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’m a size 8 and put on 20lb in pregnancy, lost 18l in the first 2 weeks pp, then the remaining two the week after. Over the next 6 months, I lost another half a stone and looked horribly thin. I ate two dinners and snacks/chocolate/pudding galore but could not keep the weight on as I massively overproduced milk. In the first few months of BFing, my milk would come out not just from my nipple but all over my areole too, like a shower head. With two pregnancies, I donated about 50L to the milk bank. Once they started on solids, my weight crept back up to my normal size. Nobody told me this could happen when I was pregnant!

I lost too much weight, couldn’t keep it on. Moved to formula for various reasons at 3 months but definitely was true for us.

I did, first baby “wasn’t gaining enough weight” (said his HV) so I switched to formula at 4 months. Also didnt lose any weight BFing him either. With my second it went much better and ended up feeding her for 15 months. Interestingly it was with the second that I lost about a stone and a half, but only after the four month mark did it start to come off.

I think you burn a lot of calories while breastfeeding , I was always extremely famished after breastfeeding and sweaty ,I’d crave things like chocolate rolls or pain au chocolat , I’d get this shaky feeling like my blood sugar is low, I was definitely consuming more than I should ,
And not moving much because of c-sec.
Didn’t gain but was losing weight steadily< albeit slow , >but was back to pre baby clothes within a couple of months.

With both mine I retained weight.