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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Breastfeeding and weightloss myth

56 replies

Greatgoing · 20/08/2010 12:44

I have breastfed both my babies and both experiences have been wonderful-easy, positive, convenient, all the usual. I definitely felt that initially feeding 'pulled' my uterus back in, but that was a very much internal sensation.

However, does anyone else agree that the whole 'weight drops off' thing is absolute codswallop? I eat really sensibly,do loads of excercise but there is no doubt in my mind that breastfeeding actually makes me retain stubborn preg fat round my stomach, arms, thighs.

As pro pro pro breastfeeding as I am I smother a smirk when I read celebs sighting breastfeeding as the way they 'sprung back into shape'. Is it just me?!?!?

OP posts:

Morloth · 20/08/2010 16:02

I am sure it would work for me if BFing didn't make me so damned HUNGRY.

Nevermind, as long as DS's thighs are good and chubby I don't mind if mine are as well.

paddypoopants · 20/08/2010 16:10

I put on more weight in whilst bf than I did whilst I was pregnant despite surviving on oatcakes. I didn't lose any until I stopped. I know a few other people who had the same problem. It was more than a little annoying.

MumNWLondon · 20/08/2010 16:16

OP - I could have posted the same. Complete myth, eat sensibly and been swimming three times a week and actually put weight on. Hsve stopped at 6 months with DD and DS1 too depressing to be so fat. Probably going to stop at 6 months again this time.

fifitot · 20/08/2010 16:31

Probably depends on your metabolism. I am naturally slim, didn't put on weight in pregnancy (other than pretty much what the baby weighed) and have lost loads of weight since bfing. Same happened with DC1. In fact could do with putting weight on! Am too skinny if truth be told and eating for England.

barkfox · 20/08/2010 19:41

This is interesting - I honestly don't know how anyone would know if their weight loss was down to BF-ing, unless they'd had 2 v similar pregancies, births and babies, and then BF-d one, and FF-d the other.... I was only 4 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight 1 week after giving birth, but I've really no idea how that happened. [this doesn't mean I'm 'slim', btw, it's all relative!]

My DS is 5 weeks old, and given how much time I have spent being a house prisoner on the sofa feeding him, when tbh I would MUCH rather have been outdoors and physically much more active, I'm sceptical about how BF-ing is instrumental in weight loss. I'd certainly have been able to go to the gym/swimming etc much more easily if I wasn't feeding him myself. And in the past, it has been exercise more than anything else that has affected my weight.

I'm not personally that concerned about losing weight (was a bit overweight pre-pregnancy, didn't put masses on, have lost most of it but am not a swimwear model anyway etc) -

However, I've always disliked the way weight loss is pushed as one of the benefits of BF. It's not a certainty, in the way that better nutrition is, for a start, and I really don't like the implication that losing weight is something all new mums will or should be thinking about anyway...

EdgarAllenPop · 20/08/2010 19:47

i thought that breast feeding women were on average more likely to return to pre-pregnancy weight? so, true in general but not in every case.

persnally i like being able to eat slightly more without gaining.....although effort will still be required to shift the post-natal pork.

i found i lost weight best whilst at work and still BF - no time to eat more.

barkfox · 20/08/2010 19:57

Fair point, EdgarAllen - but is it known if BF-ing women are more likely to return to pre-pregnancy weight because of BF-ing, as a physical process?

Just we know that BF-ing is most common within specific social groups in the UK, and very uncommon in others, so I would imagine there are other factors involved.

azazello · 20/08/2010 20:04

I've definitely lost weight through bf but have to follow a basic WW diet as well. With DD I put on 2 stone while pregnant and she was mixed fed until 4m and then fully ff. I lost all but about 3lbs. DS is 9m and a boob monster - exbf since birth. I put on 4 stone when pregnant due to horrible morning sickness. I lost all that plus another stone and a half within the first 6 months.

I'm currently eating pretty big portions and some snacks/ cakes etc and more or less maintaining the weight loss.

Raejj · 20/08/2010 20:06

Myth for me. Until I give up bf I just can't shift the weight.

greenbananas · 20/08/2010 20:14

Not a myth for me. I didn't lose much in the first few weeks but once I stopped eating nothing but cakes and chocolate I lost weight so quickly that our local SureStart worker took me aside and asked me if I was anorexic. I put on 4 stone while pregnant but lost it all very easily (i.e. no dieting at all) within about 6 months.

Lynli · 20/08/2010 20:16

I lost A LB a day, I couldn't eat enough, I would wake in the night for a midnight feast.

I did make a lot of milk as I was in hospital for a long while and they attached me to a milking machine for premature baby unit.

bounty007 · 20/08/2010 20:17

BF is THE best diet in the world bar none for me! havent been this thin since I was 16...love it...sadly DD has started solids, so can't eat quite so much cake

jemjabella · 21/08/2010 08:50

"This is interesting - I honestly don't know how anyone would know if their weight loss was down to BF-ing" ... well if you can figure out how else I'm losing weight, I'm all ears.

