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

Qt how did u actually cut down bf to 3/4 times a day, did u find an alternative wen ds wanted feeding or use a distraction method or just be firm and not give in untill the set times u had planned??

Same thing happened to me. Got stick thin, 4 years on am about normal weight again. I just think I have a fast metabolism and BFing speeded it up.

I lost weight while breastfeeding but part of that was because I was on the progesterone only pill. It made me feel full up really quickly and if I forced myself to eat more I felt sick. There is some evidence that the mini pill slows food down in your guts, hence feeling full more quickly. I've stopped breastfeeding so I'm back on the combined pill and my appetite is more normal again.

I'm still breastfeeding my almost 20 month old abd struggling to keep weight on. I was 7.5 stone before getting pregnant and probably just under that now but find it hard to eat enough

I don't have much advice on the weight loss, but our DS1 (now 2.5) was similar to yours at 10 mo - fed on demand, finding comfort in feeding, going without when I was at work but making up for it in eve and night. We didn't end up fully weaning him til he was just over 2 but that was partly my choice, and we did manage to cut down to feeds at bed and night soon after a year.

I'd definitely recommend trying to cut down before your week off - if nothing else your breasts won't like stopping cold turkey.

We cut down by trying to identify the times he was least interested in breast milk and cutting out feeds then first. So between breakfast and lunch went first, I think, and we just tried distraction and favourite other snacks (ellas kitchen banana baby breakfast which he sucked from the packet...) during those times. If you have places you usually feed in (certain chairs, the bed) then avoid those places, try to be out and he might be too busy. I was quite lax so I would maybe let him have one feed if particularly upset, but you could be stricter as you have a shorter timeline. Once one time was fine we did the next easiest/least important feed.

For bedtime I found it helpful to actually rearrange his room a bit so that the place he usually had his bedtime feed was gone. (was a sofa bed, we moved it round a bit and made sure it was in sofa not bed mode). Then I just told him we'd have his special cup with his favourite story, offered that and he took it and never complained. He was abit older than your son, by then but a similar approach might work?

I expressed and lost loads of weight, I was back in my normal clothes within a week and then lost more. Shame it's all gone to pot since

On the giving up breast feeding, I thought (I don't know why) that I'd find it better to give up when I started work again when DD was a year old. In reality, it made the transition better for her being looked after by someone else if I continued to breast feed her before and after work. I would wake her at 0650 and feed her before breakfast, then she'd eat a whole bowl of fruit porridge! Then she'd feed to sleep. At around 14 months, this dropped to just night time feeds but still on demand if she wanted at weekends etc then I noticed my supply was tailing off depending on the time of the month. She started hitting my breast to get more milk out! Then at 16 months I dropped the night feed and she had a bottle instead which she was fine with. She only asked once after that, randomly during the day about 3 weeks later, nuzzling me but I said, we've stopped that now! It was heart wrenching for me, but she was ok through the whole process.

I asked a HV when DD was 9 months how to go about stopping as she was still on 4 feeds a day then (plus night if required) and the HV said don't worry to think about it and it will sort itself out and she was right. So I will pass this advice on!

On the weight thing, if you can afford it, get some virgin raw coconut oil. its palatable in drinks like hot chocolate, stirred into porridge, in curries etc and its saturated fat, will help with your weight but still be good for your heart unlike animal fats.

Sorry haven't replied to anybody today iv had a long day at work and a busy evening.
Thanks for all your advice and support, I think I'm going to try and cut down on the feeds as of now so it's not such a shock for me and my ds. My hv advised me I should just pick a day and then stop and don't give in, my trouble is my ds won't take a bottle or a dummy so he won't have any type of comfort. I always had in my mind I'd have him weaned onto bottles by 4/5 months because I thought it would feel strange still bf wen he's older but now it's happening it's not strange at all and to be honest the only reason I'm thinking of stopping is because of my health, as it sounds from everyone the average sort of age to stop is around 18/24 months

Sorry, but I don't agree with your hv. As you are bf quite a bit it could be v. Uncomfortable for you to go cold turkey as you may become engorged and risk mastitis. It sounds upsetting for both of you! I have just weaned on to bottles over several weeks, replacing a feed with a bottle with around a week each time for my supply to adjust. I use a dummy to replace comfort sucking to get to sleep.

Can you wean direct to a cup? Perhaps try with expressed milk to start with whike you are not there. If a sippy one won't work you could try an open one like a doidy cup.

C4 - yes I wouldn't just stop one day either as shock and upsetting to both of you. I don't think you need to introduce a bottle now either though as he's nearly a year old. I would just gradually drop the extra comfort feeds so you are down to 2-3 a day by 1 year. Give him water with all meals and as he wants through the day so he def isn't thirsty either.
Then drop the last few feeds as you feel you want after he's turned 1. You may want to stop completely, or keep the odd feed

I think I am going to try and start reducing the comfort feeds now like many of you have suggested because I was and am worried if I just stop my ds won't have a clue what is happening and I can imagine him being distraught.
Yesterday he actually drank 2 ozs of formular from a bottle which is a break through, my mum looks after him whilst I work and she said he was really grumpy so she tried him and he just laid back and drunk it, I tried in the evening.... No chance have wanted none of it little begger x

I lost loads of weight about 10 months after DD was born. It was shocking and scary, I thought I had some kind of nasty disease, I was skeletal and my skin was hanging off Doctor did lots of tests which all came back normal, so he said I just needed to eat more and exercise less

I suppose the amount of calories DD was taking was increasing, and I was expending more energy carrying her around or pushing the pushchair everywhere (I don't drive).

I started scoffing biscuits at work and taking the bus more. I also stopped feeding DD from my plate and gave her her own portion.

I no what you mean, my chest bones are visible and look gross, I seem to look really veiny the doctor says it's because of the weight loss and my back/bottom area is so Boney I can't lay In a bath because it hurts my coxic

I think the usual advice is to do as fruitpastille did and drop a feed a week to prevent mastitis; hard to do that accurately if he's still very much on demand but definitely if you can drop things gradually and maybe save your week of to focus on night feeds or something that would seem better for you both.

Also, if you can drop a few feeds you may find it easier to take on enough calories and put on some weight, then you might find you can carry on with a few feeds (say bedtime and morning) for a bit more, if that's what you want.