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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Quick poll - did you lose or gain weight when breastfeeding?

46 replies

MayimBialik · 09/12/2012 13:18

I'm not sure if I should post this here or the weightloss topic. Sorry if it's wrong.

I'm currently BFing DS who is 3 weeks old. He's thriving despite the fact that I find it very difficult. Still painful, have had my latch looked at several times and apparently it's right, and am struggling with the fact that the job can't be shared so I am chained to the sofa for much if the day. At night times are difficult too - sleep deprivation is a killer.

Anyway I am persevering for his sake and he's a healthy little chubster so it must be doing him good which is a real boost for me. But other reasons that give me motivation to carry on are the convenience over making up a formula bottle and the fact that it may help me lose my baby weight. (I know incredibly superficial!)

Just wondering though - is it a given that you'll lose weight (if eating healthily too!) because I've read about people unable to lose weight until after they've stopped BFing?

What was your experience of this?

OP posts:
MamaMary · 09/12/2012 13:19

I was unable to lose weight until I stopped BFing. Until then I kept a healthy layer of fat!

Sorry if it's not what you want to hear. Still resent the lies I was told about the weight dropping off!

YouOldTinsellySlag · 09/12/2012 13:20

I BFed round the clock due to a massive baby and a heatwave and yes, I did lose weight. I was the slimmest I'd been in years.

Unfortunately when I stopped- wallop- Michelin woman was back!

puffylovett · 09/12/2012 13:22

I lost weight initially with both, then by 6 months had put weight back on. I'm currently weaning 3 yr ds and the weight is starting to finally trickle off. Sorry :(

scepticalexpat · 09/12/2012 13:23

I lost loads, becoming thinner than I'd ever been despite huge cake consumption.

GwennieF · 09/12/2012 13:25

I lost all my pregnancy weight in the first six months of breastfeeding (4 stone with DS and 2.5 with DD) it stayed off both times....

I didn't watch what I ate either - if anything, at times I was eating more.

WhatDoesTheDogSay · 09/12/2012 13:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Jahan · 09/12/2012 13:31

I stay the same if I eat what I want - lots of cake and choc
If I watch what I eat then I lose weight quite easily. Im feeding 7 week old dd at the moment and have lost about 4lbs from watching what I eat for about 4 days in the past 2 weeks.

cassell · 09/12/2012 13:35

Lost weight, bf ds1 til 18mo, was back at Pre preg weight by 3mths without doing anything other than bfing and eating my body weight in chocolate Blush Grin. Been a bit slower weight loss this time round, ds2 is 7mo (still ebf) been back at Pre preg weight for a couple of months but do have to think a bit more about how much choc/cake/biscuits I eat.

VisualiseAHorse · 09/12/2012 13:36

I stayed the same throughout. I cut down BF quite gradually, now down to one feed every couple of days, and haven't noticed any more weight loss or gain.

I'm still about half a stone heavier than I was pre-pregnancy, but I'm not really that fussed about shifting it until after Christmas!!

ATouchOfStuffing · 09/12/2012 13:42

I put on 3.5st when pg (went up to 12.5st) and 6 months after she was born I had lost nearly 5st. It was really unhealthy and you could see my vertebrae. Was eating huge amounts and loads of cheese and cake but didn't get back to a healthy weight for me until I stopped bfing at 11months. Now about .5st lighter than when I got pg, so all good :)

ATouchOfStuffing · 09/12/2012 13:43

She was 10.1Ib's though and placenta was apparently the biggest they ever saw...so a few st's may have been accounted for there...

EauRougelyNight · 09/12/2012 13:50

Lost weight, especially when tandem feeding. Got to below my pre-pregnancy weight quite quickly despite the epic amounts of cake and chocolate. There was a point at the beginning where I was worried about losing weight too quickly but I ate very sensibly (not just cake and chocolate!) and the weight loss has evened out.

I also found that my stomach went back to its pre-pregnancy shape (nearly flat ) pretty quickly. BF does help your uterus shrink back to normal size so that's probably why. My thighs took a bit longer to shrink Grin and I'm still 2 cup sizes bigger even though DD2 will be 2yo soon.

Spiritedwolf · 09/12/2012 17:18

It totally depends on what you eat, what your activity levels were before and after etc. You can totally lose weight whilst breastfeeding, but you might find your appetite is higher than before and that you are less active, so its not a given.

People who are good at eating the right amount to maintain their pre-pregnancy weight probably do find that they lose the last couple of pounds once they finish breastfeeding, because of losing the milk and perhaps associated fat stores etc. However, breastfeeding alone stop them from losing most of the weight before, iyswim?

