Breastfeeding burns up to 500 calories a day. This means that even though you are probably eating more to sustain breastfeeding, you can still lose weight. On average, if you're taking in the recommended amount of calories each day and breastfeeding exclusively, you should lose about 1 pound every week or two.
Since a breast pump mimics a baby sucking at the breast, your body responds similarly when it comes to the metabolic response. But while both pumping and breastfeeding burn calories, breastfeeding tends to be more efficient and therefore moms who breastfeed do it more often, burning more calories in the long run.
Burning calories happen when your body produces milk, not necessarily how you eject it from your body! So if you were to compare the same amount that is produced via breastfeeding, you will be burning the same amount of calories while pumping.
While breastfeeding burns about 500-700 calories extra per day to fuel milk making, this may not always contribute to weight loss postpartum – many factors like pre-pregnancy weight, diet, physical activity level, etc will impact weight loss after birth (Institute of Medicine, 2002; Dewey, 1994).
But no need to worry: Baby still receives most of the important nutrients needed. Furthermore, there are benefits to pumping entirely, if that is what works best for you and your baby. Babies that take in breast milk that is pumped still receive all of the same immune-boosting power as babies that feed at the breast.
For starters, pumping means you can build a stash that allows your partner or a loved one to help with middle-of-the-night feeds. Exclusive pumping also means you're able to know exactly how much milk your baby is drinking — if you have a Type A personality like me, this feels super helpful.
Eating more calories than recommended, not getting enough exercise, and retaining water weight are some reasons it could be harder to lose weight while breastfeeding.
The hormone prolactin released during breastfeeding tends to reduce the ability to lose weight in some women. This hormone is released every time you nurse and may contribute to weight gain even when breastfeeding if you're prone to gaining weight anyway.
Lactation and Adaptations of Maternal Metabolism
Overall maternal adaptations during lactation include increased basal metabolic rates and mobilization of fat stores [22–24]. Maternal fuel metabolism is altered markedly, with a 15 %–25 % increase in energy expenditure for milk production [24, 25].
Once your milk supply begins to increase from drops to ounces, you may want to pump longer than 10 minutes. Many women find that pumping for about two minutes after the last drop of milk is an effective way to stimulate more milk, however, avoid pumping for longer than 20 - 30 minutes at a time.
After birth, prolactin is secreted every time your baby suckles or your breasts are pumped. Prolactin sends the message to your pituitary gland to continue making milk for your baby. The more you stimulate your breasts, the more prolactin will be released, and more milk you will produce. It's a beautiful thing.
“After you stop breastfeeding, your body has to get back to baseline again which can take some time and cause a lot of symptoms, including appetite changes and metabolism changes,” Moskovitz says. That said, it's not a guarantee that you'll gain weight after you stop nursing.
It is it a myth that breastfeeding burns up lots of calories making milk. You will burn some stored body fat, but your body protects some fat for the purpose of breastfeeding. Many women don't lose all the baby weight until they completely stop nursing.
In the first 2 to 3 months postpartum, several authors19–21 have found that formula-feeding mothers consumed 600 to 800 fewer calories than breast-feeding mothers and lost substantially more weight. From 3 to 6 months post-partum, however, weight loss among breast-feeding women increased substantially.
"Bounce back" culture may leave you feeling like you're supposed to quickly shed pounds postpartum, but not losing weight after having a baby is more common than you might think: While on average most women lose about 13 pounds during childbirth (which includes your baby, your placenta, and amniotic fluid), it can take ...
Prolactin is the hormone that is secreted by the pituitary gland during pregnancy and breastfeeding. It triggers milk production and encourages the body to put on 5-10lbs of fat for reserves. Obviously creating food for our babies is truly amazing, but unfortunately prolactin is linked to fat storage.
This could explain why breastfeeding frequency can be inversely related to weight loss. “It is true that higher [prolactin] production slows down your metabolism. It doesn't prevent weight loss; but some women reach a plateau,” says Meghna Joshi.
Sometimes, postpartum weight can be incredibly stubborn. If it's harder to lose baby weight than you expected, there may be several reasons for this, including sleep issues, breastfeeding, and hormone imbalances.
Some moms want to pump for three months, some for six months, some for a year or more. Personally, I exclusively pumped for 14 months. A comprehensive study of exclusive pumpers found that the approximate mean duration of pumping is 8.3 months.
In fact, according to the U.S. Infant Feeding Practices Study II, 5.6 percent of women feeding their babies breast milk do so by exclusively pumping.
Ultimately, if your baby has reached its birth weight and you're pumping enough milk during the day, it's okay to sleep eight hours without pumping at night. Keep in mind there is an adjustment period for your body as it begins to acclimate to the decrease in overnight milk removal.