Trying to Drop the Baby Weight

Updated on July 14, 2016
N.C. asks from Bristol, RI
9 answers

I am a new mom of a beautiful 8 week old daughter, and I have a wonderful 2 year old also. I had a C section with my first, and had such a tough time losing weight then, it wasn't until after I stopped breastfeeding, and I could go on a very strict protein diet, that I lost that weight. This time I had a vaginal delivery, and lost half the weight in 2 weeks, but now it has come to a stand still. I am pretty active, but have little time to have an exercise regime. I know the basic dieting rules, but wonder how long it takes most people to drop their weight. I'm 38 years old, so I know it may take a while, just curious.

What can I do next?

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C.F.

answers from Boston on

As for me, I didn't dive into weight loss until my second (and last) child was a whole year old and sleeping though the night...I needed to be sleeping well before I could sap my energy with calorie restriction. Not to mention, I wanted to be eating properly while breastfeeding. It was a long road (I had 40 extra pounds still left over from the pregnancies!...took a year to drop most of it) but if I'd tried dieting while still not sleeping through the night I would have had no patience at all for my poor kids. And yeah, I think it takes longer for us "older" moms too (I was 39 at birth #2).

Good luck, be kind to your bod and don't worry -- the time will come for dieting and exercise soon enough, you'll know when you can spare the effort. In the meantime and always, enjoy your kids! :)

1 mom found this helpful
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A.R.

answers from Boston on

Hello and congrats on the new baby! I joined Weight Watchers when my second baby girl was about 2 months old. It was a great way for to get my act together and lose weight while breastfeeding. Breastfeeding women are advised to eat a certain amount of "points" more while breastfeeding their baby. I didn't have any issues with my supply and was actually eating much healthier than I was before I joined WW. I lost about 20lbs in about 4.5 months. My local WW ctr has a mom and me mtg that I still attend with my little girls. It has been great for me to have someone to keep me on track and not let me get out of control with my eating. About a year after I lost the weight, I put about 10lbs back on. I rejoined WW, lost the 10lbs and continue to attend meetings just to help me maintain the weight. I am a fan of the program. Good luck!

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R.K.

answers from San Francisco on

congrats on your VBAC!
don't diet while you're breastfeeding. just keep nursing, drink lots of water, eat well, take your baby on walks. stressing over weight is the opposite of what you need right now. love your body - your baby does!

T.C.

answers from Dallas on

While nursing, you will hold an extra 5 pounds or so. You don't want to lose that weight until you're done. After I have babies, I lose about 30 pounds in the first 1.5 weeks. That usually leaves me with about 10-15 lbs to lose. Usually by six months I'm back to normal weight. But this last time, at six months, I still hadn't lost any of the weight remaining 10-15 lbs. I also wasn't trying. I kind of felt like I didn't really need to lose it, so I didn't try (I'm 5'4" and weighed 130lbs, usually I weight around 117 lbs), and I was TOO TIRED to care. Then I got prego six months post-baby (surprise!). But I know many women take a year or so to lose the weight.

For exercise, even just going on a walk is good. Or, if you have some type of game (Wii or Xbox) they have exercise games you can do in any freetime you have. I've started doing Zumba Fitness - very fun! That's helping me exercise some since it's too hot to go on walks.

Good luck:-)

J.X.

answers from Los Angeles on

Every one is different. I lost the water weight as you did in the first two weeks, then my weight didn't budge for 5 months (156). Then I seemed to shed a few lbs, then a total standstill (146) ! Then put diet into high gear and hit 139. It wasn't until I hit the 9 month mark that I got pretty close to my prepregnancy weight. Now I'm hoping when I stop breastfeeding to loose the last 5 from my first pregnancy. Wouldn't that be nice. I'm not crossing my fingers.

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E.S.

answers from Providence on

I have successfully dropped my pregnancy weight with the help of drinking mummy magic weight loss tea.

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M.T.

answers from Boston on

Not all women can lose weight while breastfeeding. Women in my family tend to gain weight while breastfeeding. I learned early on that if I ate, about an hour later I was engorged. Although my extra food was going to milk, if I ate less I just produced less milk.

I only managed to lose all but 10 lb before I got pregnant with my second child. But I did find that my son likes help out with Wii fit, and that chasing a 2 year old around is good exercise.

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D.W.

answers from Philadelphia on

Remember that it takes nine months to make a baby so it may take nine months to lose the weight, I would say that when you get over 35 it is hard to lose weight. watch the bread,pastas and sugar, soda. drink lots of water and watch the caffienel It makes you hold water.

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H.D.

answers from Dallas on

For me it takes about 5 months of really trying after my babies are born to get about 10 pounds away from my starting weight before I got pregnant. But it's those pesky last 10 that never want to budge for me, it takes absolute diligence with those last 10, no cheating at all and a strict exercise regime 6 days of the week. I had my third child 2 years ago and I'm sitting at 3 pounds away from where I started, I finally called it good because I'm tired of focusing so hard on that weight and I can still wear my old size without it being too tight so I'm happy.

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