I'm curious about the correlation between losing weight after the baby while breast feeding and sleep. Many moms say they lose the baby weight easy cheesy because of breast feeding. Other women say they don't lose the last 5-10 or so pounds until AFTER they wean. Everyone attributes this difference to our personal body make-up, and I'm sure that has alot to do with it, but I'm also curious to see if it can be attributed to sleep or lack there of. I know that it is important when trying to lose weight to get alot of sleep .... And obviously most new moms are sleep deprived..... and many of us have alot of difficulty losing weight even when we are breast feeding.
Many of my friends that BF and lost weight quickly also had babies that slept through the night rather easily and consistently... or at least for longer stretches. My first son never slept for more than 1-2 hours in a row until he was over a year.... that's also when I started seeing my weight loss efforts finally begin to pay off, even though I had weaned him around 6 months. I have a 5 week old now and am wondering how his sleep differences (he doesn't have colic like my first son and seems like he might sleep in longer stretches once he grows out of a breathing problem that is keep him awake) will affect me and my weight loss efforts. I have alot less to lose this time but am already frustrated that the last 7 lbs seem to be sticking on (so far) even though I lost the first 20 lbs in the first week and haven't lost more since.
SO.... if you breast fed and lost the weight, when did you lose ALL of it.... and when did you start getting a good amount of sleep in a row (like 6 hours)? Do you see a connection?
My oldest is 9 and I still haven't lost it. i had 2 more kids.
the sleep thing takes a while. 4 months? I think.
The reason they say people who don't get enough sleep weigh more isn't really because of the sleeping it's because of what they are doing instead of sleeping. They usually snack super late at night or even through out the night if the wake and can't go back to sleep. Eating like that will make you have more weight on you. So if your baby wakes to eat and you just feed him and go back to sleep. and don't snack yourself then it shouldn't effect your weight los. Actually him nursing more at night might help you to lose more weight. With my first daughter I lost all my weight by 6 months. She was breastfed and at 8 weeks started sleeping 7 hours at night. but that only lasted a month or so and then she would wake twice a night until i weaned her at 11 months. So by 6 months I was down to 115 lbs. With my second she nursed way more...like round the clock. She ate every 2 to 3 hours even at night. So by 6 months I was down to 113 and by 9 months or so I was down to 107 lbs. I think it was just a combo of me eating right and nursing soooo much. She just sucked the fat right out of me lol. So yeah I got way less sleep with her but was way thinner.
I'm not really sure. I had weird things going on after all of mine were born that did weird things to my weight loss. My first I couldn't get the weight to go anywhere until I stopped taking the progesterone only mini pill when he was 8 or 9 months old. I was a size larger than before I was pregnant which was a size larger then I should have been in the first place. After I went off the pill the weight melted off. I got down a size below the size I was before getting pregnant.
With my second my weight was sort of sitting there, not too many pounds and I was fitting my pre-pregnancy pants at least. I didn't go on any hormones at all after him. My husband was in an accident when he was 9 months old. I actually lost too much weight as I cared for my 2 kids and a husband with a broken back and several breaks in his leg and foot. After he healed and things settled back down in the house I gained back just enough to be at my healthy size and weight again.
After my third I have no idea what happened. I walked out of my 6 wk apt with only 8 pounds extra but there was no way I could fit my pre-pregnancy pants at all. Again no hormone birth control. Then I *gained* about 10 pounds! I will admit she slept the best at first but became the worst sleeper as she got older. We had a lot of things going on right after she was born that were hard to deal with. She is now 20 months and I only have 5 pounds to go before I am back to pre-pregnancy weight and I fit most, but not all of my pre-pregnancy pants finally. Only within the last few months have I been able to though. I should add that she was sideways most of the third trimester and damaged the muscles a ton more than the other 2 did even though she was smaller. That may have been why nothing fit. It's been hard work getting the muscles back where they belong.
