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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Breastfeeding mummy's - weight loss?

33 replies

Wellthatwasfun · 13/04/2013 22:56

Hello, I am ebf my LO who is 16 weeks old. I love breastfeeding but would love some advice from previous mums......

I still have 10lbs to lose, I eat healthy and exercise regularly every day (20 min strength training in morning, 2x 40min walks throughout the day), but in not super human and i do have chocolate but in moderation, but gather I'm aloud this as I do 'push' myself when exercising.

I would like to know what you ate for you to lose your baby weight while breastfeeding, I'd ideally like to get back to my 8st pre preg weight, I am very fit pre, while, and post pregnancy and can't understand why it is so difficult.

Also I am worried that I may not be eating enough calories (I haven't found my hunger increase that much), has anyone found by upping their calorie intake found that they started losing? My average day would be porridge in the morning with blueberries, lunch is a sandwich and a yogurt and dinner is a very large green salad with tuna/chicken no fatty dressing, and like I said a bit of chocolate or a couple of biscuits. Weekends I do have a few more cakes.

Please don't think that I will give up breastfeeding, I love it and if my weight loss has to started once I have weaned, then so be it, but I would also like to loss something as my wedding is fast approaching!

Just one more question, did your little one get to a certain age and started drinking the weight off you?

OP posts:

Trying2bMindful · 13/04/2013 23:18

For me The weight fell off around 6 months (5kgs over 6 weeks!) & I've plateaued since but he is 10 mo so another growth spurt is due so am expecting to lose more soon!! My mum reckons she had reached her ideal weight at 12 months whilst her non bf mummy friends were struggling.
Good luck. Don't stress as it will come off.

noblegiraffe · 14/04/2013 08:11

I've heard that with breastfeeding your body hangs onto a bit of weight to make sure it has the resources to breastfeed (like when you put the weight on your hips and thighs in pregnancy to prepare for breastfeeding). Not sure how true this is but I certainly found it hard to lose the last half stone but it went when I stopped bfeeding.

GizzaCwtch · 14/04/2013 08:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissRedIndie · 14/04/2013 08:29

Ditto what noble said for me, I can't shift the last 8lbs, DD2 is 6 mo. It was the same for me with DD1 and when I stopped feeding her I lost 7lbs in a week. You may have to accept that you will retain some weight until you stop feeding.

Original poster

Wellthatwasfun · 14/04/2013 09:06

Thanks all, it's so frustrating as nearly all my friends have lost weight, I do think I must be doing something wrong! Grr!

OP posts:

leedy · 14/04/2013 09:12

I think it really depends on how your body reacts to it, and even from baby to baby - I haven't lost weight as fast on DS2. I also had the sudden drop at 6 months with DS1, btw (just after buying a couple of new pairs of trousers, gah), which brought me to below my pre-pregnancy weight.

chocolatecheesecake · 14/04/2013 09:12

It may be that you're not eating enough - my weightwatchers points allowance is double what I'm normally allowed when I'm not breastfeeding and I'm still losing weight.

Original poster

Wellthatwasfun · 14/04/2013 09:54

Actually, I may not eating enough and not even know it, as its hard when u don't feel hungry chocolatecheesecake, what do you roughly eat in a day just so I can compare?

OP posts:

mamapants · 14/04/2013 10:07

I lost a 1lb a week for first couple of months then weightloss stopped till about 6mths then started losing again. LO is 9mths old now and I weigh less than pre pregnancy. But I did weigh about a stone heavier than my usual weight when I got pregnant

TwitchyTail · 14/04/2013 13:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ShowOfHands · 14/04/2013 13:21

When I had dd, I couldn't lose the last half stone. I ran, did resistance training, ate healthily etc and it just hung around. I stopped bfing when she was 3yrs 4 months and it fell of in a couple of weeks.

When I had ds, it just fell off from the beginning. I was back to a pre-pregnancy weight by 4 months at the v latest and he's 19 months now and I'm slimmer than ever. I've done nothing differently. May be different baby, different age, who knows.

Just eat to hunger. Make sure you drink to thirst too. You don't need much to sustain bfing on top of your normal calorie intake. It's really as little as a couple of slices of toast or an extra bowl of cereal.

chocolatecheesecake · 14/04/2013 16:39

I think it depends on your baby. With my first I put on weight while breastfeeding. With my second its fallen off (apart from the last 6lb, hence weightwatchers). The difference for me I think is baby appetite - my second prob feeds twice as much as my first.

