Breastfeeding to Lose Weight (Hmmm....?)

I GAINED 25-30 lbs after each of my kids while breast feeding! I couldn't stop eating sugary foods. The kids were/are fine and normal weight. I breast fed them exclusively until 6 months and then breast fed with regular food added until they were 14 and 13 months old (they both quit on me). They never had formula. I was heavier than my 9 month pregnant weights at the end of both breast feeding years. I swore it wouldn't happen with my second baby but, unfortunately, it did. As soon as I quit breast feeding I was able to quit the candy and lost all the weight I had gained relatively quickly (both times). Thank goodness. Crazy, huh?

I only gained about 30 pounds both times (I was trying to gain more, but I guess that's how much I was supposed to gain) and with my first daughter I was 5 lbs under pre-pregnancy weight after less than a month of breastfeeding. With my second daughter I was back to pre-pregnancy weight after 7 months of tandem-nursing (I was also eating a lot more since I was nursing both girls and very hungry!) and now I'm a bit under my pre-pregnancy weight. My pre-pregnancy weight was the same with both pregnancies.

Both my daughters co-sleep with us and my older daughter was a very good sleeper from about 1.5 months on. When she was teething she would wake up several times in the night, but usually she would sleep for a 3 hour stretch and then for another 8 hour stretch.

My younger daughter is a much lighter sleeper and has never slept through the night so far at almost 1 year old.

Best wishes!
~B.

Well...I'll probably be on the outside edge of the curve, but it will give you an outside edge.

- Gained 180 lbs while pregnant
- <laughing> did NOT lose it all while breast feeding (9-10 months worth).
- Lost apx. 60 lbs while nursing (& more later). Not done yet.
- Super alert and active baby boy slept wonderfully. Started sleeping through the night: (6 hours @ 2 weeks, 9 hours @ 6 weeks, 11 hours @ 4 months).

Hope that helps your data.

My OB told me that nursing does help your uterus shrink back to size because it causes mini contractions that it needs to do so. My baby is 9 weeks now and I have lost 20 lbs only nursing, my toddler is 20 months and I lost 20 lbs nursing with him also but the rest took work.

I breastfed for two years and lost all the weight plus 10 pounds. Alas, those 10 pounds came back after I stopped--and I have no will power so I think they're staying for the ride! Anyway, my son did NOT sleep well.

I gained 56 lbs while pregnant (went from 130 lbs to 186 lbs) with twins. I breastfed them for 14 months. Was down to my pre-pregnancy weight by around 6 months post-partum. Gained a few of those back by the time they were weaned. Then, within the first month after I stopped, I quickly gained about 8 lbs. In the end, (4 years after birth) I've stayed consistently 8-10 lbs more than before pregnant (138-140 lb now).

I think they were both fairly normal in the sleep area as far as newborn sleep goes. It took a few months longer for one of them to "sleep through the night", but I'd say we were getting nice blocks of sleep by 9 months and for sure by 1 year.

HI L.,
I am a first mother of a beautiful 3 months old girl and i am exclusively breastfeeding her. I can tell you that i already lost all the pregnancy weight/about 34 pounds/ and i feel great. My baby is great eater and great sleeper. She sleeps during the night from 9-10 hours.

I was fairly concerned about losing the baby weight, esp. since I didn't really exercise regularly before or during pregnancy. I gained 45 pounds and lost it all and then some within in about 3-4 months, without much/any effort on my part (genes, I guess). My son is 7 months old now, and I am still breastfeeding but no longer exclusively due to milk supply issues (he's about 40/60 breast milk/formula). He slept 5-6 hours at night @ 8 weeks, 6-7 @ 10 weeks; 8-9 @ 12-14 weeks...he's still around the 8-hour mark, 9 if he's really tired. Just waiting for the 10-12 hour stretch!!! I think birth weight might have something to do with baby's sleep as well. My son was 7 lbs., 7.1 ounces (average) but lost 10% at first (I've heard heavier babies sleep longer sooner). Good luck with your theories...feel free to email if you have more questions.

I gained 45 lbs. during my pregnancy and thirty of it came off in the first month (ten of it was baby). I breastfeed exclusively. My daughter is now 4 months old and I have only four pounds of baby weight left to lose. She slept horribly for the first two months! She still wakes up every three hours during the night to eat. Because she was such a bad sleeper in the beginning (she had colic, too) I never bothered with an exercise or diet program to lose the weight. However, we thought that she might have a dairy allergy in the beginning so I went completely off of dairy products until she was about 8 weeks old. That may have something to do with the weight loss but I attribute the loss to the breastfeeding. The women in my family who bottle fed have had a terrible time losing the weight.

HI there, I'll be on the other end of your curve. I gained 27 pounds while pregnant. I got gestational diabetes in the last three months and went on a doctor supervised medical "diet". Of course it wasn't to lose weight but to control the diabetes but I lost 11 pounds in the last months. I couldn't believe it and was freaked out but was told not to worry and I gave birth to a healthy 6lb. 6 oz baby girl. I lost the rest of the weight within a week. As another poster says "genes", I'm sure. I was not trying at all. I breastfed for 14 months, slept with her and she slept like a charm. She liked to snack in the night, but that was because I was available I'm sure because at 6 months I had surgery and was in the hospital for a week. During that week she slept through the night for my husband. Once I got home, she was back to her old tricks, waking up for a snack a couple times a night.

What I wouldn't give for those hormones these days...losing weight isn't as easy any more :-)

Hi L.
I lost all of my baby weight and more while breastfeeding my daughter. When you ask if she slept well, I can say that she did sleep about the average number of total hours for her age, but still got up twice a night until about 7 months, and once a night until about 12 months (although I never did things to wean her of this and figured she really was waking because of hunger. It would also relieve my engorgement so I could sleep better as well.) I would also have to limit my water intake in the evening hours so I wouldn't become so engorged overnight. I guess my milk production was high and she was a good nurser, so I'm sure this contributed to the weight loss. Hope this helps, I'm curious to hear your theories.