Is breastfeeding supposed to make u lose or gain weight?

Question

How was breastfeeding for u? did u gain or lose weight while breastfeeding?

Answer 1

I lost the baby weight within the first 2 months, and another 20 lbs. over the next 6 months or so. I did a lot of walking too, so I can't really say if it was the breastfeeding or the exercise or a combination of the two...

Answer 2

could be both. on the one hand you are burning more calories but on the other you are sitting on your bum all day.
I lost 30 of the 45lbs i've put on during pregnancy in the first 3 months and then i stopped losing, even though i was still breast feeding on demand. Once I started giving the baby solid foods and supplementing with formula as well i actually gained about 5lbs.
I am now watching my diet very closely so I lost those 5 lbs but I still can't get rid of the last 10-15lbs. You do really need to do as much exercise as possible if you want to lose more.

Answer 3

"Breastfeeding burns 500 calories a day" is bandied about a *lot*, but I have never seen any evidence for it at all. I don't mean just personally; I mean I've never seen any study indicating as much or anything.

I was a size 6 pre-pregnancy; I am now a size 8, but the extra size seems to be thanks to getting huge arm muscles and porn-size breasts.

My mother, on the other hand, thinks it's weird that anybody hangs on to baby weight, she having gone back to her old figure in two months all four times (while nursing, yes). I imagine it's quite different for everybody.

Drinking a LOT of water seems to help with being hungry all the time -- I think a lot of it is dehydration.

Answer 4

I lost SO QUICKLY with my first (lost the baby weight and then some)...she had a voracious appetite and we were pretty active, going for walks, etc.. My second doesn't eat as much, and she's a preemie on oxygen, so we are bound to the house (RSV season quarantine) and to the living room chair (where the oxygen tank is), so I'm much more sedentary. I lost quite a bit at first, but the sluggish lifestyle is helping me to put some back on (not an awful thing, since I actually lost so much during pregnancy it was scary).

Answer 5

Depends on what you eat & how much exercise you get.

I lost the baby weight pretty quick because of breastfeeding, but I haven't lost the rest of the weight I wanted to because I use the breastfeeding as an excuse to have milkshakes, etc. and I don't get enough exercise.

:o)

Answer 6

it usually helps you lose weight since you can burn anywhere from 500-800 calories a day while breastfeeding-after birth it also causes your uterus to contract getting it back to pre pregnancy size much faster- that is why most women experience abdominal cramping when they first staert breastfeeding- i gained 27 pounds during regnancy and ive lost 30- im not a heavy girl either- im happier with my body now than i was before though- i guess cause now im a milf j/k

Answer 7

It helped me lose weight :o) When I stopped, I gained some of it back :o(

Answer 8

When I breastfeed, my body holds onto some extra weight as an energy store...I never get all the baby weight off until after baby's weaned. Some people find it burns their weight off like crazy...it's never gone that way for me.

Answer 9

I lost weight very slowly, about .5 pounds a month, but I was eating pretty badly and not watching calories at all.
Once I began to exercise and watch my diet, it went up to around 1-1.5 pounds per week on average.

Answer 10

It's supposed to help lose the baby weight because every time you breastfeed your uterus contracts. It helped me lose 40 lbs in the beginning, but the last 10 lbs seem to wanna stick around. Good luck!