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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

I thought id lose weight while breastfeeding!!

14 replies

loganberry12 · 23/11/2009 19:29

I thought id lose weight while breastfeeding but i dont think ive lost any after the initial 2 stone 3 weeks after giving birth i havent lost any more. i put on 4 stone when i was pregnant so have a lot to loss.Problem is im always starving!! anyone else in the same boat?

OP posts:
mawbroon · 23/11/2009 19:49

How long have you been feeding for?

After my ds, I had 2.5 stones to lose after the initial loss after the birth.

It took the best part of a year to come off, and it did so despite the fact I was eating like a horse because I was so hungry.

It came off in chunks, co-inciding with reduced feeding. Several pounds vanished when he started solids, several more when he started to sleep through (the sleeping through didn't last though!!), several more when I started childminding and ds was distracted by the other children. etc etc.

Everyone is different though, and common sense still applies. If you are shovelling cake all day and exceeding your calorie requirements then you are not going to lose the weight!!

NellyTheElephant · 23/11/2009 21:40

With DD1 I stuck at about 1 and a half stone over weight and couldn't shift it at all. I too had thought that bf would help me lose weight and was disappointed to find that it didn't. I joined Weight Watchers when DD1 was about 11 months old (I'd stopped bf by then) and shifted the weight quite quickly. After DD2 and DS I couldn't bear the thought of being so over weight for so long and each time when they were about 6 weeks old I started loosely to follow WW principles (allowing myself about 10 extra points each day and not bothering with it at all on the weekends). The weight dropped off in nanoseconds and both times I was back to my pre pregnancy weight by 12 weeks.

I think the thing is that with DD1 I really gave no thought at all to what I was eating (far too much else to think about), and was hungry all the time too, but with DD2 and DS just a very small effort concentrating on what I was eating meant I dropped the weight with no difficulty at all. What I am trying to say is that in my experience it is very easy to loose weight when bf - certainly much easier than when you are not bf, but it doesn't happen on it's own, you still have to concentrate a bit on your diet and what exactly you are eating.

ImSoNotTelling · 23/11/2009 21:50

Ha yes. Many threads on here there seem to be two camps - one group where BF means the weight falls off, and another where people don't lose it until they stop BF.

I am one of the latter, although as I got pg immediately after stopping BF last time round I haven't had the opportunity to test whether the weight will go yet!

My theory is that in some people the body stores fat while BF so if there is a famine the body has plenty of stores to feed the baby.

On the other hand I have just polished off burger and chips! So who knows...

GochaGocha · 23/11/2009 21:59

Take heart -- it's really early days yet! It took 40 weeks to put it on, but it won't take even half that to lose it!

Is that 4 stone including baby or not? With both my boys I gained 5st+ (they were both huge) but was back to my pre-baby weight in a couple of months. It took a month or so before the weight really started to come off but I kept on losing even after starting solids. They do eat more and more as they get bigger!

Give it some more time -- if you are like most of us you have been tired and pretty sore, esp if you had a section, and so you have not been moving around as much as usual. That makes a difference.

Mawbroon is right tho' being hungry is one thing but feeding or no, you have to eat sensibly and get moving again if you are really keen. Even walking a little every day really helps if you really want to shift it faster. Long leisurely walks to shops, NCT pals' places and the park when the weather improves -- are a huge mood boost.

And don't forget to do your kegels while you wait for the lights to change at the pedestrian crossing.

barbareebaa · 23/11/2009 22:02

I am still bf-ing - ds 12 months. Am still 1 stone over pre-preg weight and it is not shifting. Tried cutting out the huge amount of chocolate I was consuming - didn't even sniff any for about 3 weeks but not a bit of weight came off. I eat good hearty meals - casseroles etc not salad type stuff but not chips and pizza. I am hoping hoping hoping that once I stop breastfeeding it will go.

Don't think that will be for a very long time tho'! (ds showing no sign of giving it up!)

notyummy · 23/11/2009 22:05

Need to exercise - walking LOADS with the pushchair. Fitness dvd whilst baby sleeps/watches you in amusement. Running when DP comes home in the evening. That in conjunction with bf should see it off.

StarlightMcKenzie · 23/11/2009 22:09

This reply has been deleted

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notyummy · 23/11/2009 22:14

Exercise got to be worth a try though? Accept it doesnt work for all - but even if it doesnt you are healthier for doing it anyway.

I am slightly lighter/smaller now then before dd, and by 5 months post pregnancy was lighter than I am now as I dropped loads - I have put on some since (not some skinny Kate M btw, healthy size 10-12). Exercise did it for me.

fishie · 23/11/2009 22:15

i think it is a myth, like eating for two. we all know what happens when we do that...

hester · 23/11/2009 22:32

I didn't lose the weight until I stopped bf - and I stopped bf at 22 months!

I don't know whether it was a hormonal thing or whether I just didn't have the energy to take myself in hand till I get my body back to myself.

But take heart - the weight can and does come off eventually!

Lexilicious · 23/11/2009 22:40

there was a similar thread on this recently and someone said when you feel hungry during/after a feed, you are more likely thirsty. I thought that was good advice, and you've got to keep your fluids up anyway so it can't hurt to drink water.

Taramuddle · 23/11/2009 23:52

I put on 3.5 stone (Inc baby etc) when i had my dd, after the initial weight loss I found I fitted my pre preg clothes again after a year but it was 2 years before I was back to my original weight. Most bf mums I know
had weight loss around the 10 month/1 year mark.

Oh yeah & just as I returned to my pre pregnancy weight, yes you guessed it.....I got pregnant again

Seems to be following same pattern for me with ds.

I am in the sweet/carb craving camp. Something about getting the kids off to bed & eating something nice. It feels like my time. It must stop I know but sleep deprivation makes for poor will power!

.

YanknCock · 24/11/2009 00:15

I'm in the same boat. Lost all the weight I'd gained during the pregnancy (29lbs) in just 2 weeks post-delivery and then it just stopped. As I started out very overweight, I was soooooo hoping I would continue losing with no effort. Not to be I guess, so I've started Weight Watchers again last week and already lost the 7lbs I'd regained from eating like a horse for the last 13 weeks! Figure I've got 3 more months of exclusive BF to maximize the loss. Trying to eat stuff to fill me up so I'm not so hungry all the time. No surprise I wasn't losing before with 2nd helpings at dinner every single night!

Builde · 24/11/2009 09:57

I hardly lost any weight in the first six months but then it all fell off in about four weeks.

It don't know whether this was a six month thing or that it corresponded with the time that I was beginning to wean and reduced feeds.

So, if you're starving all the time, don't panic. It will come off later...probably!

I was always starving.

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