What happened to your body after you stopped breastfeeding?

[CuppaTeaJanice]

I stopped breastfeeding last week, having decreased gradually so I managed to avoid the sore boobs. Yesterday, however, I had diarrhoea (not sure if that's spelt right). I didn't feel sick or ill, or have stomach ache as usually happens when I get the runs, so I'm wondering if it's a hormonal thing and linked with stopping bf. Did anybody else get this?

Also I wondered if there are any other delights (apart from starting periods again) that I can expect from my body as it gets back to normal!!!

I too decreased it really gradually but timed it slightly wrong as 1st period came on our honeymoon1 doh! but took 3 months!

I had nothing happen except put on a bit of weight which i needed as had lost too much (never happy!) DD was 10 months when i stopped but had it down to just night feeds in the end but yeah nothing happened!

Am currently 12 wks with 2nd so keeping fingers crossed for an equally easy time this time!

I stopped breastfeeding at 10 months too although periods had already returned after dd started sleeping through the night. I lost weight once I was finished feeding. The other thing I noticed was that I hadn't been ill the whole time I was breastfeeding - no colds or anything and once I stopped I got a bad cold almost straight away. It was February though.

Maybe it's just a bug then! Seems strange that there were no other symptoms though.

Congratulations livismum!!!!

I stopped at 10 months, and I lost 3 stone!!!
Could not shift the weight while feeding but as soon as I stopped it just fell off.

As for AF, think it came back when I dropped the daytime feeds and was just doing a morning and bed time feed.

Oh, so looking forward to losing that 3 stone (well, maybe a reduction in cake would help too!).

Please let me lose weight too! DD 14mo and only feeds once a day. I am wondering whether any changes in my body would have happened already being so little, or if I will get any changes when I eventually stop.

Beware though cuppa, a friend on my postnatal thread stopped (well baby went on strike) and she thought she had got away with any problems but suddenly got engorged boobs about 2 weeks later!

Like Bumperlicious' friend, about a week after stopping I suddenly got terrifically sore and hard breasts. I'd had mastitis, but it didn't feel like that. I found expressing slightly in the bath and massaging with hot flannels helped, but it took over another week for the soreness to go.

I actually put weight on, but that's because I'd lost loads while BF....and I love cake too much

I'm still bfing my 16 month old but have a friend who never loses weight until she stops. My periods came back at 4 months despite feeding day and night- robbed!

Thinking about it I've not had any colds/flu etc the whole time I've been feeding so maybe it's all stored up. I've also struggled to lose the last half a stone despite running regularly and eating healthily. Maybe there are some highlights to giving up after all.

I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Much better now thanks!

Probably have lost weight due to not feeling like eating (and clearing out the system, as it were). Although DP has just had a birthday, and there's a large cake sitting in the kitchen......

Bumper, it would be wonderful if your friend's problem happened to me - I've given up a couple of months before intended because of nursing strike. If the supply came back maybe he'd feed again!

Livis - that happened to me too! first period on honeymoon. BAD timing!

Not much else happened, apart from that I put on weight. I used to eat quite a lot when i BF, then when I stopped BF, I carried on eating the same amount !!

My norks fell off!

Think it's very variable - I lost lots of weight when bf, and some came back when I stopped - other friends didn't lose any until they stopped.