. Sadly couldn’t breast feed with DC2 owing to medication I was on and I’m still trying to lose the baby weight 22 years later🤣🤣

I think maybe it depends on the baby to an extent. My first was 98th centile, the 2nd bigger. With both I lost weight, but more with the 2nd- 10kg, despite eating like a horse. Sadly all that 10kg has gone back on and I’m struggling to lose it several years on.

I didn’t. I fed all mine for over a year. My daughter was a monster feeder too. Not an ounce!

Yes, that plus pushing a double buggy about, I looked amazing, I stopped breast feeding, they started walking, I gained a stone. I loved breast feeding too, as soon as the baby latched on I just remember this lovely rush of calmness. I dream about it.

Definitely did for me, but I'd agree it's individual. Didn't lose so much in the early days, but once he got to about two months he was eating so much more and the weight has fallen off incredibly easily. Just started weaning at 6 months so maybe I'll stop losing so much now...

I had 3 children - breastfed them all until 18m or longer. I didn't lose any weight from breastfeeding or once I stopped. I had to diet to lose the weight after all of my pregnancies :(

Nope. Absolutely livid. I've exclusively breastfed 4 of my 5 children.

I am overweight to start with. I lose weight cumulatively in pregnancy despite eating what I want, I am then usually lighter by a few pounds post birth. And then yeah despite feeding my huge babies the weight goes on again.

And when I stop feeding.....nothing happens. I'm still overweight.

I'm currently dairy free, alcohol free, EBF a 17wk old and I've still had to join SW to shift any weight (because I'm very overweight and my knees hurt)

The lose weight while breastfeeding has been the biggest swizz ever!

Haha my mw told me it was a myth to get bb rates up. It does shrink your uterus though.

She said women either lose weight dramatically or retain weight until you stop bf. No way to know which camp you will be in until your there !

It depends upon how much/what you eat and drink.

With DD1, my diet was appalling due to her father's demands that I ate the same limited diet of utter shite that he did and I just remember feeling like crap and desperately shoving down whatever I could so I didn't faint. I had loads of trouble trying to BF at first and could never express at all. My supply also dried up at 6 months; it took much longer to get rid of the nutritional deficiencies afterwards - like years.

With DD2, I was better nourished fatter to start with, could eat what I wanted and had daily exercise in doing the school run, shopping, housework, everything that involves looking after two children. But I also stopped BF at 4 months and that took away the anxiety about having enough milk, no ravenous hunger and I generally felt more able to function. So I lost weight both during and after BF for her.

In fairness, my activity levels after DD1 were also severely restricted through a combination of the ex's demand that I never left the house without him and that would only ever be by car and a bodge job of a section (still have pain around the incision site decades later), whereas with DD2, I had a relatively uneventful VBAC, so I was physically able to do more from the outset - didn't have any choice really, but it was certainly far easier to do everything with just a bunch of stitches to be careful of.

It's definitely a case of your mileage may vary; it's what works for you at the time - restricting strongly isn't great, nor is eating loads more than you're actually expending. If you're very slim, maybe you do need to eat and drink a little more, if not, perhaps not quite so much. I certainly wouldn't be actively trying to diet.

Yep. I ate a shedload of cake for 21 months and still went from 12st8lbs to 10st.