Weight loss 'due to breast feeding'

[C4ALR]

Hi, befor I fell pregnant I weighed 7st4lb and the end of my pregnancy I weighed 9st3lb. Since having my ds who is exclusively bf and 10 months old I weigh 6st7lb but I look like a bag of bones, and feel horrible about myself.
Doctors have done blood tests sent me to dieticians, tried a months worth of complains drink doing two a day but nothing is helping gain weight.
Doctors keep saying it's because I'm breast feeding but.....really! Has anybody else experienced this and did you find any solutions to gain weight other than stopping bf as you will all agree it isn't a simple case of just stopping.
My ds won't take a bottle or a dummy

Any help would be nice

Eat more cake?!?

Have you had your thyroid tested? Could be post partum thyroiditis

Daft ness on the part of the docs unless you are eating literally sparrow portions.

What is your diet like? You were previously very thin anyway - maybe you haven't anticipated how many more calories you need to eat.

Not as extreme as you, but I weighed less than my pre pregnancy weight after breast feeding. I gave up with all four when they were about 15 to 18 months, each time because I was getting too thin. And yes, I was eating like a pig, just couldn't consume enough calories to keep the weight on.

I lost weight while BFing with both DCs (but wanted to, I was a size 18 when I started). I went down two dress sizes the first time, and one the second.

I continued feeding DS till he was 4, and I am currently feeding DD, aged 18 months. With both of them my weight went up again as they fed less, naturally. I am about up to my pre-birth weight now DD is 18 months (even though she still feeds loads - we co-sleep).

What are you eating? Are you able to eat extra to replace the BFing calories?

I eat 3 meals a day. Snack in between and have been having 2 complan drinks which in themselves are 250 calories a drink. I feel like I couldn't possibly eat anymore than wat I do, people have always taken the Micky about how much I eat, I eat all sorta, chixken rice pasta beef potatoes veg CHOCOLATE take aways,I'm planning on stopping feeding my ds in December just after his 1st birthday iv got a week off work because I think it's going to be very hard work as at night (as he is right now) he's feeding because he's restless and it's his comfort.

Yes. Same here though slightly heavier... I was 8st7lb before pregnancy and very fit and healthy. Went up to 10st7lb. Now my son is 9mo and I am 7st7lb. I keep getting complimented on my figure but feel weak and flabby, not fit and strong.
Doctor has just said to eat more calories however I can - cake and chocolate included! I only bf at night no as I'm back at work but still not gaining. If I had time I'd go back and ask about thyroid issues but I'm not sure it's likely as I haven't heard that these develop in particular after birth?
I'm not too worried as I'm not as light as you, but I am now 'underweight' (going by BMI), so i do sympathise.

Oh, I've just seen EarthMither's post! very interesting. Should probably book another appt... Funny thing is, most of the symptoms are impossible to spot as of course I'm tired/ achy/ careless after 9 months of broken sleep!

I hav had my thyroids checked and there were fine,
See I'm not gettin compliments about my figure il getting comments which people think are funny ' where's she gone she disappeared, put some meat on ur self then u won't be cold' I cover my self up I'm front of my dh now because I feel so horrible.
Iv been back to work 7 weeks so mainly only feed at night once I'm the morning and on my afternoons off ds will want a feed mid afternoon just because I'm there I think.
I never realised how bf could make you lose so much weight,
Ch1134 I hope u manage to gain some extra weight to make urself feel strong and well again soon :)

You too! Thank you

I have bf 3 children and never return to my prepregnancy weight until after I finish feeding them. I always feed for at least a year. I seem to store fat that drops away when I finish bfing. I had assumed this was your body's way of making sure it was able to produce milk and keep your baby alive even if you ran out of food yourself for a few days.

If it were me I would try eating more and if that didn't work I would be trying different docs until one listened to you. Being should not turn you into a bag of bones. Something else may be going on.

I'm slightly different in that I ff dd but ended up lighter than my pre pregnancy weight . I was about 6 stone and didn't really notice until people started mentioning it .

My problem was that I wasn't eating proper meals as I was so busy with dd and would end up only eating dinner. Could it be something like that ?

I did also. Was approx 8stone when fell pregnant, 10stone when babies born both times, then struggled to keep it at 8stone as would constantly drop under.

In the end I basically made myself drink a glass of milk and eat x2 biscuits at every feed!

So when ds1 was 4 months I was 7.7stone. By 10 months I weighed 8.5 stone and was 4 months pregnant with ds2.

So my day would be something like:

7am - feed baby, drink milk and have biscuits

8am - eat breakfast ( poached egg, x2 bacon, beans and toast)

Lunch

2pm feed baby, drink milk and eat biscuits

Dinner

9pm feed baby, drink milk and biscuits

I also added cream/ butter etc when possible ie to mash potatoes etc.

Now children are 3 and 4, I still drink milk and have cookies :) every night before bed and still add cream etc to meals when possible. I am 8stone approx ( can go down little but usually stays around there)

I probably weighed 11lbs less than pre-pregnancy when I was bfing multiple times a day. By the time I was down to just one feed a day I was back up to pre-pregnancy weight.
Are you re-gaining lately even if slowly? If I were you I'd weigh often (twice a week) and just check that you're not still losing.. if you are maintaining or even gaining slowly then hopefully it'll sort itself out as you feed less and less.

