Losing weight breastfeeding

[reren]

I found a great thread on here about losing weight after babies - which was full of really useful advice and reassuring tales of it taking a while for baby weight to disappear - but i have a more specific question. What experience did people have w breastfeeding in terms of losing weight. It would seem to make sense that if you eat normally you lose weight if you breastfeed - but some people seem to find its not true? Do you think that is because its easy to overeat and overrestimate how much extra you can eat and breastfeed? Did people find that after a certain point weight came off more easily? Do you think continuing to breastfeed after 6 months makes any difference compared to weaning earlier?

[Fuschia]

I think at first your body hangs on to the weight as a cushion. After 6m you start to lose. That's my experience

[littleEDfamily]

I don't have a fast metabolism normally, but with both mine the weight has just fallen off me to below pre-preg size within 5 months, despite eating like a horse. I gave up around a year with my first as I felt she had literally sucked the life out of me. I put a few kilos on after giving up b/f and went back to normal size.

My sister had the opposite experience and gained weight bf.

[Helen GV]

I lost all the weight plus an extra 5 kilos breastfeeding the first, alas not the second!

[randomv]

I ate like a horse for the first 6 months and lost my baby weight. The 'problem' for me was that my appetite had grown, I'd become accustomed to the afternoon chocolate and the like and it didn't reduce at the same pace as the breastfeeding did so as I gradually weaned miniRandom over the next 4 or 5 months I did put on a few pounds. Didn't bother me though - there's plenty of time to kick the final few lbs.

[sanity girl]

My experience: lost appetite during both pregnancies so didn't put on that much weight, lost all pregnancy weight immediately after birth and regained appetite big time whilst breastfeeding. I didn't lose any further weight while bf first time around(probably because I was eating like a horse!), but as soon as I stopped bf I did put on weight, quite a bit. So I guess for me bf kept the weight off whilst I was eating more, but didn't actually help weight loss. I am doing more exercise post birth this time, so have possibly lost an extra kilo or two - I think if I cut out all cakes, biscuits etc I would probably lose more weight.

[chantelle]

i got the impression it helps with the immediate weight loss after giving birth. But it seemed like it wasn't until my son was firmly on solids from around 8 months that I was able to drop the last 10 lbs or so. Of course a serious exercise program around the same time probably helped! (I started jogging almost every day rather than just a couple times a week.)

I BF until 17 months but at that point it was only once a day and I didn't notice any changes when I stopped.

My boobs are smaller though now, that's for sure.

[radnrach]

My experience is the same as sanity girl's. As soon as I gave birth, my weight went down to below what it was before I got pregnant, which was a total mystery to me. And breastfeeding just kept it off. I now eat so much, and worry occasionally that I'm gaining weight.. but as soon as I cut back, I start feeling dizzy, etc. So it's obvious my body needs the extra food to help with my milk supply! It may be due to the fact my baby eats like crazy, though. I'm not sure.

But I would say breastfeeding definitely helps with weight loss, I've heard it kills something like 500 calories a day, but can't be sure of the figures! And I'm sure it does more than that for me!

Edited to add: I haven't completely weaned yet, so I could really just gain a whole load after he's stopped bfing. I think it's true that your appetite grows substantially, and I hope I don't get too used to it!

[Trish]

I'm really not convinced breastfeeding helps with weight loss, for me anyway. Admittedly I was the size of a house when I was pregnant and most of that weight has come off straight away. My baby is 13 weeks but despite exercising more than I ever have in my life, and eating as healthily as I ever have, the last ten pounds doesn't seem to be shifting no matter what I do.

When I had my first baby I couldn't fit into my pre-pregnancy clothes until I gave up breastfeeding, but that was with no diet/exercise. So I'm really hoping the same will happen this time round when I stop breastfeeding.

[jollybaby]

I've a few friends who found that they didn't really lose weight until after they stopped breastfeeding. I'm hoping so as I'm heavier now than I was 2 weeks after baby jb was born. I expect that my daily helping of cake and numerous lattes is not helping though. Is it wrong to still be wearing maternity jeans with a 4 1/2 month baby?!

[SarahLP]

As with everything related to pregnancy, birth and babies, I think it varies massively from person to person, so really important to try not to beat yourself up. I was one of the maddening people who was back in my pre-preg clothes 3 weeks after giving birth, which I know the rest of my NCT group found irritating. However, to balance it out my baby cried way more than any of theirs in the first few weeks, which I found difficult to cope with at times. Everyone's experience is different, it's impossible to generalize. If you are breastfeeding I would say important to eat as your appetite dictates, but try to choose healthy stuff with the odd treat, rather than the other way around! On the exercise front, again depends on how you feel. I was unprepared for how physically exhausting giving birth was, and I think it can take quite a while to recover energy levels, especially when you add in lack of sleep.

In response to jollybaby, one of my friends only stopped wearing her maternity jeans when she went back to work a year after giving birth because she found them so comfortable!

[gwod]

For me, I dont think breastfeeding made any difference to my post baby weight loss, I bottle fed, mixed fed, and exclusively breastfed, and the pattern of weightloss was always about the same, Sudden drop after birth, 6 month plateau, and then gradual loss to normal (??!) from 6 month to a year.

[Moi23]

I think it definitely varies from person to person. With me, I lost weight initially breastfeeding due to the womb contracting, but then I think I sustained my weight because I ate anything I could get my hands on! I am lucky in that I never put on too much. I think it takes the body a year to recover from pregnancy, so its very normal not to lose all the weight until then. The only sensible thing you can do is watch what you eat and do some excercise, or just say: "to hell with my body" and indulge yourself for a year...

[ladywotlunches]

Yep - my body is definitely in the 'holding on' camp too. With number one when I stopped BF at 6 months the weight fell off - I was also conscious NOT to lose too much as I was bridesmaid at my sisters wedding and had an outfit made for me. Even still at each fitting the dressmaker was saying 'you've changed again, I'm going to have to take it in'. And on the big day itself my mum was stitching me in (strapless top, not a good idea to have too loose, esp post baby!).

Now, I'm at 5 months, and starting solids. normal bras and dresses, here we come! :))