RQOTD: How long did it take for you to lose the baby weight?

[Kara]

Just curious. I'm 6 weeks postpartum and have about 15 pounds to lose. I know it'll take time -- and honestly, I'm not even trying right now since things are so crazy with Timothy still in the NICU.

I can't remember how long it took with the other kids. Just wondering what everyone's experience has been!

[lovely1m]

I lost half of it the first week. Then I put on almost all of it again that first year of b/f. And ever since then I have bounced back and forth.

[Tracyfish]

Um...he's almost 7 and I'm still working on it. LOL!

[Kara]

Yeah, Mari, I lost 20 lbs. the first two weeks. Then it all stopped and I'm stuck with 15 lbs. left -- but I'll get there eventually (I hope!)

[kim21673]

Derek is 19 months and I still have 35 to lose...

My first I lost it all when I delivered
Second I had all but 20 lbs to lose at 6 months and got pregnant
Third I got serious about 7 months after and lost over 80 in 3 months
and the last....we are going on 19 months!! LOL

I will add that I am one that gains A LOT during pregnancies....I gained over 80 lbs with each pregnancy and went on bedrest with all of them too!!! I literally went from a size 2 before pregnancy with the last to a size 16 after.....sigh

[maryinaz]

With the twins I was back to regular weight in 1.5 weeks. But then, I only gained 30 lbs with them and they weighed over 15 pounds together. They just took everything I put in my body.

It took me longer with the older 2, but now I can't remember as I'm always up and down with my weight anyway. However, b-feeding never made me lose weight.

[dana]

unfortunately, still working on it and it's been 6 years for my oldest/3 1/2 for my youngest ... hoping to really focus this year and get it off!!

[KristinCB]

lost most before he turned 2.. then gained it all back after i quit breastfeeding.. lol

[nikkiARNGwife]

Ummm...7 years? lol...I did lose a lot of what I gained after both kids within the first few months..but I've not been the weight I was before Avery 7 years ago since then. Today though I'm 10 lbs away from that weight so maybe I'll get there!

[Traci Reed]

I have about 15 lbs to lose still and Finn is 17 months...Took me 4 years after Josiah though!

[rach3975]

I always lost about half in the first month or so without trying. But after that it was different with each child, and each was harder than the one before. With my oldest I lost the rest over the first 4 (6?) months then slowly gained some back because of the huge lifestyle change. With my 2nd I joined WW and lost it somewhere around 9 months to a year, but the weight I was going back to was 20 lbs higher than my pre-kids weight. Then I had Lauren; she's almost 3.5, and I've never made it back to my pre-pregnancy weight. It's not like I haven't tried (over and over ) but I just can't get back to a weight I'm happy at this time around.

[SeattleSheri]

I gained 29 lbs with each of my boys, I guess I'm pretty consistent, lol. With each pregnancy I lost about 20 lbs in the first 4 weeks and another 5 lbs the next couple of months and then managed to hang onto about 5 lbs with both of them. When my youngest was 3, I decided I didn't want to start a spiral of gaining weight and started working out and now I weigh less than I did before my first pregnancy. So I guess the short answer is, most of it was lost in the first three months (90%), but I had to make a concerted effort to lose the residual after I was done having kids.

I really think it's dependent on how much you gain in the first place and how old you are. It's just harder to lose weight when you're older since your metabolism changes (or becomes more efficient, however you want to look at it). If you gain 40+ lbs (single pregnancies), you're going to have a harder time losing it all, since more of what you gain is fat vs. weight specifically related to the pregnancy such as water, placenta, etc.

Breastfeeding never made a difference for me, since I just ate more, lol. I gained a lot of water weight with my pregnancies. I'd only be up 15 lbs at month 8 and then put on another 15 lbs in the last month when I wasn't eating much due to acid reflux.

[clearskies]

Baby 1 - 3 months for clothes to fit, 9 months for it all to come off
Baby 2 - 18 months for clothes to fit, 1 pound shy of having it all off (he's 21 months)

...that said, I gained 25 lbs after having baby 2...was a rough year...

[jessica31876]

well when I got pregnant with my daughter I weighed about 92 pounds. I had her and I weighed 170 something. I lost down to 140ish. I got pregnant with my son and lost weight for three months then started gaining. I was 150 when I had him and took about 2 weeks to get into pre-pregnancy clothes. With my last son I got into pre-pregnancy clothes coming home from the hospital. Now I have never gotten down to 92 pounds again LOL. I would not want to. At 5 ft 5 now that would be awfully skinny. I was 15 at that weight though so that was kinda normal. Now I have high blood pressure and depression and thyroid and kidney issues so I cannot seem to drop below 170. I feel like a fat blob most of the time. Most of my family is alot smaller then I am or at least think they are. we are all built different though. I have especially large hips/bottom and a smaller waist. But it was more my husbands family who made me feel this way since we got married I heard about how fat I am and how I eat so much (I really do not eat a lot at all). But the worst is that no woman should weigh over 120 pounds. Yea they are a bunch of jerks.

[haydensmommy217]

Originally Posted by Tracyfish

Um...he's almost 7 and I'm still working on it. LOL!

this is so me, to a tee.

