I exclusively breastfed until the tater tot was 4 1/2 months old. He spit up A LOT and his dr suggested that I begin to feed solids once per day while continuing to bf (didn’t help with the spit up – sigh). At that point, my appetite returned. I’ve never been a fan of sweets, but oh my I had a sweet tooth that was totally out of control. Not surprisingly, I began to gain weight. I gained 12 lbs in 3 months.

My son is 8 1/2 months old now and he still nurses 5 or 6 times per day. I finally began to workout three weeks ago and have totally eliminated all sweets. I’ve lost about 10 lbs. I’m hopeful that I can get below my pre-pregnancy weight by continuing my efforts.

I have one child and gained 67 pounds during my pregnancy..I lost 40lbs in the first eight weeks after her birth and I feel it’s because I nursed. As far as I know, since breastfeeding is a natural thing,the fat stored during preganacy and the extra caloric intake while nursing is what your body uses to make the breastmilk. That makes sense to me and makes me a believer! I didn’t gain any weight after I weened but I crtainly didnt lose anymore.

I just want to say that it is true that some people cannot lose when bfing. I was 33 with a 5’7″ frame, weighing 125 when I got pregnant with my first. I gained 43 pounds. I exercised and ate very healthy and was within normal limits until I gained much my last trimester. I only lost 12 pounds after my beautiful daughter was born. I bfed for 11 months…my doctor ordered me to quit when I got pregnant with my 2nd. I started to finally lose when my daughter started eating solids but then I got pregnant again. I cannot explain how upsetting it was to exercise, eat healthy, watch calories and still not lose a pound during bfeeding. Then I had to listen to all these people…who didn’t even bfeed their children, tell me I should be losing the weight…I have an advantage over them because bfeeding makes you lose weight……Guess what….all those comments did was hurt my feelings and discourage me. Please ladies…don’t worry about not losing the weight. Worry about breastfeeding your beautiful baby. My youngest is now 5 months and guess what…I watch and exercise 3-4 times a week and havent’ lost a pound since delivery and I know that I wont until I start the weaning process. I know it will come off and finally i have spoke to about 5 different women who claim they had the same problem. It will come off so just ignore the people who talk about how much they lost during bfeeding and remember that you will lose it in time.

I had my baby girl a little over 6 months ago and during my pregnancy I gained almost 30lbs. I’ve always been a fairly small person and have never really had a hard time losing weight; I’m a former gymnast and cheerleader so I’ve always been pretty fit. I had so much weight gain during my pregnancy that I just felt horrible about the way that I looked and it didn’t help that my husband called me MOO MOO either. I thought like most that once I started the whole breastfeeding process all of the weight would just magically fall off and I’d emerge this hot new momma. But, oh how that was not the case, far from it actually. After my daughter was born I lost almost 20lbs before I even left the hospital what an ego boost right? Then, I thought that I was doing really good some of the extra weight had started to come off and I had a little belly left and thought hey I’m suppose to be burning almost 500 calories a day this should be no problem I can go to the gym and lose the rest of this in no time at all. Well, the baby took up all of my time and the 5 minutes a day that I had to myself was sucked up by my husband who constantly said that he was feeling neglected now that the baby was around and if is wasn’t him then it was always something else. So there was no time for me to go to the gym and lose what I thought should have been simple weight to lose. My body seemed to make more fat to off set the extra calories that my body was using to feed the baby and once my body had adjusted to everything that had happened (having a baby in all)I actually gained back 10 of the 20 lbs that I had lost in the beginning. I know that I have to stay healthy to keep the milk and necessary nutrients flowing for my daughter so she can stay healthy as well, and I don’t want to stop breastfeeding her just so I can go on a rigorous diet and lose all of this weight but some days it’s hard to look at your self in the mirror or to step on the scale. It really doesn’t help when your husband pats your belly and asks you MOO MOO when are you going to lose the rest of your weight and get out of your fat pants? I know that sooner or later the weight will come off I just wish it was sooner rather than later. And a little help and encouragement from my husband every once in a while would be nice too.
So, for those of you out there going through some what of the same thing as me, just remember the weight frustration is all worth it when you see your little one smile at you with a very healthy smile and know that they don’t care how many pounds you lose or gain just as long as you’re healthy.
That’s what I tell myself.

I had my son March of 2008. I have been breastfeeding him for 3 months. I gained 45 pounds during my pregnancy. I lost 15 pounds right off the bat. I Currently have about 20 pounds to lose. I haven;t lost a pound more for the past 2 months and I have been working out 4 times a week. I walk on the days I dont go to the gym. I eat a healthy diet. I just don’t understand. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will all come off when my baby weens. Especially because I am getting married next summer and would like to be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. If anyone has any suggestions please help.

I gained 50 lbs. with my first pregnancy and had lost all but 3 before returning to work (briefly) at 16 weeks. I ate to hunger, and ate a better diet than I even did pregnant, and the weight just fell off. I think a lot of my baby weight is fluids, not fat. I also had a major oversupply issue – not sure if this contributed or not.

When my daughter was about a year old, I actually tried to lose weight and lost another 25 lbs while nursing. Obviously, she was on table foods at this time, but I was able to lose this weight without impacting my remaining supply and I nursed her until 22 months.

I’ve gained the same 50 lbs. again this time around, and just pray it will be at least half as easy this time.