Not losing weight while breastfeeding

[Happywillow]

It seems like everyone says that breastfeeding is a miracle when trying to lose weight after pregnancy. I have many friends who zipped right back to their weight and got even skinnier while they nursed their babies. However, I don't seem to be one of them. Nor did my sister. Does anyone else seem to hold on to extra pounds until baby weans? I would feel better if there was someone else who experienced this and not the "I've never been skinner than I was while breastfeeding!" that I seem to hear all the time. :cry: Of course, having two babies 19 months apart might have a little to do with it, too!

--Megan
SAHM to Gwen 4/04 and
Keira 11/05

[MommyMommyMommy]

I'm breastfeeding and am fatter than I've ever been! :giggle: I seem to stretch those extra 500 calories per day into a lot more :blush:

[Jillybean]

I usually lose weight while breastfeeding, but there have been times when I did not, or I gained even. If I'm not losing and I assess my diet I generally find I am simply eating way too many calories. If I cut back a bit (nothing drastic) I generally start losing again, slowly but steadily. I know thats probably a duh, but its my experience.

[Gavin&Brent'sMommy]

:yeahthat:

[Samantha]

:exactly:

[Namaste]

I don't but now that my dd is eating solids, I need to readjust my food. I can eat like a truckdriver.

[tng_mama]

I'm breastfeeding and am fatter than I've ever been! :giggle: I seem to stretch those extra 500 calories per day into a lot more :blush:

:yeahthat:

[EmnJJsMom]

While I'm breastfeeding I get cravings worse than I ever did while I was pregnant...I think that is what slows my weight loss a little. I pop the girls in the wagon and walk a few miles a day though and that has been helping me work off those extra calories from my cravings nicely. Try to find low-fat alternatives to your fave foods too w/out compromising the healthy stuff!

[stopka7224]

I don't but now that my dd is eating solids, I need to readjust my food. I can eat like a truckdriver.

Yep yep.. Me too! ;)

[KnottyLDSMama]

While I'm breastfeeding I get cravings worse than I ever did while I was pregnant...

OMG I thought I was the only person that happened to! lol My husband thinks I'm crazy! I had litterally NO cravings at all while pregnant. Now I have several every day. :fridge:

[Psychomom]

I lost my postpartum weight by the time Aydin was 3 months old, but I don't know how much of it can be attributed to breastfeeding because I never have problem losing pregnancy weight (and I hadn't breastfed my others.) I was at a stand still after that, but when he was about 6-7 months old I started shedding weight again. I dropped 17 pounds before getting pregnant again.

My best friend held onto her weight then found out she had an underactive thyroid. Once she got on the proper medication, she started shedding pounds.

Are you normally pretty thin? Your body does tend to hold onto some of the fat so it can make milk. Just remember it's for your baby!

[mamax3]

I had 2 pregnancies (3 babies total) 14 months apart.. I didn't breastfeed my twins and lost all of the weight in a couple of weeks! With my second pregnancy I lost about 15lb, but gained 45 total. When she stopped nursing as much (around 5mo) all of the weight started falling off. She is still nursing about 3-4 times a day and my weight has stopped right at my pre-pg weight. :) I think my body held onto the weight to produce the milk, especially since I didn't bf my first and lost all of the weight quick. Hopefully it will start to come off when your baby starts nursing less throughout the day or weans!

[png_lovebirds]

I just wrote this post on another board!!!!!:laugh:

I am experiencing, kinda, what mamx3 has! I did not BF my first DS and the weight fell off! I lost b/w 1-3 pounds every week until I was down to my pre preg weight!! With this new DS tho...it's TOTALLY different! For one, I"m BF this time...and I lost 15 pounds after the baby was born..in the forst 2 weeks! BUT since then I have been STUCK! I am at 160 and my weight will not budge at all!!!
I am glad to know that I am not the only one!
I am feeling very frustrated about my weight tho....I HATE it that I'm still in my maternity clothes...I just feel SO bad about myself to the pt where I'm almost about to stop BF so that I can loose weight again.....:cry: :blush: How selfish is that?!:banghead:

I feel for ya!

[titania]

i am bf'ing TWINS and not losing ANYTHING!! i put on 60 lbs with my pg, and have lost 30 of it, almost all of it the day they were born--7 months ago!! i am trying to be patient and remind myself that its for the babies, but i have always had trouble keeping weight on, so this is really something new for me.

[superMoM2GTO]

I feel the same way! I was 165 when I got pregnant and 205 when I delieved. Within a week after giving birth I was 185... But slowly my weight started creeping up! Now DS is alittle over 8 months and Im up to my delievery weight!!!
How depressing is THAT!? I've just resigned myself to being fat until he is weaned.

[dessismama]

I am stuck at 10 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight, and I just cannot lose the pounds. I need to cut back calories but I am too tired/sleep-deprived to do this. I must exercise but I have no time.... EEK!

[Termie]

Same here as most. Gained back or stalled due to eating too much or the wrong things.

But partly too b/c of PCOS. I got put back on my Metformin and now I'm not physically HUNGRY all the time. Hopefully the pounds start coming back off again soon. 175 pre-pg, 205 delivery, 187 2wk pp, 185 6wk pp. I don't wanna get back on the scale now at 3mo pp. LOL!!! I can see by my extra chin that it's higher than 185. hahahaha

[EasterBun]

Some women (I have no idea of what percentage) actually hang onto or gain weight while nursing... it's just one of those strange things, I think.

