Did breastfeeding help you lose weight?

[MangoJuiceAddict]

hey, I was wondering about others' experiences of breastfeeding and weight loss. Did breastfeeding actually help you to lose weight? I breastfed my daughter for 8 months and didn't lose any weight... I gained it as I was so hungry and constantly craved sugar for energy! So is the 'breastfeed to lose the babyweight' saying an old wives' tale? My mum and mother in law both swore it was true but my experience definitely says otherwise!

Like plannedshock I am feeding 8 week old DD2 (DC 3). I am now lighter than when I conceived her and have dropped a dress size within 12 weeks of giving birth to all 3.

When I conceived DC1(DS) I was a size 20,
When I conceived DD1 I was an 18
When I conceived DD2 I was a 16
I am now wearing a 14, and can fit in my 11 year old wedding dress.

The weight just dropped off me until DS was around 16mo. I didn't watch what I was eating at all. Now pg with DC2 and hoping for the same this time!

I was a size 8 before I got pregnant, stayed fit throughout and found that my body clung onto the extra few pounds while I was feeding. As soon as I stopped it dropped off which seems to be quite common amongst the people I know who weren't a little bit overweight to start with. So it didn't work for me.

I lost weight but I used weight watchers to keep me on the straight and narrow. You get extra points. I ate well but couldnt go overboard with stuff like cake. I walked a lot too. Both babies on the 90th for weight so they must have been taking all the fat! I am not super skinny but got to just below pre pg weight by 6m. A bit has crept on in the years since.

The weight fell off me when I was bf despite eating loads of crap at the time. I ended up slimmer when ds was 5 months than I was pre pregnancy. Went back to my normal weight after stopping bf.
However I told a friend who was pg shortly after me about the wonders of the bf diet and she we 'cheated' like the op. she carried half a stone extra until she gave up bf at around a year. Then it fell off.

No - I lost a bit in the first few weeks, then the rest clung on til I stopped feeding! Was robbed!

I don't reckon it's pregnancy which makes you put on weight, it's the sitting around eating biscuits because you are just so bloody tired afterwards.. I am still in terrible eating habits and my youngest is nearly two.

Yes, breastfed for almost 6 months. Three weeks after birth I weighed less than pre-pregnancy weight and was scoffing cakes and biscuits. Now I've stopped I'm going to really have to cut down on food

Yes. I had an active preg and put on 3 stone. I think much of that was water at the end because I remember coming back from hospital and marvelling how thin my legs were! But I became very skinny very fast when breastfeeding, even though I was hoovering up sugary crap. Had a colicky baby though so loads of walking and carrying probably helped! Stopped at 13 months and have put on a few pounds since then. It's just the luck of the draw.

I have been continuously pg or bf for over 6 years now, and am a stone and a half heavier than before I got pg for the first time. I'm getting close to giving up bf (and won't be getting pg again) so I'm hoping that the extra weight will easily drop off then.

For me, I think it's partly been bad habits - eating a lot of chocolate, stuffing down high-energy snacks etc. Am slowly removing the bad habits, so that should make a difference. Also, I don't get any proper exercise other than walking the school run, which doesn't help.

Yes. I weigh less now than I did before I got pregnant. Despite eating copious quantites of chocolate and cake, my weight is still falling. Seems to be going faster now - probably because DD is 7 months old and her appetite has increased.

No for Dd1- weight came off really fast when she started eating more solids and not night feeding. I look back fondly on those week

No for Dd2-. Now at nearly a stone over my usual wt and its pretty static.

Am hoping that it will fall off again after feeding. Really hoping or none of my work clothes will fit

Yes, I was slimmer about 3mths in than I had been in years, felt great. I dropped a dress size. Everyone commented on how much weight I'd lost. I wasn't being careful either, had a serious cake and chocolate addiction. Sadly I stopped BF 2 months ago and have started to put on weight . Trying to be careful so I don't pile it all back on.

I went down 2 dress sizes (18 to a 14) when feeding DS.

Sadly I put the weight back on. I'm hoping to lose weight again now I'm feeding DD.

Have lost 4 kilos in 4 months BF. Have been doing a lot of walking though. Biggest drops in weight have been around growth spurts. DD is mahoosive 91st - 98th centile too. BF is magic!

Yes and no. Lost most of baby weight in around first three months after lots of breast feeding and miles of pram pushing. Felt quite smug i until Stopped when dd was 1 and went back to work. Carried on eating as if breast feeding and pram pushing and put half of it back on again!

No! My body kept me storing fat for the production I guess. It all went off when I stop (after 8 months with the first and a year with the second)

Put weight on when bf. And then put even mote weight on when I stopped (almost 3 Yrs, although it was just a night feed for the last year or so).

Was massively (in both senses!) of those who found that bf helped them to lose weight. Particularly of one friend who was losing so much weight her doctor was advising her to eat plenty of steak and dark chocolate to help make sure she didn't lose too much more weight... --I love steak. And dark chocolate. But they are occasional treats here rather than doctor ordered!)

Actually thinking about it I lost weight for the first 3 weeks and was almost down to pre-pregnancy weight when I was diagnosed with a dvt and started to take warfarin for nearly a year.

I discovered some anecdotal evidence that lots of other people experienced weight gain with it even though it's not an official side effect. But it did make me wonder about how much of the effect was warfarin related and if I would have carried on losing weight if I hadn't had to take it.

I gained weight in the first 5 months, I was eating LOADS in a vain attempt to increase my supply and then I joined slimming world and the weight fell off me until DS was 8 months and I stopped BFing then the weight loss as slowed right down. So I do think it helped me to lose weight.

I didn't manage to establish bf so DS was always bottle fed - I was a size 8 pre pregnancy but had a pregnancy filled with complications, and put on 5 stone it really bothered me, and the weight was coming off quite slowly so I went on a high protein low carb type diet and got back to a size 8 within about 5 months. Couldn't have done that if I was bf, so in that respect bottle feeding made it easier to lose the weight, but I don't know if I had managed to breastfeed if I'd have lost the weight naturally.

Yes. I couldn't eat enough food to maintain weight and was loosing it too fast. Was 9.3 stone at 40 weeks, and down to 7.8 stone when eldest was 8 weeks. I ended up having to eat 5 meals a day and on protein shake things from doctors. I had to aim for at least 3000 calories a day.

My day was like food, more food, shake, lunch, more food, shake, more food, and maybe more food! Porridge with cream etc

I did go back to work at 10 weeks both times with baby tagging along and busy long days. So I think I must have walked 5-8 miles daily also and never sat down. Hence needing to eat loads.

I lost loads of weight at the start, more due to stress (premature baby) than BFing I think, then gained it once I started eating huge amounts as I was hungry all the time.

If I'd kept eating a normal amount rather than all the extra, I'm sure I would have lost weight. but I would have been very hungry!

It did the first time but not the second (sat with 3 year old on my 'post baby' belly).