Iv gained 1 kg in a month and that is having the extra 500 calories of complan a day too, I'm just reassured now that I'm not being fobbed off by doctors just saying it's because I'm breast feeding. I kept thinking how can it be because if never heard of it happening to anybody before. Midwifes encourage you to breast feed best for baby but they don't tell you how difficult it is to stop do they.
Going off the subject slightly, anybody any suggestions on how to stop bf, I'm planning the week after ds 1st bday, iv got 9 days off work so I'm planning on just stopping and trying not to give in, as I know my ds is going to be sooo upset especially at night times x

I had a similar issue when all my babies were around 7months. The GP told me to stop BF! I ate loads, including complan, and had to sleep train dc1 as he was still waking several times a night to feed.
Do you exercise? I was very active (walking everywhere, carrying baby contributed to weight loss) but building strength and muscle helped.

I am heavier than you but BFing (and pregnancy or rather not drinking) made me lose weight really easily. That effect stopped around 12 months post birth even though I kept on BFing. So, to put on weight, don't worry too much because the effect will wear off soon as your DC starts eating more solids.

In the meantime this is the advice my Dad was given when he was seriously ill and had no appetite: eat small amounts regularly (he ate his pudding about an hour after his main course), stir cream/full fat greek yoghurt/butter/full fat milk/cheese into everything to add calories without bulk, drink 'diet meals' (complan etc) as snacks in addition to your normal meals. Basically you want to add lots of fat to your diet to add lots more calories.

C4 - how many feeds does baby have now still? Despite the above I actually ended up still bf until almost 3 years with both. But by 1 was down to just x2 feeds a day, and from 18 ish months I just fed in morning. My weight stabled out around 8stone once down to 2 feeds a day.

Oh, as far as stopping BFing going I'm not necessarily the best person to ask because for my first two I only stopped when pregnant with the next child. DS is now 2, has a CMPA, and is still BFing a couple of times a day. But I believe the advice is to drop 1 feed at a time, maybe one a week? I obviously have done it a lot slower than that but once you are down to 1 feed then I wouldn't bother taking a week off work, I'd enlist your DPs help with either bedtime or morning (depending when your last feed is) and make sure you are as unavailable as possible.

For DD1 she just stopped her bedtime feed (I assume because my milk came in for DD2 and she didn't like the change of taste) so it was fairly easy, I was more upset than she was. For DD2 she was only having a few feeds a week (she was over 2) so it wasn't too much bother to stop when my supply dropped in the early stages of pregnancy, her regular morning feed had been dropped by me going to work very early and DH offering her a banana as soon as she got up. DS can usually manage without a bedtime feed if I'm out of the house now and DH puts him to bed, I'm happy to keep feeding him at the current rate (twice a day) for a while yet because he hates soya milk.

To be honest I don't really know how many feeds a day ds has because he's always had it on demand not set times, during the week 2 days a week I work 8-6 so he will have a feed at about 7 ish then won't have any other milk just water untill I'm he then he's desperate for it, but my mum says all day wen I'm not around he's not bothered. Weekends and my half days he feeds more id say as a guesstimate... In 24 hours.... he has around 10 feeds but sometimes it's not what I call a proper feed it's a comfort, on my long days he probly has about half the amount.
He has breakfast, lunch and tea and normally a snack early evening, but he doesn't eat a great deal some days, some days he won't eat anything for breakfast just a banana. He's a little dink for his age but health visitors say he's doing ok, he 10 and half months and weighs 17lb6

I would maybe try and reduce number of feeds now he's 10 months then. Mine also fed on demand, but at 10 months I did a feed at say 9pm before bed, then wouldn't feed again until morning. I also worked.

You may find he will be better at eating solids if he hasn't fed in the night ( and should sleep better and not waking to feed). Even with no feeds at night and working you can still fit in say 3 feeds a day ( am, on arrival home and before bed)

Many will have no milk at all by 1 year so 3 is still plenty. He can also get regular milk in day ie in porridge/ sauces etc

My god, it's taken you 4 years to put on abit of weight, Iv always eaten a lot and lots of chocolates and biscuits cakes (naughty things) and to be honest I don't do a lot of exercise just walking and my job is in a baby room of a nursery so I look after 2 year olds all day so think that's probly enough exercise ha.

I am trying to cut down on feeds I'm just to much of a softy and give in to easily which is obviously a problem I need to sort out

I have been to the doctors and had blood tests done everything is normal, iv seen a dietician she said eat more cake, now doctors have said wait till after christmas then if iv not gained anything go back and they will refer me to a specialist, as I'm planning on stopping feeding beginning of December wen iv got some time off work and doctor said everyone eats more at christmas so fingers crossed the 2 combined will help gain me weight.

Funny how things are tho isn't it, people always wish they wer skinny, I get comment I wish I had ur figure, and u just think if u could see me with no clothes on u wouldn't, clothes just pad u out abit don't they. Spose us women are never happy with what we've got and how we are x