BREASTFEEDING

Catlin - posted on 01/23/2010

Yes, it can HELP you lose the baby weight. I gained 40 pounds or so with my daughter, and have lost all but 10 in the 6 months since she was born. I gained 60 pounds with my son, who I didn't breast feed and it took me about 2-3 YEARS to lose all the weight!! (FYI before any one mentions it I was working out 3 days a week and eating healthy) They say that you will probably keep on about 10 extra pounds while nursing due to having to consume more calories to keep milk supply up. I think that it definitely has helped me lose the weight.

Cassie - posted on 01/23/2010

While breastfeeding your muscles in your abdomen contract, tightening them to their former strength.

Cassie - posted on 01/22/2010

I gained 40 lbs while pregnant with my daughter. I am still breastfeeding her at 15 months. By the time she was 7 months old, I was 9 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. I did not exercise at all and am not an overly healthy eater. I am now just a pound below my pre-pregnancy weight with my daughter but am also 4 months pregnant with our second.

For me, breastfeeding was a major boost if not the only reason that I lost about 50 lbs in 7 months. :)

Anna - posted on 01/22/2010

Yup!! I didnt gain vry much when i got pregnant to begin with. I started at 140 and right before I gave birth, I weighed 161. I weighed 149 when I left the hospital. It took me a week to loose those 9 lbs. The cool thing is, I eat alot, and not always the best food and I weigh less now than I did before I was pregnant. So, it worked for me, and is still working. I loved nursing my daughter and she is 7months old now and she loves it too. She wont do anything but play with a bottle :)



oh ps, one of my friends gained 80 lbs during her pregnancy and shes still 60 lbs overweight. She wouldnt listen to me about the benefits of breastfeeding (now preggers with baby #2) bc its grose lol. her loss i guess huh?

Megan - posted on 01/22/2010

Thank you everyone who responded to my post! Everyone's answers were so helpful!

Danielle - posted on 01/22/2010

to andrea if you are not producing much milk try hand expressing int he shower sounds funny but to ensure your baby gets enough milk but as your baby grows you feel u don't have enough milk but if your baby is sleeping well and not fussy after feedings he/she is getting enough. And from experience I ate alot more when I was breastfeeding and now I am reaping it after my baby stopped nursing I got use to my eating habits and forgot I wasn't nursing anymore so just fyi keep and eye on what food choices you make because it came back to haunt me.

A - posted on 01/20/2010

I breastfed and I was 10 pounds LIGHTER than Pregrenancy after I had my baby. My baby is now 8 mos. He's eating less because he's teething and I'm slowly adding a couple pounds on because I'm not producing as much milk. And I'm eating more than when I was pregnant. And drinking tons of water to produce milk. I love it. I hope you can be successful this time in breastfeeding, it's so much more nutritious for your baby. Good luck.

Faadhila - posted on 01/20/2010

Ooooh deffinately! I lost a lot of my weight when my baby was about 5 months.Breast feeding is the best

Katie - posted on 01/19/2010

I gained about 50lbs or so when I got pregnant. It took me about 9 months to get rid of it. I breastfed, walked, and TRIED to eat healthy ;) Not sure how long it would have taken me to lose that weight if I hadn't been BFing but I'm sure it helped a little at least.

Candice - posted on 01/19/2010

Yuppers! I lost all the baby weight plus a ton more within 6 weeks.But it all came back with friends after I went on the pill.(I don't recomend the mini pill to anyone)

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/19/2010

Breastfeeding doesn't help every mom lose weight, but it also works for lots of moms. In response to Stephanie: Breastmilk always has the right amount of nutrients made specifically for your baby (even if you don't have a healhy diet). See: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/mom/mo...

And your milk certaintly isn't "toxic" if you lose weight fast. You might be thinking about lactic acid build up in your milk from exercising. That can make your milk taste funny to your baby, but it doesn't harm them. I just breastfeed right before I exercise so that any lactic acid has time to leave my milk before I nurse again. My daughter has never refused to nurse because of this.

Sarah - posted on 01/19/2010

I found it was harder to lose weight breastfeeding. It does help get your uterus back to normal size faster, because when you breastfeed your uterus contracts. I was nursing my daughter about every hour for the first 2 months, so trying to do anything else was soooo hard. I had no time to exercise. I had formula fed my first and had lost all my weight in about 3 months. So for me that was not true.

Katelin - posted on 01/19/2010

I breastfed for 12 months but didn't lose any of my baby weight. So unfortunately that didn't prove true for me...but I do know that it has helped a lot of women.

Stephanie - posted on 01/19/2010

Breastfeeding isn't always the quickest and easiest way. If you're breastfeeding, you have a lot more dietary restrictions because of how many calories you have to intake to keep your milk supply healthy. If you lose too much weight too quickly, your body can release toxins into your milk. So you'll have to watch how much weight you lose and how you're doing it (dieting, exercising, etc.) to make sure your milk has all the nutrients for your child that it needs.

On the flip side, if you're formula feeding, your baby usually sleeps a little longer between feedings, giving you more time to exercise. And you're not limited by dietary restrictions to ensure what nutrients your baby is getting. So sometimes, formula feeding is the quickest and easiest way to lose weight. Especially since not all moms lose weight from breastfeeding. Even though it burns roughly 500 calories, depending on what else you're doing, that may or may not help you lose weight in the end.

Shauna - posted on 01/19/2010

i breast fed my son and still breastfeeding my daughter and it works wonders wen i was pregnant with both my kids i put on about 15lbs abd when i had them i lost it all and then some

*Fluffy Bunnies - posted on 01/19/2010

I've been 10 lbs *below* my prepregnancy weight since my daughter was about 5 months old. I'm currently trying to eat more so that I start gaining weight or at least stop losing. You burn 400-600 calories a day if you breastfeed exclusively.

Christine - posted on 01/19/2010

I gained 43 lbs when I was pregnant lost all the weight and then some and I believe it was due to breastfeeding cause I did not really work out.

Heather - posted on 01/19/2010

Yes, BF does make you lose weight faster.

Haley - posted on 01/19/2010

I breastfeed my son, and I'm not sure if it's because of breastfeeding or not, but I lost all the weight when he was 2 months old