How much does breastfeeding help weight loss?

Parker1130

So I just had a baby a month ago and keep hearing how breastfeeding is really going to help me lose the excess weight. The thing is I was already overweight when I got pregnant. I have three other children, but didn't bf for very long ; I was working after those pregnancies. Now that I stay at home I thought I'd bf a little longer. But realistically, how much does it help? I packed on pounds after each pregnancy and never really lost a lot of it. Now I'm the heaviest I've ever been! So how much does it help, anyone know?

blu_meanie_ca

You can burn "up to" 500 calories a day breastfeeding. I found that while I never lost any weight from it, I have never eaten so much and not gained weight either. It made me seriously hungery. Basically, as a diet tool it's pretty lousy, but, a great way to feed babies. Just watch your calcium intake, as your body will seriously attack your teeth and bones for calcium for your breast milk if you are not consuming it.

dorianaldyn

Well I had two kids and they were exclusively breast fed for the first 6 months and I continued nursing them until they were both at least a year old (neither ever had formula). With both kids, I didn't watch my diet nor did I exercise all that much and I lost all the baby weight gain in both cases. Now, I will warn you - be careful when you stop. It wasn't until I stopped that I ran into trouble. I ended up gaining weight over the year after I stopped nursing my youngest. So I got on here :-). I just wish I had been on here the day I stopped nursing to help me figure out how to maintain where I was at that point.

dawnna76

Same as the posters above. I exclusively breast fed both my boys ( even both at the same time for a while till the oldest weaned) and while I got back to my prepregnancy with of oth oys it wasn't an effective weight loss tool and I wouldn't use it as a diet aid. I did however eat more to keep up with the consumption from them. It does make you hungry and way way thirsty. Lots of water!

Aquabird

It didn't for me. My little one is 8 months, and I am still waiting. Breastfeeding makes me hungrier, and I guess I just eat what I need to balance it out. Ever since she started eating more solid foods, I started to see the scale creep up. That's what motivated me to come here. I log in my breastfeeding and make sure I don't over-eat. I've only been here for about a week, but so far the numbers are on a downward trend (and I do enjoy the extra 300 calories each day )

Parker1130

Interesting points. Thank you guys! But how do you log your breast feeding?

FluffyDogsRule

honestly, i wouldn't worry about logging if i was breastfeeding...your body needs calories to produce enough milk. the important part is that your baby gets the best...and a bonus is that it does burn lots of calories. i think you're supposed to eat 500 calories more, so maybe log it as 500 calories burned??

i agree with someone above though...i got used to those extra calories and gained when i quit breastfeeding. good luck!!

Aquabird

Interesting points. Thank you guys! But how do you log your breast feeding?

I just log it as a food. If you search the food database for breastfeeding, there are a ton of entries. It basically adds negative calories to your food journal. Since my little one is on mostly solids and I pump the rest, I use the 300 calorie one (which is the low-end of the spectrum). 500 is the norm for most exclusive BFed babies. There are even entries for calories per ounce in the database, which sounds cool, but I haven't researched their accuracy.

I also log it because I am having trouble eating in a healthy range. I tried the "eat when you feel hungry" method, but since she started solids, I think my body is still stuck in the old hunger routine. Other days, I don't feel hungry and have ended up with 700+ calories remaining at the end of the day. For me, logging has been quite an eye opener. It helps for me to see it there so that I know I am meeting my calories requirements and not hurting my supply without going overboard.

aloha311

It really depends on the person. For me I never lost weight. I ended up losing the weight after I stopped Breastfeeding. I know people that have lost a ton of weight from breastfeeding.