If I wean my baby will it be easier to lose weight?

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  • beckywilkeherbst
    beckywilkeherbst Posts: 140 Member
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    That depends who you ask. For me, extended nursing burned into some deeply-rooted fat that I hadn't been able to get off before then. Others say the last ten pounds hangs on til you stop. Either way, it would be worth it to continue as long as you can, for the health benefits to your baby. :smile:

    The WHO recommends nursing til two years if at all possible.

    Excellent! Love this! Thanks for being educated!
  • ♥PrincessSaraGarcia♥
    ♥PrincessSaraGarcia♥ Posts: 34
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    Maybe. I had a hard time losing weight while nursing. It seemed to just make my body hold onto excess weight. I also couldn't cut calories without it drastically effecting my milk supply.

    Your baby is 13 months, she obviously doesn't need to be breastfed anymore but part of me thinks weight loss is kind of a silly reason to wean, but like you said you were going to do it anyway.

    So is continuing to breastfeed to get extra calories...let's be honest!
  • Mama_CAEI
    Mama_CAEI Posts: 235
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    Don't wean just because you want to lose weight. Wean when the baby and you are both ready.

    ^^ THIS times a million!! Enjoy every precious moment. :heart:
  • annah78
    annah78 Posts: 2
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    When I breastfed my first daughter, I lost all my weight and was even a little bit below my pre-pregnancy weight. When we stopped feeding at 12 months it slowly started to creep back on.
    This time round with my second daughter it is different. The weight has hung around and I'm almost 1 stone heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight still. She is 13 months now. I'm allowing myself 200cals for breastfeeding. She currently feeds first thing in the morning, before she goes to bed, and then up to twice during the night.
  • thirteenblessings
    thirteenblessings Posts: 51
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    I honestly don't think so. I had no problem maintaining a very healthy weight when I was breastfeeding my kids, and when I weaned found myself 20 pounds heavier suddenly and alas here I am :)

    Good luck with your decision!
  • Kekibird
    Kekibird Posts: 1,122 Member
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    Nursed my son till 21 months. The nursing helped lose all the baby weight and then some but I did plateau and started to focus on building muscle.

    When we stopped, it didn't go any lower. My body seemed jolted by the change and I was able to maintain but no longer lose. Then I began to gain it back (due to the weaning and some emotional complications that came up around the same time).

    For me nursing helped a lot and weaning did little to change that. If anything it made it harder to maintain and adjust to my body's changes.
  • mariholm
    mariholm Posts: 50 Member
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    nursing takes up time and you're sitting not burning any calories :) So I think you'd burn faster after weaning.
  • healthyJenn0915
    healthyJenn0915 Posts: 185
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    I didn't change my calorie intake when I was nursing, just stuck with eating when I was hungry, but I wasn't counting calories then. My personal experience with my second child was I was exercising regularly, and the weight didn't start to drop until after I stopped nursing her at 14 months, but I think a lot of it had to do with hormones. My persnal opinion is if you are still comfortable nursing, keep it up. Otherwise go ahead and stop, and the weight may or may not come off. Good luck!
  • Mama_CAEI
    Mama_CAEI Posts: 235
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    During extended nursing (or what I refer to as full term breastfeeding),

    [snip]

    PS. I'm a nursing mother of five--currently nursing my four year old and 20 month old tandemly. I have nursed through two pregnancies, and nursed two of my older children until age four. I also volunteer for WIC as a breastfeeding peer counselor.

    I think I have a crush on you. :flowerforyou:
  • Mama_CAEI
    Mama_CAEI Posts: 235
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    I recently stopped "adding back" breastfeeding calories because I have hit a plateau. We co-sleep, so my 15 month old nurses a lot during the night, but I don't think it's enough to justify consuming extra calories. I'm still at a plateau, but oh well.

    I also agree with all the moms who say weight crept back after they weaned: be aware of that! When my twins were a year old, I was 10 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight. As they nursed less and less, I kept eating the same way and by the time I got pregnant with #4, I was 30 lbs heavier.
  • JennS19
    JennS19 Posts: 642 Member
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    That depends who you ask. For me, extended nursing burned into some deeply-rooted fat that I hadn't been able to get off before then. Others say the last ten pounds hangs on til you stop. Either way, it would be worth it to continue as long as you can, for the health benefits to your baby. :smile:

    The WHO recommends nursing til two years if at all possible.

    I also say, nurse as long as you want, I really helped me shed some weight with my son.....of couse I put it all back on but that's another story. LOL
  • kdiamond
    kdiamond Posts: 3,329 Member
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    My body held onto 10 pounds while nursing, then dropped off as soon as I stopped.

    THIS

    I bf both until 9 months (I was lucky they both self weaned), and I felt like as soon as they stopped the weight starting falling off.