What do I eat? Two slices of toast and a glass of juice for breakfast. Lunch is veggie pasta or risotto, or toast with cheese or eggs. Dinner is fishcakes/ chicken and veg, or stirfry, or lasagne/pasta/ chilli at wknds. In between - cake, choc, fruit - still snack on cake and choc on ww, just a bit less

dozily · 14/04/2013 16:44

I ate huge amounts each time and lost weight slowly and steadily until by 12 months after the birth I weighed half a stone below my usual weight.

However it's still quite early days for you so I wouldn't worry about a few extra pounds at that stage whatsoever.

MandragoraWurzelstock · 14/04/2013 16:47

I do wonder how much of it is water retention, when you're breastfeeding.

I lost the weight very very quickly with ds1, a bit less quickly with ds2 but still it was gone by a few months, and this time I am still almost a stone more than I normally used to be, and a stone and a half more than I was when I got pg. I don't understand it unless, well, there are a couple of differences.

I'm older
we have a car and use it a lot, instead of walking though I do try and walk now.
I had a really rubbish pregnancy and put on a bit more, because the SPD was so awful and I literally couldn't move very much at all towards the end - saying that I put on nearly all the weight in the first trimester, from eating to try and combat the morning sickness/not get into a cycle of hunger/nausea.

I drink more these days. Not alcohol, just normal drinks. So maybe my body is at its natural weight now, iyswim - I think in the old days I drank so little I was probably massively dehydrated.

And if you're breastfeeding your boobs weigh quite a bit.

domesticslattern · 14/04/2013 16:48

Previous threads on this topic have concluded that some people found they lost weight when bf and the others that they couldn't lose weight when bf ie the opposite!

PoppyWearer · 14/04/2013 16:48

After both of my DCs I found that my body hung onto a bit of weight until I stopped bf'ing.

If you are struggling, I would highly recommend Weight Watchers. The points allowance includes a generous amount extra for breastfeeding mums and I lost over a stone both times I used their plan. My WW leader was also a mum herself and very sympathetic, not pushy.

MandragoraWurzelstock · 14/04/2013 16:55

The weird thing is, although I'm not losing any weight I seem to be getting shaky legs and that low blood sugar feeling if I don't keep eating.

Not sure how this works! It makes me afraid to cut down tbh. It might just be stress I suppose but some days I feel like I'm not very coordinated and could just pass out, or fall and drop the baby, etc.

Maybe just very tired!

UniqueAndAmazing · 14/04/2013 17:01

I now weigh 8st 13lb on average.
dd is now 16 mo

I haven't done any diet restrictions and I was 10.5st before I got pregnant.

dd feeds still about 6 time a day and I eat what I think I need.

I also exercise, which I think is whag makes the most difference.

UniqueAndAmazing · 14/04/2013 17:02

most of my weight was lost in the first few months, but the last half stone has been later.

MaMaPo · 14/04/2013 17:05

I think it's highly individual. My baby is 18 weeks. During my pregnancy I put on just under 2stone, and have now lost 2.5stone. My clothes are hanging off me and I haven't been this light for many years. I haven't exercised (save loads of pram walking) and eat loads of cakes. I am not a likely candidate to have list so much weight.

UniqueAndAmazing · 14/04/2013 17:05

you really have to look at it as a long term thing, though.

your body knows it needs good stores to keep your milk good. so it comes from you.

you might feel like it's not going, but it's still very early days.
keep feeding keep eating, it'll all even out

UniqueAndAmazing · 14/04/2013 17:08

mandra I get that dizzy clumsy thing too.
I like to think it's my body telling me I need to eat more.

Original poster

Wellthatwasfun · 14/04/2013 18:21

mandra- yes, I get dizzy, I get it quite a lot, even when I have eaten a short time ago, I think it is like a exhausted mental thing.

I think I am going to give ww a go, and see how I get on. I'm really bad at judging how much to eat, whether it is to much or not enough! Although I was 8st3 5ft4 before preg, I did have to work quite hard to get to that size, so maybe my body is just holding onto a layer of bulb!

OP posts:

MandragoraWurzelstock · 14/04/2013 18:59

Oh glad it isn't just me. Good luck Op xx

MrsHoarder · 14/04/2013 19:37

Wellthatwasfun I'm amazed at how little you're eating: at that stage I was eating 3 large meals plus a packet of biscuits a day (yes I should have had a 4th meal, but I cba).

I have slowly lost weight since having DS, but most days I have yogurt fruit and cereal for breakfast, a large portion of thick hm soup and a few slices of toast for lunch, and a large bowl of pasta and meat/sauce, or equivalent meat and potatoes/risotto/stir fry. Plus a few biscuits/hm (low sugar) cakes etc. That is what I need to not feel shaky most days. If you are feeling shaky or low on energy you need to eat a bit more, definitely if you a bfing.

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