Anyone put off of breastfeeding as it can actually slow weightloss?

[Cheekychops84]

hello I've had 2 breastfes babies in the past and I was planning to breastfeed this one however after reading up on breastfeeding I realise now this may b y I never managed to shed the baby weight? It states whilst breastfeeding your body clings onto fat stores thus not loosing much weight until after weaning? And the fact u still need extra calories to keep up your supply?

This is now putting me off as I think after baby is born I really jus want this weight gone ! I know breastfeeding has so many benefits but I will his be miserable knowing it's keeping me fat ?

I'm another one who thinks BF encouraged my body to hang on to the weight. I was only about 7lbs heavier than normal after delivery but have struggled to ever lose that since. I did not change my diet or exercise patterns, but BF did cause me to be spectacularly famished all the time .. so yes I probably ate more.

OOh, this is interesting, I've been wondering about it.

I breastfed first and had to stop at 4 months (didn't want to). Never had a problem losing weight. Always been very slim.

Still breastfeeding second baby at 7 months and I have a nice little store of fat round my middle, despite eating healthily! I have wondered if it was my bodies way of protecting the bfeeding stores - as I'm constantly hungry.

To be honest OP - it doesn't bother me at all. It's just a bit of extra fat on my middle that you can't see unless i have tight clothes on. I honestly don't care - it's such a special time and for such a short a time in your life - I wouldn't worry about it. I know the weight will drop off me soon enough.

I'm completely pro-BFing but I understand where you're coming from Cheeky

I've always been a bit weight conscious and I was a bit miffed too that BFing not only didn't help me lose weight but made me put weight on. I felt I wanted me body back and that it didn't belong to me anymore.

I did it for 3 months but then DS was so hungry that it didn't seem enough and so I stopped. I was around 9st before I got pregnant (I'm 5ft 6) and it's really only after I stopped BFing that I went back to that (don't know how much weight I put on, probably between 1.5 and 2 st).

I can't recall eating vast amounts of cakes and junk (because I'm weight conscious) BUT I remember being the hungriest I had ever felt in my life and would regularly have a slice of toast at 4am as I was so bloody starving.

Of course, BFing is for the baby and not a slimming technique but you know that. This time round, I'm expecting to be starving again and I'm planning on having more food at the ready to limit my consumption of toast and very carby things, which are convenient but not necessarily the best. I'm going to fill the fruit bowl to the brim and carry on aiming for 10 portions for fruit and vegs a day, some good fats, some wholegrains and some quality protein. Once I've eaten that and if I'm still hungry, then I'll reach for the toast!

Some women seem to lose weight rapidly whilst breastfeeding, others don't seem to finish losing pregnancy weight untill they wean. Its certainly not putting me off breastfeeding my first baby.

I completely understand why there is so much variation. To begin with, we are all starting pregnancy at different weights and gain different amounts during pregnancy. Some people will be more affected by changes in appetite than others and I'm sure that we also react differently to hormone changes. We eat different amounts whilst we are nursing, and some babies will require us to be more sedentary for longer feeding than others.

It doesn't surprise me that some women lose a bit of their weight when they wean, because there will be changes in their breasts, they might go out and about more (no longer taking long nursing breaks on the sofa), they may have a ore mobile baby to chase after and they might cut out those snacks they ate whilst they nursed or straight after. Not to mention any hormone changes or the effect in a change of routine if this coincides with a return to work. But it doesn't mean that most of the weight won't go till then.

If you've only put on 2 stone at this stage in pregnancy, you'll probably find you do lose most of it in the first week or two after birth. I really wouldn't give up breastfeeding just because you may hang onto half a stone or so... there are so many benefits to you and baby, and you won't be nursing forever. You might find that this time the weight goes down anyway.

I totally understand wanting to lose weight after the baby is born. I was losing weight pre-pregnancy and still have another 6 stone to lose. Because of starting out overweight and being careful, I haven't really put on weight during pregnancy (35wks) though, so I can't say its baby weight! I'm going to do my best to keep to a healthy diet, and I'm likely to be more active once the baby is here than I was before (baby wearing, plenty of walks, etc). I think I'll lose weight but I might not get to my goal whilst I'm nursing. I won't resent the baby for that.

Anyway, you don't have to make a decision now to not start breastfeeding. You can wait and see how you feel and how your body reacts to nursing and take it month by month. You won't be feeding forever, there is plenty of time to lose the weight afterwards - and not everyone does hold onto much weight whilst feeding, and some lose it!

Enjoy your baby whatever you decide.

Bunty with weightwatchers/slimming world and similar programmes, you need to use the extra points allowance or your body won't be getting the calories it needs and will hang on to its fat stores.

i found that the weight loss (which was dramatic and happened despite me eating at least 2500 calories a day) only happened after 6 months, with both my children. you don't say how long you breastfed for but i know this was the case with other people i know. anyway, either way, it's only a short period of time, so if you want to breastfeed, crack on and worry about the weight loss afterwards. and if you don't, then don't, but weight loss seems a sorry reason not to do something you otherwise want to.

I think bf slowed weight-loss for me. At least, I hope so, because then I shall look forward to losing some more weight when I eventually stop.

It's not in the least a reason for me not to bf though! Can't imagine why it would be, to be honest.

i've retained fat after bf 5 babies - in each case, the weight has been slow to come off and its taken 9 months each time.

I know that for some people it just falls off - but not me! and I'm not eating shed loads of cake - like all the annoying people, I'm "running around all day after a toddler" and doing lots of walking, but it just stays on!

hasn't stopped me bfg no 6 though.