I was 208 when I delivered DD... started off that pregnancy at 155ish (I had just quit smoking a couple months before, and packed on 20lbs!) I was down to 165 at 6 weeks (yay!), thought I was doing super, then shot back up to almost 200 in the next two months... turns out my thryoid totally quit working!! Since then (and taking synthroid) I've lost about 25lbs, but I've got about 25lbs to go before I'll feel like I'm at a "normal" weight for me... but I'm not too worried about it right now. I'll be able to do more when I'm not nursing to get rid of the excess - right now my baby is the more important one, KWIM? ;)

I wasn't back to my pre-preg weight after DS until nearly 3 years later, but I never actively tried to get rid of it... so I think my body just takes a bit longer to "bounce back".

I have to laugh at my little sis because she's convinced that she'll be back below PP weight in just a few months - and she's already gained 50lbs with at least a month to go - but it doesn't always work that way. I never thought my thyroid would up and quit on me, making things MUCH more difficult (thankfully I never experienced any supply issues related to the thryroid issues, which tend to be pretty common), but even still, I'm sure I'd be hovering at around 170ish anyways... I've been stuck at this weight for quite a while now.

[itsmelanie]

My body simply will not let go of weight while I'm nursing. I was upset about it with baby #1, then frustrated with it with baby #2, and now with #3, I'm just resigned to it. I figure I'll work on losing weight again when my body is my own again. I don't eat terribly, either, but the weight just is not going to budge.

[CufrM]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one that this is happening to! I gained 27 lbs (really only 15 since I lost 12 in the first 4 mos) with Toby, and I felt-and looked-like a house. I was at my pre-pregnancy weight pretty quickly, but I still looked really, um, fluffy. :yuck: He's 10 mos, and I'm just starting to really LOOK like I've lost any weight. PCOS has kicked my butt as far as weight goes since I was 14. It got better when I was on meds, and has so far stayed under control since I've gone off the medications. Now I just think I'm holding on to the weight because I don't have time to exercise! I hate jogging at 4 am! Anyone know where to get a cheap jogging stroller?! :laugh:

[Happywillow]

Thanks to everyone who has posted so far! (I'm the original poster) It is good to know I'm not alone out there. I suppose I should be more careful about what I eat. I'm probably taking in too many calories, still it can be hard when I'm eating chicken and spinach salads and my friend says, "Oh, I eat fast food hamburgers every day, and I'm 10 lbs thinner than I was before I got pregnant (and her son was 4 months old.) ARG! Still, I'm so happy to be nursing the baby, so if this is what it takes, then so be it! I'm 5'8".I was 145 before my 1st pregnancy in '04, 190 at delivery, and 165 when I got pregnant with #2 10 months later. Went up to 199.5 a few days before delivery (I refused to get back on the scale after I saw that!) and am 170 now. I'm going to try to watch more what I eat, but just enjoy nursing my happy girl! :happyclap:

Megan,
SAHM to Gwen 4/21/04 and Keira 11/16/05

[EasterBun]

It sounds like you're built like me :thumbsup: I was around 145 before #1 too :D

Just hang in there, and remember the weight gain isn't forever... you'll have plenty of time after you're done nursing (or having more kids and nursing them!) to lose it :hugs:

[mother4JC]

I can totally relate to this, with ds I don't remember much I just know I didn't get down to prepreg. weight (which was 20lbs more than I wanted to be anyway). I was 14 over. I had to work my hiney off to lose that. With dd I was down to 10 over prepreg. then I was gone half of May with family and I gained an extra 10. YIKES! I had started working out again the day before dd was 6 weeks. When I was with family I got some workout not like I would have had I been home, but I am nursing and working out trying to lose it. So I know how you feel. :hugs:

[havanadaydreamin]

I haven't been able to lose those last 10 pounds. I have just accepted the fact that I probably won't be able to unless DD drastically cuts her nursing down. I figure I've probably got about another year to go! LOL

[AmandaHW]

Me too! Of course, I went straight from pregnant to nursing to pregnant to nursing again but still...(My kiddos are just less than 16 months apart! I haven't seen AF since Feb. 2004:blush: )

[elioraimmanuel]

Some woman gain weight when they BF. I, sadly, am one of them. I don't gain, but 10 lbs while pg, but boy do I pay for it afterwards!:(

[rliszkowski]

I feel the same way! I was 165 when I got pregnant and 205 when I delieved. Within a week after giving birth I was 185... But slowly my weight started creeping up! Now DS is alittle over 8 months and Im up to my delievery weight!!!
How depressing is THAT!? I've just resigned myself to being fat until he is weaned.


This happened to me too!!!

:banghead:

[Proverbs169]

I had three babies in less than three years and have nursed all of them, and still have most of my weight from baby #1 to lose. YUCK. I am slowly getting rid of it... lost 18 pounds before getting pg with K... and am finally back on the wagon. Total I have about 40 pounds to lose. I think that whole thing about bf helping weight issues is a myth. :(

[izzysmomma]

Me neither!! I'm stuck at twenty pounds above prepreg weight. ARGH!! I finally went out and bought a sports bra that I hope will keep the girls in while I start to jog again. Maybe that will help??
Lis

[lovemygirls]

I wasn't loosing weight after I had dd but now I've joined weight watchers and the weight is slowly but surely coming off.

[bethanyjoy]

I found my body held on to the last 10 or so pounds until my DC's were well established on solids...usually around the 9-12 month mark...that combined with chasing them around at the toddler age really seemed to help the last few pounds come off.