Does Breastfeeding Really Help You To Drop The Baby Weight?
September 25, 2009 by Guest Author
Filed under Breast Feeding Supplies
I’ve gained 35 pounds so far in my pregnancy, which is ok according to my doctor. I’m planning on breastfeeding and supposedly that helps you lose your baby weight relatively fast. Has anyone else found this to be true? If so, could you share your epxeriences with me?
I breastfed my daughter until she was 18 months old. In the beginning I noticed that I did “drop” the baby weight faster then I had anticipated. When breastfeeding your body uses 500-600 calories everyday. However, you need to make sure you are taking in enough calories to keep up your milk supply as well as enough nutrition for yourself to be able to function to take care of the baby. I would get so involved in taking care of my daughter I would forget to eat. After a few hours I would wonder why I was getting so tired and I notice my milk supply started to decrease. I thought something was wrong. I just needed to eat more. Through out my pregnancy I gained 26 pounds. I lost all the baby weight in about 6 months. I hope this helps!
Breastfeeding burns an extra 500 calories a day …just sitting there on your couch….
Of course, many women feel HUNGRY for that extra 500 calories all day every day!
thats what everyone says…
I breastfed all 3 of my kids and plan on doing it again with this one. I lost all of my baby weight (30 pounds w/ each kid) in about 6 weeks. I thank nursing and good genes to help me lose that baby weight. I hope it happens again.
Yes you burn more calories, so you tend to loose the baby weight faster…but your body will hold onto a little of the extra baby weight/
It did for me. I was back to pre prego weight by six weekd and did not even try. Still bf @ 9months.
I didn’t get to breastfeed long with my daughter and kept 20 lbs. With my son, I breastfed for 6 weeks and lost all the weight gained during my pregnancy plus a few! It does help!
I have an almost 7 month old and I am still breastfeeding.
In the beg. I did loose a lot of weight fairly quickly, (it’s great at making that uterus shrink) but then after a while it tapered off. (At 10 lbs above my original weight!) So now I have to kick it into gear and start the good old fashioned exercise, but, hey those two walks a day with my sweet baby makes it much more fun than if I was walking alone!
Remember, you do loose the weight, but you have to eat more in order to supply breast milk, so eventually it starts to even out.
It’s fact in that your body is burning energy to produce the milk. As a diabetic, I saw how my blood sugars were lower while breast-feeding, but when the babies were weaned, my sugars went up.
However, in the same way that you can’t necessarily rely on breastfeeding as a form of birth control, using breastfeeding as a form of weight-loss isn’t reliable.
i had my little girl 3 months ago and i breastfeed for 3 weeks after i had her. im already at my prepregnancy weight.
yes while the baby is breasfeeding extensively….however once the baby starts on solid foods and drinks less it{s easy to put it back on again if you aren`t careful.
I gained around 27 lbs with each of my 3 pregnancies. By my 6 weeks postpartum checkup I was within 5 lbs of my prepregnancy weight each time.
Breastfeeding burns an extra 300-500 calories per day!
Initially breastfeeding does help you to drop some weight quicker than a non-breastfeeding Mom. This is because breastfeeding burns so many calories. However, once you get to a certain weight (everyone is different) the weight loss evens out. While you are nursing your body will keep a storage in typical female areas: hips, abdomen, and buttocks. The truth about losing baby weight is it takes time. If you eat right, and are moderately active, the weight will fall off and you will be left with a pooch and wider hips. Losing weight is the LAST reason you should choose nursing. It is simply best for the baby. Weight isn’t as important as health, for you or the baby!
It is absolutely fact, although not everyone is the same. If you supplement or only breastfeed for a short period of time, you might not get the same results.
I lost all of my baby weight from both of my children very quickly when breastfeeding, but I was also a stay-at-home mother who breastfed her children exclusively with no supplementation. My daughter breastfed with no solids for six months, and then continued to nurse until she was 11 months old (when I got pregnant again). My son was breastfed exclusively with no solids for almost 8 months. He’s 16 months old now and still breastfeeding.
I think if you talked to different people who breastfed, you might find that their results correlate with the extent to which they breastfed (for instance someone who only breastfed for two weeks will probably complain that it wasn’t true for her).
Yes it definately helps. I breastfed with my last child and lost all the baby weight within 2 weeks and even got smaller than i was before i got pregnant
Yes, it is true! I gained 60 lbs in my pregnancy and lost all the weight by 4+ months. My shape wasn’t back to normal yet, but the weight was.
Breastmilk is full of calories (being taken away from your body) and it takes calories to make breastmilk, so for both of these reasons, your body is losing calories MUCH more than if you weren’t breastfeeding.
Make sure you eat healthy while you’re breastfeeding and don’t diet! Even eating more than normal (similar to when you were pregnant) you can still lose that baby weight, and by the way, it is best for the baby too! Perfect!
It did help me lose some of the baby weight. It also helped stuff tighten back up. Something to do with the hormones that are released because you are breast feeding. BF is also a great way to bond, the cheapest “formula” available, and the best stuff for your baby.
I was 170 at 9 months pregnant. I had gained 35 lbs.
Within 2 days you couldn’t tell i had ever given birth. (i seriously got funny looks like i stole a baby!) and by 6 months i was down to about 110lbs.
I also had to eliminate dairy because of an allergy in my son… so that limited what food i could eat, and i started eating better in general.
haahha that’s a tough question indeed! i am a mother of eight and i breast fed them all. frankly, yes it really does help to loose weight and to cramp (in a good way) the uterus which promote healing. however, you may find that you are MUCH more Hungary than before. so eat well. and good luck!
PS keep in mind that the 1st month can be hell and no matter how many babies you nurse it hurts at first every time. truly, i am glad i did and it is helpful in many ways. just don’t expect it to feel any thing like it does when your husband nibbles or even when he sucks as hard as he can. it does not feel the same at all. it first hurts (sometimes for many days) then it is numb (thank God!) and again, good luck!
YES, breastfeeding does help with losing baby weight! As long as you stay off the junk food, then you will lose the weight pretty fast. But make sure you eat the right wholesome food when you breastfeed so that you will produce milk for your baby.
yes it’s true! I was 104 lbs before i was pregnant and gained 50 lbs during pregnancy. I’m breastfeeding and now I’m 119 lbs. my baby is now 31/2 months. not exactly my original weight yet but getting there.