I never lost weight when bf. BUT I would rather have been fat and know I was giving my baby the best start! I have mostly shed the weight after all mine although am a size bigger than pre preg. It took a lot of dieting though. I always waited till a couple years after. I think baby should come first. Unless there are good reasons I don't understand why people don't try bf. I only managed a week with my first but was glad I tried.

This is interesting, and in my highly scientific study of 'people I know who have breastfed' there's a massive variation in how and at what speed weight came off, which is suspect is a combination of individual metabolism, number of calories consumed and exercise.

With extended breastfeeding, age also comes into it a bit, I think? I'm now about a stone heavier than when I first got pregnant, but that was 7 years ago, and I've been breast feeding for most of that time. Also less active by necessity (used to cycle everywhere) and definitely 'snack' more eating left overs etc.

Yes well I now know I wasn't jus imagining it when I breastfed my other 2 that the weight jus sat around ! And I didn't drive back then had to walk everywhere as I could afford taxi's and buses. So it shows you can eat really healthily and still cling onto the weight which I found really disheartening because you aren't eating all the really naughty things you can start feeling quite resentful that you still can't loose !

I'm not bf (not for this reason, my baby was a 36 weeker who couldn't latch and after trying for a few days I got very upset and decided ff was the way forward).
My baby is 13 days old and I am back in pre preg clothes with the hairband trick on the waistline. I had a cs.

To add at my cs pre op I was 1.5 stone heavier than pre preg and my baby was 6lb15.

This whole thread has really irritated me. That and all the other threads obsessing about "how much weight are you gaining?"

We're talking about how babies best nutritional and health needs. It's not about how we look. I worry about my weight as much as the next woman, and put on weight really easily - I'm short with a huge ass. But you know - I just don't give a shit right now. Yes, I completely get it might get you down - but it's not about us!

And I'm not even really irritated by y'all individually on this thread! I am annoyed we're all so conditioned to be so bloody vain and worried about how we look, potentially at the expense of our babies health. We're all so conditioned to feel bad for being overweight for what - having grown and given birth to a human being?! I'm sick of hearing about celebrities pinging back into shape, sick of all the articles in newspapers sites about who has lost the most weight, who looks the thinnest - I'm just sick of all of it, and reading this thread where the basis is you might not breastfeed your baby - down to all that bloody pressure! - has sent me over the edge.

Flame away after this post - I just had to get this off my chest. I feel sad and mad for all of us worrying about weight gain/weight retention. It's the stupid, vain, self-absorbed and pressured society we live in, and we're all compliant in it.

For me it is not the case, I am skin and bone TBH, trying to gain weight as all my pre-pregnancy clothes are too big.

One of my friends was mix feeding and feels her weight loss has stalled now she is just formua feeding.

unfortunate x-post there!

Just a thought - but perhaps you get more thirsty when breastfeeding, yet mistake that for hunger and eat more? Try keeping up your water intake.

Breast is best. There's time after baby's first 6mths to worry about weight loss.

Wow bettybat didn't hold back.

I believe in being happy and doing what you want.

OP your torn between two things that you want so I suggest do both bf for a month or two have your special bond & baby gets the nutrients etc then stop & start your weight loss programme. Baby will be fine, lots & lots of babies are not breastfed & live happy healthy lives.

Im not going to bf not bcos of weight problems just because its not for me.

Do watever makes you happy x

My weight dropped off within the month and I ebf!!

I just...it just really bothers me because underlying this thread is the pressure we all feel to look body perfect.

There are a LOT of very valid reasons to not breastfeed. The possibility you might retain weight is not one. I'm sorry if that goes against the whole "it's a personal choice' ethos but this has genuinely shocked me - surely there's other people that think the same? It's a product of the body-obsessed society we live in and it's now so pervasive, no one bats an eyelid when we choose not to give our babies the best nutrients simply because how we look comes first.

But I guess it's just me :) It is a personal choice, but this particular one has just left me feeling very sad at the wider state of things.

Yes you could say I'm body conscious but I'm also concerned for my health aswell I know weigh 16 stone plus a bit more obv a lot of that is baby weight . However I'm also concerned for my health being that big and think the quicker I can reduce it the healthier I will be and also for my baby I don't want to struggle chasing a crawling baby round because I couldn't loose at least 2 stone .

I get it, I really do...I have also had many years of yo-yoing weight and I know how it feels to feel overweight and unfit. But there would be many things I would be trying and doing before I would even consider not breastfeeding, if it was previously not an issue.

I gave up breast feeding at 14 months as I was sick of being fat.......3.5 years later I'm much fatter. It want the being that was making me fat, but after back to back breast feeding and pregnancies it was the mindset that is was ok to eat treats daily.

Really? The weight dropped off of me. However this maybe because I ate normally with the occasional cake & didn't use it as an excuse to over eat.

(dons hard hat)

Cheekychops, as you have probably gathered from this thread, there are lots of women who find breastfeeding helps them to lose weight. A small minority of women say that breastfeeding meant they hung on to the last little bit of baby weight.

Breastfeeding uses up to 500 calories each day so, if you eat a normal healthy diet instead of replacing these calories with cakes, you will probably lose weight fairly effortlessly to start with. If you can lose the vast majority of your baby weight while breastfeeding, you may not feel too bad if you are one of the very unlucky few who hangs on to the very last few pounds. They will come off eventually.

Did you know that breastfed babies are less likely to be overweight later in life? Also, breastfeeding also has health benefits for you as well for your baby (e.g. reduced risk of osteoperosis).