If you were breastfeeding and not doing anything else to lose pregnancy weight, when did you see the pounds stop dropping? I was pretty pleased to be down 20 of the 30 lbs I gained at 2 months pp and figured that's as far as I'd get without exercising. But at three months pp I stepped back on the scale and now I'm only 3 lbs from prepreg weight.
Just curious what others experienced - or maybe I'm the only lazy one who isn't working out or eating healthier?!
36 votes
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
Mine fell of quickly at the beginning. But after she turned a year old I started a diet and the pounds fell off.
squash / 13764 posts
Apparently most of the weight loss from EBF comes between 3-6 months. http://www.thealphaparent.com/2011/12/timeline-of-breastfed-baby.html
So you might have plateaued now but it could pick up again soon!
squash / 13764 posts
@PrincessBaby: ha me too!! Except I'm 4 months pp and am basically at my pp weight (but don't look the same...) so I'm not sure that means the weight will continue to come off...?
pear / 1769 posts
I'm pretty much exactly where you are, so I am curious as well. I noticed that I dropped about 2 more pounds this last week with zero effort (eating or working out)
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I lost 20 no problem both times. The rest I had to eat smart and exercise to lose. Sad times
eggplant / 11287 posts
I didn't start noticing weight truly melting off (aside from the initial weight loss the first few weeks) until 7 months pp.
I read somewhere that if you BF past six months, you actually start to lose more weight because it is more work for your body to make milk for an older baby. I guess that was true for me because at 9 months pp I still feel that i am getting smaller every week.
clementine / 959 posts
Same as @Rainbow Sprinkles. I lost a lot of weight in the first couple months but the last of it finally came off around 7 months pp.
honeydew / 7235 posts
@hilsy85: I hope that is true! I was feeling good about the weight loss now I'm not! I haven't been exercising or eating very healthy, was hoping the BFing would take care of it!
papaya / 10560 posts
I plateaued around 4 months and haven't lost much weight since but initially lost 40 lbs. I would love to lose about 12 more. I have a friend who said when she made it to a year of breastfeeding she was like rail thin..so makes sense!
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
i lost all the weight by 5 months with both kids, so i guess that's where it plateaued!
nectarine / 2797 posts
I'm at almost 8 months PP and still losing! I did WW for a month at 3 months PP to get some weight off more quickly, but since then I've lost 10 more lbs without any work on my part. I might have to start eating more, I don't really want to lose any more!
honeydew / 7687 posts
@mamabolt: I'm thinking I might be in the same boat if I have a similar experience! I don't really want to be any lighter than I was prepreg and I'm a little scared my boobs would completely deflate!!
persimmon / 1472 posts
I lost all my pregnancy weight by 4.5 months and plateaued. Then between 6-10 months the weight continued to keep dropping since DD was EBF and I ended up 13 lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight! I agree with @Rainbow Sprinkles: that making milk for an older baby really drains your body.
On the other had I am nearly 13 months PP and only BFing DD morning and bedtime (have been since just shy of 1 year) and have gained some weight back. I think it's time I start working out for real and cut back on portions. =| I was so used to eating and burning a ton of calories EBFing that now I have a large appetite.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Every time he had a growth spurt I'd lose a little. At 13m I was just below pp weight but then he went on a week long nursing strike, my milk supply tanked and I gained eight pounds in less than two weeks. EIGHT! He's nursing again and four of those have come off, but I'm also exercising a lot more now. The sudden drop off in nursing was hell on my body for some reason. Yikes!
persimmon / 1472 posts
@scg00387: Even though I'm still nursing DD morning and at bedtime, my boobs are no longer even close to the size they were when I was EBF. In fact, they seem smaller now and I'm really sad. =( I need new bras.......
cherry / 178 posts
At almost 5 months pp I feel that I've hit a plateau but I lost all of my pregnancy weight and more incredibly fast within the first 2 months!
GOLD / wonderful apricot / 22646 posts
I never really lost dramatic weight PP via BF or otherwise!
I gained 38 total and only lost about ~10 lbs until I started to watch my diet and exercise! At 13 weeks PP, I have about 14 lbs to go to PP weight! ( I hope @hilsy85:'s article rings true for me!! )
coconut / 8861 posts
I lost a lot of weight early postpartum. I'd say at 4 months pp, I plateaued. At 6 months pp and still EBF, I'd say that my weight's about where it was at 4 months pp. It takes a lot of calories and water to produce milk for my 6 month old LO. So, I still feel like I'm nowhere near being done with weight loss.
cantaloupe / 6146 posts
@Rainbow Sprinkles: I can agree with this because I got EVEN HUNGRIER around 7 months. And no weight gain! And I stopped going to the gym because we moved.
I haven't lost any though. When it gets warmer I will start running again.
I'm not counting the initial weight loss at 2 weeks plateauing to more normal weight loss.
I'll say 7 months plateau because I started eating a whole lot more.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
@Rainbow Sprinkles:
Okay- I'm bumping this old thread because I'm starting to wonder if I should call my doctor.
I am still breastfeeding my 10 month old, she nurses about nine times a day or so (yup), and goes anywhere from 6 to 12 hours at night without eating (well, the 12 hours happened once, but I"m hopeful).
I am 10lb below pre preg. weight, and I think I've lost about 10 pounds since Christmas. I am hungry all the time, and eating a lot of snacks, etc.
Is this normal? I haven't weighed this little since high school. I do feel tired/low energy, but honestly I haven't slept in like a year so that is to be expected.
