Breastfeeding weight loss weight gain

[Geo0905]

Really confused with how my body is responding to breastfeeding. I had my first baby 2020 and I lost several stone more than all the baby weight - I was the slimmest I’d ever been , this was whilst eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted , the weight literally fell off with no effort. Looking back I potentially had a thyroid problem because I was eating huge amounts and still losing weight. I kind of assumed the same would happen with my second baby. I had my second baby in 2022 and breastfeeding hasn’t resulted in any weight loss , im about 10kg heavier than I was pre my last pregnancy and despite watching what I eat I can’t lose weight, in fact , I’ve been trying intermittent fasting (which I will
keep up because it’s really improved my energy levels) and I’ve gained weight without eating any more than usual! I don’t want to ‘diet’ I just try to eat as balanced as I can. Has anyone else had similar experiences where they just don’t lose weight whilst breastfeeding ? Just felt strange my body responded differently each time .

I can't help I've lost it again second time around. But I imagine everyone is different

Did you have any blood loss during your first birth? I did, lost loads of blood, and I think that's why I lost the pregnancy weight, because my body was just using everything up to rebuild the blood. I felt so ill for months, it was awful.

I lost barely any blood with my second and remaining quite plump while breastfeeding lol. I don't mind though because the alternative was so dreadful, I felt so so weak for months after my first.

I'd just give it a bit more time, it's only been a year! It's easier to lose weight in the summer too, with salads etc

Where have you gained weight?

Look at your wrists and your thighs. If they are the same. Ie. Your jeans fit until you get to your stomach. Then it’s not weight. It’s probably a tilted pelvis and a collapsed core.

I've heard anecdotally that breastfeeding doesn't actually make you lose weight. I didn't really lose much while I was BFing.

@Mumoftwo1312 Sorry to hear you felt so awful! I didn’t really lose much blood. Very similar births and recovery’s in my case !

@Gymnoob never heard of this, but I think I’ve put weight in in the same places as I always have , my hips and bum and thighs

I am finding the same. So easy to lose weight the first time. Really struggled with no. 2 :-(

This happened to me as well. I didn’t gain any extra weight during my pregnancies (on average 8 kilograms, gone within a week after giving birth), but then I was at my heaviest so far when breastfeeding, I had huge appetite and ate loads. With my last DC I had to consciously fight this and I managed to lose that weight quite quickly and easily while still breastfeeding.

I lost loads first time round, I was completely gaunt. But that was because DS was absolutely huge. My second DC wasn't as big and didn't eat as much, and consequently I didn't lose as much weight.

I think the point about the core is a good one though, you might find better results from strength training than fasting. Being pregnant really messes up your abs and that can make you look fatter than you are, iyswim.

After my first I carried on seeing a PT but I've quit that now because it's just so impossible to find the time with two. But I've ordered myself some resistance bands to use at home whenever I can grab 10 mins

I have always held on to an extra couple of kilos as long as I was breastfeeding. I think some people are just programmed to keep a bit in reserve in case food dries up and you still need to make milk. After DS1 and DS2 I went back to my pre pregnancy weight without too much effort after I stopped feeding at about a year. DS2 is 21 months and I'm still about a kilo heavier than I was when I got pregnant, which is annoying, but I'm also a lot older (nearly 44 now), breastfed for quite a bit longer, and though I stopped feeding him a while ago I'm still producing milk. I'm well within a healthy weight so I'm not too bothered about it. It's just a bit annoying re: clothes, hard to tell whether this is my new weight permanently or not.

I know a woman whose body hung onto all her pregnancy weight whilst she was breastfeeding. Then as soon as she stopped BF, she lost it. I've read that we need to conserve fat for breastfeeding, so while sometimes we may experience a big loss like you said you had post-2020 baby (I also had that with my DD last year - could eat pretty much anything while EBF and the weight just fell off), the opposite can happen where our bodies need the fat stores. I'm guessing that just like all pregnancies are different, all post-partums are too, and that's why you're seeing a difference between your two pregnancies.

I totally get how frustrating it is to be doing your best and not seeing the results you want. I'm sure you'll get back to a weight you're happy with in time and don't beat yourself up. Having a baby is an incredible thing and it can throw things out of kilter for quite a while afterwards. Your body is obviously needing that little extra weight at the moment to keep you healthy and to keep producing good milk for baby xx

It’s worth a check. Super common. You can look online for tilted pelvis YouTube videos. This shows up in beer belly like stomach though. So if that’s fine and your thighs are larger then it’s probably not that.

No advise, but same here. Post pregnancy with #1 I was really slim for my standards, despite very irregular eating, all the snacks, poor sleep, etc. Number 2 came along and it's completely different...

Helpful.

I found with DS I lost weight pretty quickly and by the time I got pregnant with DD when DS was 13 months I weighed a good half to whole stone less than when I got pregnant with DS.

After DD was born the same didn’t happen - I weighed quite a bit more than after DS despite having put on about the same amount of weight while I was pregnant and it took a concerted effort to lose it.

🤷‍♀️