Weight Loss After Breastfeeding?

At first I lost my baby weight very quickly so in about two months I was down to my original weight (before I got pregnant). I stopped breast feeding my son when he was a bit over 10 months old and after that even more weight came off. I ended up losing another 10-15lbs after that. So I would say... I lost more weight when I stopped breast feeding than when I was breastfeeding.

Keep the HOPE!!!! I BF for a year and for the life of me I could not lose my last 10 lbs. Once I stopped BF I continued to exercise and within one 1/2 I lost those horrible 10 lbs ;-)

The reason BF helps youloose weight is because it takes about 500 cal extra per day to make and maintain a sustained milk supply. However, if your baby is only 8 weeks old, you really are only in the begining stages of having a sustainable supply, it takes anywhere from 46 weeks to get a good milk supply established.

In order to see any benefit of weight loss you really need to have an established supply for at least 6 months with exclusive BF being the best route. I would not really expect to see you show any noticeable weight loss form 8 weeks of BF.

That being said, I am a bit worried when you say you "wrapped up my girls". Are you trying to supress your milk supply with breast binding? This is not a good idea. The milk ducts can easily back up into ducts as far back as your arm pits and binding can also lead to mastitis, which you REALLY dont want to deal with! If you are trying to dry up your milk, try drinking several cups of Sage tea a day making it from regular sage you can get a tthe grocery store. It is better to find a fresh herb source like the Farmers Market maybe, but the dried herb works well too. For engorgement and painfull breasts while your milk is drying, you can put clean, washed green cabbage leaves in your bra to hlp relieve the discomfort. You can also express just enough milk to give you relief w/o bringing back the milk.

Milk works on supply and demand so it is really better to wean them over a period of a few weeks than trying to do it in a short amount of time. This will be much easier on you! BF is an emotional bond between mom and baby and you may notice your milk let down when he cries or you are snuggling and htis is normal, it just takes a while to dry up.

Feel free to email me w any questions!

K. mom to 4 and 1 pumpkin due on Halloween!
Certified Birth Doula
Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator

Hi there T.... just wanted to let you know that the opposite happened to me... I lost over 20 pounds while breasfeeding, but I have now gained (over the last year and half) 25 pounds after I stopped...
It really depends on your body... but typically while breasfeedfing you are losing ~ 500 calories a day...
Best of luck!
I.

About me WOHM with a beutiful 2 1/2 year old girl!

No, I have nursed two children, 8 and 4 and with neither one of them, I didn't lose any "additional" weight. Now you have to "work" it off to lose it. sorry. YOU CAN DO IT!!!

My case was totally different when I weaned my first two children (at 18 months and 15 months). I am now currently weaning my third at 17 months, and we'll see how it goes. I breastfed exclusively with all three. I quickly got down to my pre-pregnancy size while breastfeeding and stayed that way eating like a pig the whole time. After weaning, I continued to eat whatever I wanted and how much I wanted and I gained weight. It was hard to change my eating habits. I don't mean to put a damper on your hopes. Everyone's body and metabolism is different. I just know that breastfeeding burns a lot of calories. For me, it was the easiest way in the world to lose weight. I just have to watch what I eat after weaning because those extra calories aren't going to the baby anymore. Hope it works out for you :).

BF didn't cause weight loss for me with my son (9 yrs ago) nor my daughter, now 6 months old. I lost the pregnancy wieght by 6 weeks old with both. With him, it took almost a year past the weening/drying up before any more weight came off, and then it dropped quick - 20 lbs in 6 weeks without a change to routine or eating habits. Scared me until the doc reminded me of when I quit nursing. Your body can wait that long to realize it no longer needs the fat stores for milk production. We'll see how it goes with my daughter, we're weening now - she's cutting teeth and won't quit biting me!!

Give your body some time, cut back your calories and it will happen.

good luck!

Hi T.! I agree with other posters that if your DS is only 2 months old, you should expect to still take a little while to lose the weight, whether you're breastfeeding or not. I BF'ed for 10 1/2 mos--I was back to my pre-pregancy weight while breastfeeding, even while eating EVERYTHING (really, there was no such thing as a meal too big for me!) Once I stopped BFing, my appetite cut back a bunch, and I also just made sure to eat healthy stuff (as much as anything else because I want to instill healthy habits in my DD, so it's lentils and tofu for us!). I've lost another 5 lbs since I stopped BF'ing. A friend had a similar experience--kept an extra 5-10 lbs as long as she was BF'ing (10 mos), then lost it once she stopped. I think it depends a lot on the woman. I won't get preachy, but do keep trying to BF even part time if possible (I went back to work at 4 mos, and had to supplement with formula, but still kept BFing part time another 6 + mos). And good luck with whatever you do!

