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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Did you find it impossible to lose weight, or worse, did you gain weight whilst breastfeeding?

37 replies

bangandthedirtisgone · 18/02/2009 18:57

This happened to me and I'm gutted about it.

I'm sick of reading stories from slebs who claim it was breastfeeding that helped them shed the pounds.

Yes, that may have been the case for very many people, but not all of us!

I've started a facebook group so please join if this happened to you, or if you have any inspirational stories as to how the pounds just dropped off when you stopped!

OP posts:
CHEQUERSmate · 18/02/2009 19:11

Yes, I did.

ScorpiowithabigS · 18/02/2009 19:13

I found i lost in the beginning, but then got stuck with an extra half stone. I started on a diet at 5 months postnatal (v sensible diet i add), and when i cut down to 2 BF a day (8 months) i finally got back in my last few bits of pre-pg clothing.

crokky · 18/02/2009 19:15

I breastfed DS for a year and put on a stone.

I have been breastfeeding DD for nearly 11 months and my weight has stayed constant since her birth.

Both times, it made (makes!) me ravenously hungry. I am giving up in a few weeks when DD is one.

However, I only gained a few pounds (if any) during their pgs as I had hyperemesis.

LaTrucha · 18/02/2009 19:19

I put on a lot of weight while pg. I'm still bf my 13 month old and I've lost only 5kg. Another 15 or so to go! I can't say I've tried that hard, but this might in part be because my GP told me that hormonally, it's very difficult to lose weight while bf.

ShortButNotSweet · 18/02/2009 19:24

Both times I have found it very difficult to lose the baby weight whilst breastfeeding (still feeding ds at 11 months).

I think I read somewhere that the last 12lbs are mostly fluid and extra breast tissue, so should come off when bf stops - and I did find with dd that 7lbs came off quite easily when I stopped bfing and my appetite went back to normal.

IMO, celebs how say their weight loss was down to bfing are not telling the whole truth!

beansontoast · 18/02/2009 19:29

with ds i lost pretty much all of it b.feeding....and possibly being neurotic..and then the last six pounds when i stopped.

with dd i think i lost a bit,then put it back on (prob about six pounds) and then stuck there for ages. have stopped,shed a couple more but still have a couple more to go.

try not to worry because in the grand scheme of things you can lose that weight gradually and healthily when you are no longer feeding.

avoid those slebs articles...you arent a sleb so why pressurise yourself as though you were one...they would prob love not to have to be in the freakin gym !

Dilettante · 18/02/2009 19:32

I definitely found I couldn't lose weight while BF, but as soon as I stopped, without dieting, I went back to the weight I was when I fell pregnant.

wobbegong · 18/02/2009 19:34

Ditto as with Dilettante. I was made up.

ShowOfHands · 18/02/2009 19:38

I'm 21 months in, eat healthily, exercise a lot, run 10k a couple of times a week. The last half a stone will not go. It just won't. It's nature protecting the child against famine apparently.

Most trying though.

electra · 18/02/2009 19:44

I put on a lot of weight when breastfeeding but I think it was because I used to grab the nearest thing and perhaps I was eating more calories than I needed to. HPs seemed to promote the idea that I needed to stuff my face and not get any exercise which I now think is a load of rubbish and this time I will trust my body to produce decent breastmilk without stuffing my face!

electra · 18/02/2009 19:44

Sorry, meant to say that it was because breastfeeding made me so hungry.

Wolfcub · 18/02/2009 19:45

I gained no weight whilst pregnant, I gained well over a stone whilst expressing/bf.

LaTrucha · 18/02/2009 20:31

This is heartening. Sorry for hijack, but does anyone know if I have zero chance of losing any weight if I get pg while still bf (which is what I'm trying to do)?

Supercherry · 18/02/2009 20:34

I held onto about half a stone of extra weight while breastfeeding and yes it dropped off when I stopped breastfeeding. So did my boobs

floradora · 18/02/2009 21:14

I think I weigh more now than when I was pg! was about 8 and an half stone before, (size 8-10), now stuck at 10 st 10 having feaked out when scales hit 11 stone (i am only 5'2 !)None of my pre-preg clothes fit, I am so fed up even weeks of "sensible" eating, ie no crisps/biccies/sweets/cheese/butter i can't seem to shift any weight. Four months on I don't want to still be wearing some of my maternity gear!! Mind you I reckon at least one of the extra two stone is boob (whoever thought an F cup wouldn't be big enough...)

homicidalmatriach · 18/02/2009 21:15

I lost a lot of weight but only after DD got to ten months, till then I was quite lardy. I think it was probably all the food wot dun it - seriously - I was starving all the time. Hasn't been the same with DS tough, weirdly.

LeonieSoSleepy · 18/02/2009 22:02

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StewieGriffinsMom · 18/02/2009 22:06

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Alibabaandthe40nappies · 18/02/2009 23:29

I'm struggling too. All my baby weight was off by the time DS was 3 weeks old, but I've put on 12lbs in the 6 months since then. I'm really annoyed as I was overweight when I got pregnant and was hoping that alongside BF being great for DS that it would help me shift a few pounds! I am just soooo hungry all the time it's ridiculous!
I have started doing some exercise and trying to be more moderate in what I'm eating and 2lbs have come off this week, but I have a long long way to go. So glad I'm not the only one though, was feeling like a real piglet.

mumoftoby · 19/02/2009 09:23

BF made me stupidly hungry to, but it is coming off since I have stopped!

MiniMarmite · 19/02/2009 09:28

I am losing weight but very slowly and much more slowly than my friends who are now bottle feeding ...only a stone and a half to go after six months

blueshoes · 19/02/2009 09:29

I think bf-ing makes no difference to whether I gain or lose weight. But the amount of activity and food I eat does.

With dd, my first, I only had her to look after. Took me more than a year to lose my baby weight (2.5 stone gain!).

With ds, my second, I was very active on the nursery run and by then, got into the flow of housework with a baby and had a few domestic projects on the go, plus ds was a baby who needed constant rocking and pushing a buggy to nap ... I lost my baby weight (2.5 stone again!) within 4 months and become perilously thin by the time I went back to work at 11 months.

Now I am back to my pre-pregnancy weight, still bf-ing ds 2.5 a little.

KingRolo · 19/02/2009 09:30

I've been EBF for 4 months and now weigh the same as before I got pregnant which I'm quite chuffed about.

BUT I put this down to not drinking alcohol anymore - there are between 500 and 1000 calories in a bottle of wine don't you know?!

chandellina · 19/02/2009 09:30

i have that half stone that won't shift. but am frankly terrified to stop and see what shape my boobs settle into. much nicer with a bit of milk in there ...

blowninonabreeze · 19/02/2009 09:34

With both of my pregnancies I've lost weight whilst being pregnant due to horrible sickness then put weight on in the first 6 months of breast feeding (due to finding appetite again)

I'm now 10 months in with DD2 and started weight watchers 6 weeks ago. Youu get extra points allowed for breast feeding mothers. and I'm eating really well and healthily. Never hungry.
In 6 weeks I've lost 15.5 pounds