    It makes sense that you are holding on to fat when you nurse, i.e. nutrients for the baby produced from your milk.

    IMO of course.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    You're nursing a baby that has teeth? You're brave.

    Lots of mamas do it, it's really not bad usually. Both of my babies got their first teeth at 6 months, I nursed baby #1 until 18 months and baby #2 until 21 months. Lots of mamas go even longer than that. And some babies start getting teeth before 6 months too. The breast is sheilded from the bottom teeth by baby's tongue during nursing and you just get used to the top ones, as long as baby doesn't have any bad habits and doesn't try to get rough, it's not a problem. :-)

    OP, my experiences while breastfeeding were before I found MFP and calorie counting - with both of my babies I lost all of my pregnancy weight by the time the hit 6 months, but once they started nursing less I started putting weight back on again. With baby #1 I kept gaining after I weaned him. Basically I got used to eating more food and didn't really know how to effectively cut back when the nursing tapered off. With baby #2, I lost all the weight by 6 months (just nursing and eating what I wanted, this was before I discovered MFP), then gained back 8 lbs by the time he was 15 months - that's when I found MFP and started calorie-counting. He was still nursing for 6 months after I found MFP and during that time I lost about 30 lbs. I think if you have all your settings done correctly and stick with the program, most people will see success. But you have to be careful about setting your activity and if you eat back your exercise calories as recommended, you need the estimation to be as accurate as possible so that you don't end up over-eating b/c of an over-estimated burn. And if you stall, try switching up your diet or your exercise routine and see if that helps.
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
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    nursing takes up time and you're sitting not burning any calories :) So I think you'd burn faster after weaning.

    Not necessarily! I used to take pride in being able to football-hold my daughter, nurse, talk on the phone and dust - all at the same time. I had a fellow-nursing friend and we would have multitasking competitions while nursing :tongue:
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    nursing takes up time and you're sitting not burning any calories :) So I think you'd burn faster after weaning.

    The body uses calories to provide milk for baby. A mom that nurses exclusively (only breastmilk, no formula or solids) uses around 500 calories per day keeping baby nourished. A mom that nurses part-time might burn less than that but it still takes energy to keep up that milk supply.
  • reaolliemama
    reaolliemama Posts: 489 Member
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    There is research to show that breastfed children are better psychologically adjusted and healthier. Mom's benefits continue on as well-the longer a woman breastfeeds, the lower her chances of all female cancers--cervical, uterine, and breast.


    People like you make those of us who were unable to breastfeed feel like s**t! Thanks!
  • M_lifts
    M_lifts Posts: 2,224 Member
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    My body held onto 10 pounds while nursing, then dropped off as soon as I stopped.

    It will come off, don't worry!

    this is true for me! i stopped at 12 months! i wanted my body back and id surpassed my 6 months goal to continue! helped greatly as she started sleeping through which meant i slept better and the weight came off!
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    There is research to show that breastfed children are better psychologically adjusted and healthier. Mom's benefits continue on as well-the longer a woman breastfeeds, the lower her chances of all female cancers--cervical, uterine, and breast.


    People like you make those of us who were unable to breastfeed feel like s**t! Thanks!

    I don't think she was trying to make anyone feel bad about not nursing (for whatever reason), if you look at the statement she quoted, I think she was just trying to debate the notion that nursing after 12 months is pointless. She wasn't making a judgement, she was just stating the benefits. Please don't ever feel bad for whatever you've done as a mom as long as it was what you felt was best or had to do for your kid. Rule #1 of parenting is 'feed the baby' no matter how it gets done. ;-) All of us are just trying to do whatever is best and works in our personal situations.
  • 0AmyMarie0
    0AmyMarie0 Posts: 315
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    nursing takes up time and you're sitting not burning any calories :) So I think you'd burn faster after weaning.

    Not necessarily! I used to take pride in being able to football-hold my daughter, nurse, talk on the phone and dust - all at the same time. I had a fellow-nursing friend and we would have multitasking competitions while nursing :tongue:

    Hahaha I used to be able to change laundry, do dishes, vacuum! I couldn't stand taking the 10 minutes to sit down and do nothing! Of course, once she got older, that wasnt really possible anymore!
  • 0AmyMarie0
    0AmyMarie0 Posts: 315
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    There is research to show that breastfed children are better psychologically adjusted and healthier. Mom's benefits continue on as well-the longer a woman breastfeeds, the lower her chances of all female cancers--cervical, uterine, and breast.


    People like you make those of us who were unable to breastfeed feel like s**t! Thanks!

    You totally took her post out of context, she was trying to say that there is no reason to say that breastfeeding is "useless" after a year of age like so many people think.

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