Everyone is different...I lost all my baby weight about 2 to 3 weeks after both of my kids were born while breastfeeding. I breastfed them both for 11 months and then stopped. My problem was after I stopped breastfeeding and pumping I was still as hungry as I was while pregnant and/or breastfeeding. I was working out about 2 days a week but I was eating more. So I ended up gaining weight after I stopped breastfeeding.

My only advise is after you stop breastfeeding limit your calorie intake to 1200 and exercise.

Good luck and hang in there.

I'm guessing when you say you had your baby in April you mean April of 08 which isn't a very long time to let b/f help you lose weight. I would give b/f some more time ( at least a year if possible ) because the longer you nurse the more weight you'll lose.
It may take a good 9 mnths to a year to lose that extra 15 lbs.
However if you're completely done b/f you might be able to lose the weight a little quicker since you no longer have to add the extra 500 calories to your diet.
Hang in there and be patient with yourself, you'll lose the weight before you know it. : )

I gave up breastfeeding after 1 1/2 months (not proud of it but it just didn't work for us) and managed to get back to prepregnancy weight by the time my daughter was 1 with little effort on my part. If I had excersised more I would have dropped weight faster, but I was so tired all of the time! I had alot to lose too, I gained 50 pounds in my pregnancy (craved double cheesburgers from McDonalds ALL the time!). After having my daughter I focused on making better choices with foods and slightly reduced my portion size. By the time my baby was 3 months we added a small walk to our daily routine- and that's about all I did.

Um, sorry...I put on 5 pounds after I stopped BF. But, I still weigh less than my prepregnancy weight. I guess chasing a toddler burns more calories than sitting behind a desk (I worked before I had my baby and now I'm a SAHM).

What I have found from my two experiences is that I lost more weight...well maybe not the weight, but I saw a difference in how a looked in my clothes after my kids started eating solid foods. I am still nursing my almost 1 year old, but once he started really eating other food I started to feel like my clothes were fitting better. With our first, she started eating well at about 6 months and I felt that was when I finally started looking better. It would have helped more with both if I had been more active and working out, but that is what I am seeing for my body. Hope this helps

I gained weight after I stopped breast feeding. Breast feeding burns up to 500 calories a day. That's an hour's work out. I wouldn't count on losing after you stop-expect the opposite.

hi there!

i definitely continued to lose weight after i stopped breastfeeding but i did breastfeed for a year. for the first 6 months i kept thinking, when is this weight going to come off?? but right around then it started dropping off and i ended up weighing less than my pre-pregnancy weight just a few weeks after i stopped breastfeeding. so it worked well for me. but you still have to make good eating choices! when i finally started losing the weight, it motivated me to eat healthier so i'm sure that helped at the end as well.

good luck!!

I was breastfeeding my LO and used to drink mummy magic weight loss tea. Shed 35 pounds from my body.

My experience was that BF helped to lose a good bit of weight initially, then after I stopped, I lost more weight - maybe because I didn't have to eat as much to make all that milk! But really, it took a while to get all of it off. It takes time, and it does take some work on your part. For me, working out hard core to drop the weight fast wasn't in my schedule. Between my full time job at the office and my full time job at home, I was too tired to think about either getting up earlier to work out more or going to the gym at night. I incorporated a good walk/jog into my routine with my son in the early evenings, I focused on eating healthily and in moderation, and I didn't stress about it as much as I thought I would. Also, a colon cleanse helped me lose the last bit of belly weight. For me, it's been "slow & steady wins the race." I'm back to pre-pregnancy size, and now I'd love to get back down one more size to where I can wear the 4's and more of the 6's in my closet. But again, I don't have a whole lot of time to stress about it, so I'm not gonna!

P.S. - wait 'til that baby is running around; chasing them really IS a great workout - and SO MUCH FUN!

Good luck and God bless!

I actually lost a good bit of my weight after I got off nursing - of course, as the previous poster mentioned, I only nursed for about 3.5 months. Ive been on Weight Watchers, which has been very helpful. They have a version of their program for nursing moms, allowing more points to accommodate the extra calories needed.

Good luck!

Hi T.. I was one of those women that thought that bf was gonna be the answer!!! hahaa, just to find out while bf that I was getting hungrier, hungrier even than during pregnancy. I didnt gain any weight, but didn't loose much either. It was until I finished bf that I started steadily losing weight and noticed I wasn't as hungry all the time anymore. Also, there were parts of my body that "unswelled" (I am not sure that is even a word) only after I stopped bf (like my upper back and arms). So, don't worry!!