Does breastfeeding make you age faster?

[Peridotty]

I heard someone say that breastfeeding makes you age faster because it takes a lot of energy. Is that true? I am still BF my 17 month old and don’t plan to stop until 2. But with the sleep deprivation and nursing i feel like my face has taken a beating. Others say I look young though and I was told last week I look 22. My sister just said I look older.

@TerribleCustomerCervix

Don’t think there’s any truth in it- I suppose more frequent night wakings could lead to tiredness, and that does no-ones looks any favours.

I did find BF draining though. I remember sitting in the nursery chair after getting ds latched on and the minute my let-down started it felt like the life force was actually draining out of me.

D-MER? I had that with all of mine. It's a bitch.

I'm 43, I breastfed my two for 3.5 years each. I still get ID'd buying alcohol, so I'm going with no, not in my case.

Honestly never heard of this before! I breastfed all mine for coming up to 2 years each, boobs are still okish I think. The sleep deprivation from doing all the night feeds must contribute to ageing though.

Ryannah pregnancy does that. Not breastfeeding.
My boobs were fine after I gave birth. Breastfeeding ruined them because it made one bigger than the other and it never went back to normal. You’re lucky if your breasts weren’t ruined, but mine were and it happens to a lot of women.

That's a new one

FWIW I breastfed ds for 13 months (he's 21 now) and still have good boobs so dh tells me At 60 I'm a 34DD and my boobs still just pass the pencil test

Children age you but fortunately ds gave us very few sleepless nights but I doubt that breastfeeding is the cause. The body is an amazing thing able to do many things.

I’m going to say yes because bfing mums have to do all the night wakes, get fewer breaks & of course it depletes the body.

The women I know who bf more than a few months looked shattered & quite gaunt if I’m honest, particularly if they were on the thin side to start with.

I stopped at 6 months, instantly i put on a few pounds & my skin looked better. I also had bags more energy.

People on MN are very, very sensitive about anything that isn’t 100% positive about bfing though so I shall await my turn in the stocks

Women who bf past 2 tend to lose weight more rapidly than those who stop. That might explain the ‘gaunt’ remarks. Breasts that produce milk also go through a ‘drying out’ process for a year or two after you stop which may make you feel like you’re ageing faster. But actually the facts are that breastfeeding mothers are, overall, far healthier than their cohorts who don’t breastfeed. Even in India in the poorest families mums often get pressured straight after birth to put babies on formula / goats milk so they can get back to housework while mil does the feeding / bonding with baby leaving both mum and baby at risk of dying - the mums who breastfeed tend to have better mental and physical health, which is why countries with poor populations in Asia and Africa encourage it.

Just this evening I’ve aged about five years through feeding my newborn.

@Ozanj what is ‘far healthier’ though? In numbers would you say?

Having children ages you

Breastfeeding isnt doing your body any harm, nor is it aging you. Your sister has been listening to old wives tales.

[quote Glassofshloer]@Ozanj what is ‘far healthier’ though? In numbers would you say?[/quote]
Mums who breastfeed past 2 are less likely to develop breast / ovarian cancer, or osteoporosis (presumably because they are less likely to become obese which is a known risk factor), more likely to be mentally healthier as they would have received more support. And the NHS is pushing it as it’s known to reduce gastro infections in babies and toddlers which could reduce the instances of young kids dying from follow on conditions. In terms of me personally breastfeeding has seemed to resolved my severe pcos - something my consultant seemed to know all about but it isn’t something that’s published anywhere. So mums with pcos aren’t supported to breastfeed.

@TasteTheMeatNotTheHeat

Having children ages you

Breastfeeding isnt doing your body any harm, nor is it aging you. Your sister has been listening to old wives tales.

Pregnancy aged me. I look a lot younger now which isn’t saying much lol

Never heard that myth either. Sun damage ages you. Wear a sun hat or spf when out with the pushchair. There was a group of mums that used to jog a lot after school drop-off. They were thinner and browner than me. I bf for 5 years in total. Most of them bottle fed. They look 10 years older than me - I still have a smoother fatter face and therefore fewer lines.

I think that's a nasty, classist untruth (not saying you're being nasty and classist OP!) which springs from the times when only poor women fed their babies and rich women had wet nurses and night nannies.

Child rearing makes you look tired, being tired makes you look older.

What rubbish. Energy is basically calories from food. BF uses up calories, just like exercise does. You eat food to replenish your energy. We’re not born with a finite amount of energy that we use up as we get older, and we don’t age because we’re running out.

It can take a lot out of you. I was bf a toddler and a baby for a while, and I was so drained I kept getting sick so ended up weaning the toddler.

I suspect if you really weren't eating properly, etc. it could age you faster in some ways.

@EatYourVegetables

No it doesn’t! 5y breastfeeding and my boobs are perky and just the right size! Honestly they are better than when I was 18!

(My face though aged about 25 y in those 5y. I think it’s just having kids.)

OP: the energy theory doesn’t make sense either. Do marathon runners look ancient?

A lot of marathon runners do look aged. Think of all those stringy running types.

No of course not! What would the mechanism be biologically?

It also doesn't ruin your breasts or whatever was posted earlier..!

It does do plenty good stuff though.

I fed mine for over s year each. Tits fab and look young for age. (Young look is genetic I'm sure!).

Things that can make you look older are things like sun damage, smoking. Being a miserable sod. The last I'm sure applies to no one on here!

I did look shit when kids were young. Exhausted and stressed and depressed.

When they got a bit older BOOM back in the game

It doesn’t age you but it does ruin your breasts

Didn't ruin my breasts and really helped me get rid of all the extra weight I'd put on when I was pregnant.

The opposite tbh.

I’ve got diagnosed with endometriosis. It’s hereditary - but my diagnosis was 5 years later than my DM. The surgeon commented how lucky it was that I BF & slowed it down. I am basically ‘behind’ on how many lifetime periods I’ve had - so my gynae age is less than my chronological age.

Kids age you whether you breastfeed or not. I think it is the sleep deprivation that contributes to looking or feeling more rough which might be more common in breastfeeding mums, as they can't share the night feeds unless they express for it to be given in a bottle.

No idea but it got me back into size 8 jeans very fast, was great for bonding and grew my baby to above 99th centile so if I look a bit older so be it.

Breastfeeding ruined them because it made one bigger than the other and it never went back to normal.

Correction. Breastfeeding where you let a the baby favour/nurse more from one breast over the other makes them uneven. It’s not breastfeeding by itself.

I’ve breastfed 4 and don’t have one bigger than the other, they are very saggy though and I don’t believe that’s from pregnancy alone.