Did your weight change when you gave up breastfeeding?

[pixiestix]

I'm just curious as I'm weaning DD at the moment.

Loads of people advocated BF to me as a way of shifting the baby weight, but does that mean that you have to be careful when stopping? Am I going to have to cut out the calories I would have been using to produce milk? (I've been going to SW since January and lost two and a half stone and I'm going to be gutted if it starts to pile back on again.)

On the other hand someone told me the other day that she was looking forward to stopping as she just couldn't shift the last bit of pg weight - she felt that she was retaining it because of the BF.

Anyone noticed any discernable difference either way when they've stopped BF?

I've finally given up after 5 years (3 dc) and have lost quite a bit of weight in the last couple of months with very little effort

I started to lose weight when I stopped bf.

No, I bf for 12 months and had lost all baby weight by two months. As feeds decreased, so did my appeitite. So my weight stayed the same, or at least that's how it seemed to work for me.

I read that your body hangs onto fat on hips and thighs when bf as an insurance against lack of calories.

This sounds very promising, thanks!

I was a bit worried that I would have got so used to eating the 300 extra calories you need per day to BF (I think thats the figure?) that I would be eating too much once I stopped, but what you say about your appetite decreasing is just what I needed to hear Kickingking.

I couldn't shift the final half stone while bfing despite running 4x a week and eating healthily. When I stopped it disappeared within a few weeks and with no real effort. Your body can sometimes hang onto reserves to preserve bfing as a priority but then let go of them v quickly when they're no longer needed.

Your appetite should be related to what you actually need though so just listen to your body.

yes it's gone up slightly.

No Belgo no.

but then I have just spent two weeks in england stuffing my face with doughnuts and cream cakes etc

apart from breasts returning to pre-feeding size (but alas not pre-feeding height), no. Friends have said they lost weight whilst feeding, others after. So this post is really of little or no help. Sorry.

Ahh, I hear you on the pre-feeding height

I was starting to slim down once I decreased the feeds. Now I am pregnant and stopped bf fully in the same month, so can't really say. I do reckon I would have lost more weight otherwise. Instead of putting 4lb on in a week

I'm still bf-ing my 3 and a bit year old, just one feed in the morning now. a bit before she turned 3 she dropped about 2 feeds (some afternoons and every night) and horrors! within about 3 months i put on 4kg! That was about 3 months ago and I have taken up skipping and weights 5 days a week and cut out the giant morning latte (americano now) and reduced the huge lumps of chicken/steak and am in better shape and minus 2kg, but the trouble is i do like to eat cake and rice. probably this is a whole other thread but would quite like for her to stop bf-ing now...i like the idea that that would help shift hip flab...though personally fear it's more the eating-less plan that will work.