Question for STMs - Post partum appetite?

Missingchampagne

To the ladies who have been through it before, how did your appetite change after your baby was born? 

How did breastfeeding/not breastfeeding impact your appetite?

I am finding it hard to remember time when I was not SO HUNGRY, and wonder how my stomach will possibly readjust to a normal eating schedule. I think I'll just want to eat like a gorilla forever.

brie_and_almonds

I was breastfeeding and pumping a ton, and I was basically ravenous all the time for like a year. During that time, the baby weight melted off and I had a huge freezer stash of milk  (donated like 1000 oz through eats on feets / human milk for human babies). I stopped pumping when she was ~16 months.  I kept nursing until DD was 2.5, but I'd say my appetite slowed down after a year. Weight loss reversed too and I gained everything back when I stopped pumping .

sprocketsngadgets

In the first few months I still wanted all the food.  Breastfeeding makes you hungry. I remember being at the hospital and after DD1 was done nursing I would basically eat a full meal. It's a good sign though because your body needs the extra calories for milk. Even with all the extra eating I lost 30 of the 40lbs I had gained by the time I went back to work after 6 weeks and the rest over the next few months.  

 I think my appetite was back to pre pregnancy normal in the four to six month range. Once DD1 really started to eat more solids, slept through the night, and had dropped her early evening nursing. 

momofmanyinthemitten

I nursed all my kids until at least a year, and for a good 6/9 mos post partum, I also had a huge appetite. 

CCLow87

The first breastfeeding year, my appetite was huge!!! She nursed until two but it was back to normal after the first year. 

olivemomma

Yep ditto all the above if you bf, I actually remember thinking, "and I thought I was hungry while I was pregnant!"

Ready4theParty

I Bfe for the first 6 months.  During the first two weeks I wasn't very hungry but constantly thirsty.  DH andy mom would literally have to guilt me into eating because I wasn't hungry.  My milk had come in and supply wasn't an issue I just want to sleep and play with baby more.

After the two weeks I started to eat all the time.  I did lose all my baby weight in about a month (approx 26 lbs).  When I went to work at 6 months I was working a job that was not pump friendly and keeping a regular schedule was hard not to mention the job was very very stressful so I stress ate because I was hungry and it was very healthy.  I ended up gaining the weight back but I am not sure if it was because I gave up pumping around 14 months or if it was the stress of the job tied to unhealthy eating.  In my defense the girl that took my job has put on about 50 lbs in the 18 months since I left. 

Goldsgirl9

IMO breastfeeding = starvation. It did for me anyway. The baby weight melted off, I was at my pre pregnancy weight within 6 weeks. Sadly I gained it all back and then some when I went back to work. I refuse to let that happen this time around. Also, prep ahead freezer meals did not work for us. I tried some but at the end of the day I was in survival mode and didn't have time to cook a meal even though it was pre prepped. Healthy, easy and readily available options are what will have on hand this time. When it comes to having to decide whether to eat or sleep, better believe I will choose sleep.   

yodiggity

My sister told me that BF made her INCREDIBLY thirsty.

I read last night about how your body burns approximately 60 calories per 2oz of milk produced. That's a lot so I imagine it's like when you work out and burn a lot of calories, your body needs to refuel. I am hoping my immense craving for carbs subsides so that when I am "refueling" it's easier to make the healthier choices.

I'm on my second bagel of the day.

mrstrax

I honestly don't remember my appetite (heck, I didn't always remember to eat) but I was ALWAYS thirsty for our 5 mo of BF. Everything regulated pretty quickly after that though.

I have no idea about the weight loss exactly though. I only gained 24lbs with DD and don't own a scale, but I would guess I was back to normal +/-5 lbs within a few months. The biggest difference for me was that I still had to buy all new jeans, because even though I was back to the same size, my hip shape changed enough that they didn't fit right. 

MrsCayEye

The first few weeks after birth felt more like first tri, I didn't feel sick but nothing was really appealing to me and I didn't have much appetite. Then when my hormones settled down more and readjusted my appetite was pretty normal to pre-pregnancy, I didn't really get extremely hungry or thirsty from breastfeeding. 

imrachellea

I was ravenous when BFing my daughter. And unfortunately the weight did not just melt off like everyone tells you it does. For some people, yes BFing does help you lose weight fast. For me that was not the case. In the first couple months, I lost about 25lbs of the 45 I gained with her...but I only lost another 5 of that before I got pregnant again. So I started this pregnancy 15lbs heavier than my first. Don't believe that BFing will just make it come off, it may but it may not, and my OB said that both scenarios are completely normal. It hasn't stopped my desire to BF this one though.