All 3 of mine were exclusively breastfed, I did not pump. They never got a bottle. They never got anything until after 6 months when we slowly introduced solids and a sippy of water to prevent choking.
I don't know if sleep had anything to do to hender or help as other things had more of an effect.
This is an interesting question! I gained 14 pounds during this last pregnancy. I've lost 36 pounds. She's six months and only sleeps through the night if she's actively nursing. Otherwise she's still up at least twice at night. I'm so tired, and my chiropractic bills are beginning to soar. Some background: I've had three kids and was no longer able to keep my maternity pants up by the time we left the hospital with the last two. The first was born in the days of stretchy pants, so I didn't even wear that many "maternity" clothes. Personally, I think it's some fortunate genetic thing, because I'm definitely not getting enough sleep.
I lost all my baby weight quickly with all mine. With my a5th it's been slower but I gained more than I ever have. I've lost 50 pounds with this one in 10 months but I still have 10 more to go. My first 3 started sleeping at longer stretches at night at 3 months and my next two was at 6 weeks. My 5th was sleeping for 12 hours at 2 months. Not sure of the connection...
Nope did not see a connection.
My ebf son slept thru the night at 7.5 months but I didn't lose the last 10 lbs until I weaned him at 16 months. I only gained 12lbs with him and he was a 32 week preemie.
My second, also ebf, slept really well from 6 weeks to 4 months and then was never consistent until I weaned her at 20 months (and even then she wasn't totally predictable). I gained about 27 lbs with her and it came off gradually.
Like you said everyone is different, your body is completely different each time you have a baby, different hormones, etc.
You only had a baby 5 weeks ago!!! You really can't expect to jump back into skinny jeans. Your internal organs have been pushed around for 9 months, your uterus is readjusting to life alone lol. It takes 9 months to gain the weight so you have to be realistic and give your body time to heal, replenish and restore. And you are doing all this while providing nourishment for a new little one. Be smart and healthy about it and the weight will come off while keeping you and your little one nourished.
I haven't seen a correlation, myself. I get terrible sleep, but have not had problems losing weight. I gradually lost weight for the first 4 months, held steady for about 2, now the weight is falling off. My 7 month old is a terrible sleeper (nurses every 2 hours at night), so for me sleep has nothing to do with weight loss.
I started to get serious about weight loss when my baby was 5 months old. I walked long distances with the stroller and drank tons of water. The weight started coming off fast, but I started to lose my milk. My daughter's pediatrician and the lactation consultant both said I needed to stop losing weight. In fact they said, climb into bed, stop exercising and eat heavy foods like avocado until the milk comes back. So I just accepted that I would have to hold off on being my pre-baby weight until after my child was weaned.
My child has never been a good sleeper. She is 3 and still not weaned. But... I am back to my normal weight. In the third year the weight loss didn't seem to affect the milk. (And I figured that if it did, then I was willing to wean anyway.)
I'm sure it's different for everyone. But that's how it worked for me.
I've been told hormones have something to do with it....I can't gain weight while I'm pregnant...for the life of me...and believe me I try! I'm lucky if I weigh more going into Labor and Delivery than I did when I took the first pregnancy test....However...once I deliver...and I've breastfed all of mine for 1 year....I start to gain weight. I usually end up gaining about 20 pounds by the time my baby is about 6 months old or so. Mine's have all been reasonably good sleepers...pulling 10-12 stretches by 4 months or so...occasionally waking up once in the middle of all that and nursing for 5-10 minutes. I've asked my midwife about it...she said it's probably hormones/thyroid...something like that. So...in answer to your question, I am able to loose some of the weight after the baby is 6 months old...but than it all disappears when I get pregnant with the next child. I lose the last 15-20 pounds by the time I'm 4 months pregnant. And please, nobody jump all over me...I don't TRY to lose weight while I'm pregnant and all my babies have been healthy. That's just my body. I have a 5 month old...I've done a LITTLE better keeping it off with this one...I'm vowing to loose some of the extra weight and get back down to marriage weight...we'll see how it goes :)
