FTM popping over from second tri!

[Beautiful11]

Hi ladies just wondering if i could get some advice! im 22 weeks along and wanting to breastfeed more than anything after speaking to a few people i have heard that when you breastfeed you don't get the 6 week long period is this true? also does breastfeeding your baby give your child more chance of being obese? i ask this and im really sorry if i offend anyone really not meaning too but i have two little boy cousins who are both weighing at 15 pounds at 3 months old and they do look chunky is this down to breastfeeding or can it go either way with cluster feeding etc as you can tell im really not sure either way but want to breastfeed and could do with some advice! thank you xx

 

[girlnboots]

From what I've heard, bfing produces average weight, generally healthier babies for the most part. No idea about the pp bleeding though!

 

[rubydoo1]

Hi, I'm in my 20th week of breastfeeding my girlie and I love it! I definitely had the 6 week period after giving birth I think everyone gets it. I've never heard of breastfeeding making babies obese, I was told by my HV you can't over feed a breastfed baby. My girl is slightly above average weight for her age but is also tall, babies weight gain is down to a lot of factors such as genetics etc. good luck with it all, my main piece of advice would be to persevere as it can be tricky to start with but gets easier and is worth it x

 

[Marie000]

For the postpartum bleeding, it varies a lot from one woman to another, but breastfeeding helps because when your baby suckles, it makes your uterus contract and helps it get back to normal faster. That means you will get fairly strong period-like cramps when breastfeeding at first, but it's a good sign.

Not sure about the obesity, but I seem to remember reading that breastfeeding reduces the chances of being obese later in life. I'm not sure though. But I am pretty sure it doesn't increase the chances.

 

[Marie000]

Here's a good article about weight gain in breastfed babies:
https://kellymom.com/bf/normal/weight-toomuch/

 

[Pielette]

You can't really overfeed a breastfed baby as it's a lot of work for them to get tge milk so once they've got what they need it's job done. It is possible to overfeed a ff baby as the milk drips into their mouth without them having to try. But in general babies take what they need and if they were to take extra it usually comes back!

Weight gain tends to be more rapid in the first few months of life for ff babies but it levels out generally as they become mobile.

I have two LOs. My first was ff and my second is bf. My first is short and stocky and has always been on the heavy side. My second is long and skinny and tracking just above the 25th centile. I genuinely think that they both would have been this way regardless of feeding method, that's just their individual builds.

As for pp bleeding there may be some truth in that, just from my personal experience. With my eldest I bled for 7 weeks, 4 of them heavy and 3 of them light. With my youngest I bled for 3 weeks and only the first week was heavy.

 

[babyface15]

my doctor told me that breastfed babies tend to be 'chunky monkeys' and this is totally normal and good. and coming from the momma of a chubby little baby, people adore seeing a chubby, healthy looking infant I've read that breastfeeding reduces the risk of childhood obesity as well.

 

[Julesillini8]

Not sure about post partum bleeding.... But I've breast fed both of my daughters. My first daughter was well over 15 lbs at 3 months too, big chunky cheeks, and well chunky everything! Her growth slowed down eventually and she is a normal looking 2 yr old. My second daughter is on the same path, was 15 lb 4 oz at her 2 month appt, she's a cute little chubby girl. I'm not worried in the least bit of this, she will slow down and thin out naturally in time. ( usually when they start crawling/ walking) anyhow, I think the chubby baby faces are the cutest... I don't think a chubby baby is necessarily a predictor of obesity.

Here are my 2 breastfed girls...

 

[Beautiful11]

Ah okay! thanks ladies this has helped so much ALSO how many times would you say you breastfeed a night? during the night down to cluster feeding and ladies that have had babies that have cluster fed have your little ones grown into a pattern? xx

 

[Pielette]

Ah okay! thanks ladies this has helped so much ALSO how many times would you say you breastfeed a night? during the night down to cluster feeding and ladies that have had babies that have cluster fed have your little ones grown into a pattern? xx

My baby used to cluster feed in the evenings, usually from around 6.30 until 9pm. He stopped at around 10 weeks I think.

He varies between 1-3 night feeds. The nights of 3 are exhausting if I'm honest but hopefully it will start to get better soon.

He does have a bit of a pattern now to his feeds. It tends to be something like this - 7am, 9.30am, 11am, somewhere between 1 and 2pm, 4pm ish, 5.30pm, 6.45pm, then whatever happens overnight. All times are approximate, it's on demand but that's what usually happens.

 

[Beautiful11]

Ah okay! thanks ladies this has helped so much ALSO how many times would you say you breastfeed a night? during the night down to cluster feeding and ladies that have had babies that have cluster fed have your little ones grown into a pattern? xx

My baby used to cluster feed in the evenings, usually from around 6.30 until 9pm. He stopped at around 10 weeks I think.

He varies between 1-3 night feeds. The nights of 3 are exhausting if I'm honest but hopefully it will start to get better soon.

He does have a bit of a pattern now to his feeds. It tends to be something like this - 7am, 9.30am, 11am, somewhere between 1 and 2pm, 4pm ish, 5.30pm, 6.45pm, then whatever happens overnight. All times are approximate, it's on demand but that's what usually happens.

Ohhhh im just hoping i have the strength to keep it up!! xx

 

[Pielette]

It gets a lot easier as they get older. As much as my LO feeds a lot, he only takes about 5 minutes so it's really easy and convenient. In the beginning it's time consuming but breastfeeding becomes so easy after a while that it really is worth it

 

[Beautiful11]

It gets a lot easier as they get older. As much as my LO feeds a lot, he only takes about 5 minutes so it's really easy and convenient. In the beginning it's time consuming but breastfeeding becomes so easy after a while that it really is worth it

Thank you

 

[sue_88]

Millie is exclusively breastfed and currently on 50th centile for weight, she's getting some great thighs on her now though!! Just under 13lb at 11.5wks.

Millie has never cluster fed and usually has me up 1/2 times a night (3 in first couple of weeks). But she feeds and goes back to sleep in under 20mins so I'm never up for long, it's quite easy. She's always been a very efficient feeder!

PP bleeding was 5w 5ds!

 

[NoodleSnack]

Not sure if it reduces ppb but the hormones from bf induces contractions so you can get bad cramps while bf.

Bf reduces th risk of obesity but bf baby gains weight faster in the first 3-4 months before ff babies overtakes them.

You should spend some time reading about what to expect during the first few weeks of bf, if you have family member who bf, see if you can use them for support.

 

[summer rain]

BF helps the uterus return to a normal size far more quickly than FF, and if a woman never BFs after having a baby then her uterus will never 100% return to it's normal, previous size and tone. Which could potentially cause problems in the future. The bad thing about this is you can get after pains though with a first baby these can easily be nixed with paracetamol and also in the first week you may initially get heavier bleeding than if you were FF but this usually tapers off very quickly, I usually experience heavy red bleeding for about a week then light spotting after this xx

 

[minties]

15Lbs for 3 month old boys sounds just right to me. Sophie was 14lbs 8 at 3 months, if she were a boy that would be the 50th percentile, so smack bang on 'average'. So 15lbs wouldn't be all that much more than average?

I bled for 7 weeks with Thomas and only 2 weeks with Sophie. Not sure why there was such a difference but both were c-sections and both were breastfed.

Both babies fed at least 2 hourly at night. And often took ages to go back to sleep. Those days pass so quickly! I'm lucky if I can get Sophie to nurse 2 times in a 24 hour period now.