CCLow87

imrachellea said:

I was ravenous when BFing my daughter. And unfortunately the weight did not just melt off like everyone tells you it does. For some people, yes BFing does help you lose weight fast. For me that was not the case. In the first couple months, I lost about 25lbs of the 45 I gained with her...but I only lost another 5 of that before I got pregnant again. So I started this pregnancy 15lbs heavier than my first. Don't believe that BFing will just make it come off, it may but it may not, and my OB said that both scenarios are completely normal. It hasn't stopped my desire to BF this one though.

This! I think it depends on your percent body fat too. Because at some point, your body won't let you get any less body fat because it's nursing a baby. For example, I had to stop nursing (DD was two, or I wouldn't have) to do my first fitness competition because my body just wouldn't let go of the last bits of fat around my abdomen, as it was the emergency fat stores for breastfeeding. 

Sarcasm101

CCLow87 said:

imrachellea said:

I was ravenous when BFing my daughter. And unfortunately the weight did not just melt off like everyone tells you it does. For some people, yes BFing does help you lose weight fast. For me that was not the case. In the first couple months, I lost about 25lbs of the 45 I gained with her...but I only lost another 5 of that before I got pregnant again. So I started this pregnancy 15lbs heavier than my first. Don't believe that BFing will just make it come off, it may but it may not, and my OB said that both scenarios are completely normal. It hasn't stopped my desire to BF this one though.

This! I think it depends on your percent body fat too. Because at some point, your body won't let you get any less body fat because it's nursing a baby. For example, I had to stop nursing (DD was two, or I wouldn't have) to do my first fitness competition because my body just wouldn't let go of the last bits of fat around my abdomen, as it was the emergency fat stores for breastfeeding. 

My weight actually didn't come off until I was done pumping. I was retaining so much water in order to produce. Once I stopped, I evened out.

rebelone

The only thing I remember the first few months of post partum was eating copious amounts of lactation cookies and whatever else to increase my supply. Funny I don't remember much else.

Jules08

You actually burn more calories when breastfeeding than you do when you are pregnant.  So, yes, being hungry non-stop is the norm.  I remember one DR telling me it was about 700 extra calories per day.  She warned not to use breastfeeding as a way to lose weight, but that it could happen on it's own.  She said, IF you wanted to try and lose any weight after birth (once cleared) eat about 100 less calories per day than you need for breastfeeding.

I ate all the things and I still ended up below my pre-pregnancy weight 8 days PP.

AnnikaD20

At first I thought this was going to be about your first meal after pushing the baby out, which I still recall as being the most delicious mediocre sandwich I've ever inhaled in my life.

I was so hungry while breastfeeding. People talk about pregnancy being eating for 2, but you need way more extra calories for milk production. If you exclusively breastfeed, every pound your baby gains and every calorie they burn has to go through you first, so it makes sense. I ate a lot more than normal and still quickly lost the baby weight while nursing.

More than the hunger though, breastfeeding made me ridiculously thirsty. I'd sit down to nurse feeling fine, and within a minute after let down I would feel like I hadn't had anything to drink all day and was dying of dehydration. So yeah, keep a water bottle by your nursing spot.

yodiggity

Jules08 said:

You actually burn more calories when breastfeeding than you do when you are pregnant.  So, yes, being hungry non-stop is the norm.  I remember one DR telling me it was about 700 extra calories per day.  She warned not to use breastfeeding as a way to lose weight, but that it could happen on it's own.  She said, IF you wanted to try and lose any weight after birth (once cleared) eat about 100 less calories per day than you need for breastfeeding.

I ate all the things and I still ended up below my pre-pregnancy weight 8 days PP.

holy crap! How much did you gain during the pg? 

Jules08

yodiggity said:

Jules08 said:

You actually burn more calories when breastfeeding than you do when you are pregnant.  So, yes, being hungry non-stop is the norm.  I remember one DR telling me it was about 700 extra calories per day.  She warned not to use breastfeeding as a way to lose weight, but that it could happen on it's own.  She said, IF you wanted to try and lose any weight after birth (once cleared) eat about 100 less calories per day than you need for breastfeeding.

I ate all the things and I still ended up below my pre-pregnancy weight 8 days PP.

holy crap! How much did you gain during the pg? 

I lost 4 my first trimester, and then gained 19, so overall 15.  DS was 7#10oz and then the placenta and water weight (I had major swelling with pre-e) and that was the majority of my weight gain.  Though I have PLENTY of extra ... fluff ... to begin with.

imrachellea

I've heard you need 300 extra calories while pregnant, and 500 extra when BFing. Whatever, I ate all the things when nursing because I COULD.NOT.STOP. And you can bet I will be making lactation cookies this time around, drinking all the Mother's Milk Tea, taking fenugreek...I don't have much intention of weighing myself while nursing, just so long as I fit in clothes.

Goldsgirl9

@imrachellea the lactation cookies rock! I tried the mothers milk tea and fenugreek but it didn't do much for me. I'm hoping this time my body knows what to do. But I'll have all three you mentioned on hand again to aide the process.