How long did you continue to lose weight for?
honeydew / 7687 posts
@Silva: I know @allison has experienced this as well. I can only speak for myself, but that once we day weaned a little after 12 months, I completely stopped losing weight and slowly gained it back until I was at prepreg (and still am). But, at 10 months he was only nursing 4x a day.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
@scg00387: most of her sessions are quickies, like two or three mins.
If this it's rally just from breastfeeding I'm going to be screwed when we wean. I am eating bagels and ice cream and beer and cheese on all the things and chips.....
honeydew / 7687 posts
@Silva: Um yeah... right now I need to start cutting back. I made cranberry orange muffins Sunday morning and had eaten all of them (because they were good, not because I was hungry) by Monday night. Which would've been fine a few months ago, when my pants were falling off. Not so much now 
FWIW I think just triggering letdown would burn calories, even if she's not intaking much.
hostess / cantaloupe / 6486 posts
I'm 5 months pp & 10 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. I've been here since about 2 months pp. I've been eating clean for almost two months now & getting at LEAST ten minutes of exercise in a day (it's hard sometimes to fit more in) & still haven't lost any but I don't regulate how much I eat. I'm very good about what goes in but I don't pay attention to how much because I constantly starving & I don't want to lose my supply! Hopefully I can exercise more vigorously when we wean at a year & I will be back down.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
We BF-ed for 5 months, and I only lost 5lbs the entire time. Still up 20 pounds from pre-preg at 8 months pp....despite eating better and exercising more. Grr.
honeydew / 7504 posts
I dropped weight pretty consistently until he was about 8 or 9 months, when we really upped his solids and dropped a few nursing sessions. Even at that point, though, I was already at or just below my pre-pregnancy weight. Now at 13 months pp (can you still say you're pp at 13 months?), I am 10 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight.
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
I lost all my pregnancy weight (29 pounds) within about 6 weeks. Now, at 13 months pp, I am nursing once per day and still losing weight - the number goes down every time I step on the scale. That said, my body does NOT look the same as it did pre-pregnancy and I have stopped eating like a nursing mother (which is probably why I am still losing weight). I am interested to see what happens when I wean completely.
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
@Bookish: sorry 
@littlebug: my LO has really increased her solids intake in the past month, which is partially why I was so socked to see that I've lost more weight.
Maybe I'll give it a bit more time, but if I continue losing at this rate for another month I'm going in for a check up.
GOLD / cantaloupe / 6581 posts
@Silva: heh, it's ok, I've just resigned myself to the fact that my body hates me right now :] Could be worse, at least my boobs have returned to their former glory!
GOLD / pomegranate / 3688 posts
@Silva: It could just be lucky BFing genes, but it could also be a thyroid issue (common after pregnancy). It wouldn't hurt to get things checked out... especially since thyroid issues can make TTC hard.
pineapple / 12053 posts
@Silva: i kept losing and people keep commenting on how skinny i am.... oops. i am eating a ton and barely working out, so i don't feel skinny, i feel flabby and soft, but my pants are falling off of me still at 13.5 months. we're down to 3 sessions a day though, so i think it's starting to stall, although i haven't weighed myself in a couple months, but the new jeans i bought fit me the same!
coconut / 8681 posts
Breastfeeding doesn't help me lose weight I nursed DS for 3 months and, other than the initial 10 pounds after delivery, I lost nothing extra. DD is 14 weeks and, after that same initial loss, I lost nothing more until I completely changed my diet and started working out 4-6 times a week at 6 weeks PP. boooooo.
honeydew / 7504 posts
@Silva: I didn't realize this was an old thread that got revived and therefore didn't see your new question. LIke I said in my first post, at 13 months pp, I am about 10-15 pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight. I was holding pretty steady at about 113-114 pounds, which is 12-13 pounds down. But then I got norovirus and dropped to 109-110. This morning (a week after I got sick), I was back up to 113.
I am only nursing 2x a day. And yet I still absolutely CRAVE sweets and carbs (and often indulge). I don't know how the weight is staying off, to be quite honest. I am tired and have been having migraines more frequently than in recent past. I have considered going in to see my doctor, but I'm due for my annual GYN appointment in a week or so, so I'll ask about it then.
pear / 1895 posts
@Silva: no advice, but @scg00387: is right that I am right there with you. I guess I haven't been too concerned about it, though? I mean, if I lose any more, I probably should be. Right now I'm 10 lbs below my prepreg weight and right on the "healthy BMI" line. We just day weaned (still nursing morning, night, and one MOTN), so I'm hoping that I'll start gaining back some soon (LO is 13 months old).
I will say that my weight loss happened in spurts. I lost 20 of the 30 lbs I gained during pregnancy, right after birth. Then I lost the last 10 lbs at like 3 months pp or so. Then I lost 5 more closer to 7 or 8 months pp. Then the last 5 lb I kind of gain and lose week to week. It's weird.
Are you at a healthy weight? What's your BMI?
cantaloupe / 6017 posts
@allison: my BMi is 20.6 right now, so it is in the normal range. I'll just keep an eye on my weight. I've been losing in spurts, too. And my weight tends to fluctuate a lot, so it could just be a light day. It's just 5lbs lower than it was a week ago, and I've been eating A TON- like two sandwiches for lunch kind of a ton.
She probably just hit a growth spurt or something weird shifted. She's lengthened some of her sessions (she's always been a bit of a stacker), so maybe she's getting more of the fatty hind milk and maybe has a higher metabolic need?
Who knows. It's probably normal, but if I continue to lose at this rate I'll definitely go in.
Thanks for sharing your experience, it's helpful! My mom never really lost weight breastfeeding, so it's unfamiliar to her and she is worried about me.
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