[Joana1n]

I've had two babies. I gained 50+ pounds with each pregnancy. And both times it took me a year to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

[joelsgirl]

I gained 44 lbs with Jack, and I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight in 5 months.

I gained 30 lbs with Max, and I have no idea how long it took me to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight.

I gained 28 lbs with Ariana, and I'm 3 weeks post partem and have lost probably half of that already. I wish I had a scale, though, I'd like to know for sure.

I can't wait till I can start exercising; I'm tired of being told how fat I am EVEN THOUGH HELLO I JUST HAD A BABY 3 WEEKS AGO PEOPLE.

[joelsgirl]

Originally Posted by nikkiARNGwife

Ummm...7 years? lol...I did lose a lot of what I gained after both kids within the first few months..but I've not been the weight I was before Avery 7 years ago since then. Today though I'm 10 lbs away from that weight so maybe I'll get there!

That's so awesome, Nikki! WTG on losing that weight!

Originally Posted by maryinaz

With the twins I was back to regular weight in 1.5 weeks. But then, I only gained 30 lbs with them and they weighed over 15 pounds together. They just took everything I put in my body.(

That's just wrong, Mary. So wrong.

[Stacey42]

With my oldest I lost all the pregnancy weight by giving birth. Seriously I was one of those annoying people who could wear their pre-pregnancy jeans home from the hospital but I only put on 12 pounds due to some serious food aversion issues. I lost 12lbs during the first half of that pregnancy. I put some back on while nursing I think but it was hard to tell because I got pregnant again when he was 5 months old

My second is 8 and I still am 15lbs short of my pre-pregnancy weight. Oh I lost nearly all of it by giving birth but I put it all back on while breastfeeding.

The idea that you lose weight while breastfeeding always makes me giggle because I am never hungrier than when I am nursing, and I want rich fatty foods. I never had a craving while pregnant but I craved tacos smothered in cheese and Meat Lover's pizzas from Pizza Hut and fried fish and ice cream while nursing. I was SOOOO hungry while I was nursing. I put on almost 20lbs while nursing.

[webseitler]

I gained 10 unmeltable pounds with each kid... and I had 4 kids. I was 40 pounds overweight last summer--and let me tell you, that does not look good when you aren't even 5'2".

With WW I lost about 20 pounds. So I say that I've lost two kids and I have two kids left to lose. LOL!

[cbettua]

I lost all the baby weight 6 month pp. I started to do Zumba and lost 15 pounds in 3 months. I am only 4'11 and 105 pounds now.

[Lyd]

I always lose most of my pregnancy weight within the first two weeks. But, then, I always gain at least 10 back over the next few months. So, when I got pregnant with my 2nd, I was already more than I wanted to be. So, now, after four kids, I'm finally working on getting back to what I was before the first kid (almost 8 years ago).

This last pregnancy really threw me for a loop. I was starting out overweight for sure, then I gained probably 40 pounds - 25 of that in the last 2-3 weeks of my pregnancy due to preeclampsia. I was in the hospital for over a week. Within a week of being home, I had lost 50 pounds and was 10 below where I had been before the pregnancy. But, then, I slowly gained 20 more pounds, which put me where I was in April when I started WW. Now, I've lost around 22 pounds, and I'm working on getting back to a healthy weight for my body. In a perfect world, I'd like to lose another 40-45 pounds. It's going to take a while.

[Milmomma]

I had horrible puking problems with my first and only gained 14 lbs. I actually left the hospital weighing less than when I got pregnant.
My second I seemed to get huge quick but it was all baby. I gained 22lbs total with that pregnancy and lost it all after 2 weeks pp.
I gained the most after my hyster and have been working on getting that off. I'm 1lbs away from my goal weight, and 5lbs from my ulitmate goal weight.

[misfitinmn]

With my first boy, it took me oh....like 2.5 years to get back to where I was before I got pregnant with him. And then I got pregnant like... a day later. So now I'm 1 year post-partum and still 20lbs away from my pre-preg weight. Which is probably a good 20-30lbs more than I should weigh (my pre-preg wt is more than I should weigh, is how that should read). I'm workin' on it, but it's slow going...much harder to lose this time around!

[Jen22]

I lost all the baby weight right away, but the moment I quit breastfeeding, I gained 20lbs and (unfortunately) I never lost it. That happened with both my boys. And then another 20 or so pounds when I quit smoking. So far - I've almost lost the smoking weight I gained (yay!). After that I will try to tackle the baby weight (fyi: my boys are 7.5yrs and 4yrs old, lol)

[Sherri Tierney]

With both of mine I lost it all before my 6 week checkup. I lost almost all of it before I left the hospital. However, I gained very little with mine (we're talking like 10 and 11 pounds) and most of that was water. I started out overweight to begin with though, unfortunately. I was a good 50 pounds lighter when I got pregnant with my daughter but I was still about 20 pounds overweight.

My weight all came on after the kids weaned. I lost pretty well when they were tiny but when they weaned I gained. It happens that I had a lot of stress both times too though.

[LJSDesigns]

Twenty one years and counting!