Personally, I am about a stone lighter than my (very overweight) pre pregnancy weight at 4 months but I lost most of the weight in the first 2 months (had been careful not to overeat in pregnancy) and have stagnated. If I cut out the chocolate that I'm overeating, I'd be losing weight though.

But I was over weight and relatively inactive before, if you were really active, you might find it takes a while to build back up to that if you are spending a long time feeding on the sofa.

I intend to get back to eating healthily, especially after Christmas, hopefully to make use of breastfeeding to lose some weight, but also to set a good example in terms of weaning foods. I've got about 5 stone to lose, but I lost 6 before becoming pregnant and another since, so I know what I'm doing and its a long term life change not a crash diet. :)

ThoughtsPlease · 09/12/2012 17:55

I am petite anyway but with all 3 EBF children I have been back to previous weight within a few months. I don't diet in any way and eat plenty of crap too! I would think that as long as you haven't put on excess weight in pregnancy and have a stable weight normally, breastfeeding and listening to your body about what you really need to eat, then yes the weight should still be able to be lost while breastfeeding.

materrules · 09/12/2012 18:15

I lost all baby weight and more by 6 week check feeding a hungry little man and eating lots of cake! However i am aware from friends this doesnt happen to everyone. Went back to normal size -about 3 months after stopping and boobs went back to normal size about 6 months after stopping

ISpyDingDongMerrilyOnHigh · 09/12/2012 18:31

With DS1, despite eating far more cake, crisps and biscuits than would ever be recommended for human consumption I ended up having to buy size 8 clothes for the first time since I left school (usually a 10).

Only a week in with DS2, but already got a reasonable stomach (will need toning at some point - not expecting bf to work that much of a miracle Grin) and something resembling a waist. Fx that it'll continue this way although from a general health pov I really need to sort diet out.

Shattereddreams · 09/12/2012 18:36

Didn't lose a bean, was eating 1200 cals
For a week to check! Lost nada.
Stopped feeding around 10m and weight jus falls off slowly.

mmmmsleep · 09/12/2012 18:37

Gained weight but in truth how i ever expected to lose it on a steady diet of chocolate, hot chocolate, cakes and sweets and sitting on sofa / coffee shops with friends i don"t know. Ds was diagnosed with dairy egg and wheat allergy at 6m so i had to exclude those things from my diet as well (with calcium supplements) . Wow the weight fell off then!

MyLastDuchess · 09/12/2012 18:41

I lost the weight within a matter of weeks.

My friend didn't lose hers until she stopped BFing.

It just depends on your genes really; a lot of women hang on to weight while BFing and some don't. I just couldn't keep it on!

ElphabaTheGreen · 09/12/2012 18:42

I was almost straight back into the pre-pg jeans, but then I didn't put much weight on. I took a lot of weight off really quickly during summer when I could walk everywhere with the pram, and I was getting a reasonable amount of sleep. Then the four month sleep regression hit at three months Angry and hasn't ended so I have zero energy to walk and require obscene amounts of biscuits to get through the day. Plus BFing has made me hungrier than I've ever been in my life. Despite this, my weight is staying stable, although I'd like to lose a bit, and I suspect that's down to the fairly continuous day and night feeding I'm doing.

Bunbaker · 09/12/2012 18:46

I ate crate-loads of cake when breastfeeding and the weight dropped off me. I was back in my pre-pregnancy jeans after three weeks.

ArthurandGeorge · 09/12/2012 18:46

I lost weight really quickly whilst bf, pre-pregnancy weight within 6 weeks.

Longdistance · 09/12/2012 18:55

I seemed to put the weight on. Although, was mega tired and thirsty all the time. With dd1 she fed almost constantly, she would feed and feed. But, then not gain masses of weight or sleep so I just gave up after 8/9 months after mixed feeding at 6 months.

Dd2 fed very little, gained lots of weight, and still didn't lose weight then either.

Was massively disappointed by all this losing weight myth I'd heard of. Well, it was a myth to me!

BumgrapesofWrath · 09/12/2012 18:56

I gained weight. Probably because I craved sweet things all the time (and I don't have a sweet tooth), and I was sleep deprived. I looked loads fatter 6 months after the birth than I did straight after.

PollyIndia · 09/12/2012 18:57

Same as Arthur and George and I have been mainlining cake and chocolate. I couldn't believe it when the doc weighed me and I was back to 53 kgs. A nice side effect of breastfeeding!