I've always struggled to lose weight before, even though I used to walk 6 miles+ a day. Was overweight pre-pregnancy, lost 10lbs in the first 2 weeks (hyperemesis) but then steadily gained pregnancy weight. I was in my pre-pregnancy jeans (size 18) half an hour after giving birth which was obviously 'thanks' to the sickness, but DD now 9mo and am still losing weight. Size 14 jeans baggy, may need size 12 now. Never been a size 12 in my life before.

I eat more than ever, and am doing less exercise. Although I babywear, so frequently carry an 18lb lump on my front, I don't often do significant distances so calorie burning would be negligible.

Unless I have tapeworms, can only assume it's the BFing.

ItWasADarkAndStormyNight · 21/08/2010 09:02

I've definately lost a lot of weight really fast, I'm now a stone less then I was pre-pregnancy and still losing. Got to the point where I don't want to lose anymore now! He just never stops eating though

thesecondcoming · 21/08/2010 09:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

omnishambles · 21/08/2010 09:23

No myth here either - sorry. I lost so much weight that I had to see a dietician and be put on weightbuilding shakes after dd.

I do eat more but that sick hungry feeling never left me no matter how much I ate.

Bu then my metabolism is very fast anyway - very unfair I know.

Tillyscoutsmum · 21/08/2010 09:26

The weight didn't drop off when b'fing because I was so hungry and tired so ate loads of bad stuff. DS was above the top centile, fed max 2 hourly day and night for 6 months. The weight did however pile on when I stopped b'fing (and carried on eating the same amounts for a while).

OnEdge · 21/08/2010 09:27

Yes you are right, tis bollocks

chipmonkey · 21/08/2010 09:29

No definitely not a myth. I have done WW while bfing and even allowing 10 extra points I would still lose weight. However, for some reason I didn't have the enthusiasm to stick with it so have only really got properly back into it now that I have stopped.

IMO it does burn up extra calories but I have a feeling that there may also be a hormonal increase in appetite, maybe natures way of making sure Mums didn't waste away at times when food was scarce!

mountainmonkey · 21/08/2010 09:30

After 5 months of full time BFing I was half a stone lighter than my pre-pregnancy weight. Not sure if it was the BF or the fact that I've been so bored I've been pushing the pram around for miles almost every day.

resistanceisfutile · 21/08/2010 09:30

I lost weight whilst breastfeeding, despite eating laods.

The problem was when I stopped breastfeeding I'd got used to been able to stuff my face It took awhile to adjust my eating habits so I put weight back on.

EmmaBemma · 21/08/2010 10:03

It's not a myth, it just doesn't work for everyone. If you eat more calories than you lose through breastfeeding, you won't lose weight. I'm not losing weight but my appetite has increased hugely, so am cramming a lot of cake into my face.

SqueezyB · 21/08/2010 12:00

absolutely a myth for me - DD1 was formula fed, DD2 (9 weeks) exclusively breastfed. Weight loss with both has been exactly the same - after the initial post-bith weight loss a depressingly slow but steady 1-2lb a week. Even though I'm much more active this time running round after DD1. Hopefully I might be back in my size 12s by christmas

missjackson · 21/08/2010 12:25

It can't be simply a myth though. There is a biological reason that we put on more weight than just baby, placenta and fluid. Pregnant women generally also store fat around their hips, bum, thighs etc - this must be part of the design process to store extra calories to convert into milk when the baby arrives. When we were in caves, I don't imagine there was much cake to go around to make up the difference! Of course it's all down to your individual metabolism, and won't work for everyone, but I am sure if you continued to eat normally after giving birth, most people would lose weight faster if they were breastfeeding than if they weren't, that's all.

Agree it shouldn't be pushed as a benefit though.

And even though I lost lots of weight, I didn't look or feel good, I had no muscle tone or fitness - nothing makes up for exercise after all.

MrsJessRabinovitch · 21/08/2010 15:24

I have found this really interesting as have really struggled to lose weight after having all my DS's!

DS1 EBF for 6 weeks then mixed fed until 6 months and as soon as I stopped BF and periods returned I literally lost 2 stone in about 8 weeks
DS2 EBF for 4 months, stopped at 6 months lost weight when periods returned

DS3 (14 weeks) who is a feeding monster and despite being mixed fed still feeds off me every 4 hours (around 6 feeds a day) I exercised from 6 weeks post-section and followed a really sensible diet and didn't lose a pound until 2 weeks ago when I started the low GL diet and am steadily losing a couple of pounds a week but that is with NO cheats and exercise !

This may just be between me & my friends but a quick poll found that the ones whos periods returned when they were still ebf seemed to lose the weight faster than those of us who don't get our periods until we have stopped bf-could just be a coincidence but was wondering if it was hormonal? My extra weight is def not from too much cake or biccies-if only !

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