The debate has raged for years. Breastfeeding vs Bottle feeding. Which is better? – Well, I guess it’s only raged for the last 50 or 60 years, since they invented baby formula. There are lots of arguments for both side, dealing with nutrition for baby, health for mom, bonding, and a ton of other things… but here’s one thing that’s not talked about as often as it should be: breastfeeding and weight loss.
No, not for the baby. Breastfed babies are generally larger than their bottle fed brethren. But that’s not the point  - this is weight loss for the mom! Every mom wonders if that extra baby weight from the pregnancy will ever go away (so they can fit into their old jeans again). So let’s compare bottle feeding with breastfeeding and weight loss.
Let’s start with bottle feeding and it’s affect on the mother. This one is pretty simple… the mom holds up the bottle for the baby for the first few months, which does burn some calories, but not much. I guess you could count the frequent waking in the middle of the night and walking down the stairs to mix up the bottle as exercise – but that’s probably affecting sleep more than anything. Then you have to take into account that in most family who bottle feed, there is at least a second person who does the job half of the time (the Dad), thus removing any calorie burning effects that might have been gained by the mother.
Now let’s talk about breastfeeding and weight loss. It has been shown that breastfeeding can burn up to 600 calories per day! That’s the equivalent of two hours of intense aerobic workouts a day. That’s pretty awesome.
There are also reports that Mothers who breastfeed more frequently lose weight faster than mothers who nurse less often, and mothers who nurse for shorter periods of time tend to lose weight more slowly than mothers who nurse longer. So it’s entirely possible that if you breastfeed you’ll be able to eat more than you ever could before and still lose weight!
Why is that? Because breastfeeding and weight loss go hand in hand! Really though, it’s because you are feeding two people and you’re body has to work pretty hard to make the milk and make enough of it to support an entirely separate human being – that’s growing like a freakin’ weed.
So if you want to lose weight and keep it off after pregnancy – stick with breastfeeding.
Fun Example: My wife has lost over 40 pounds from breastfeeding alone! You can read her story here:Â Breastfeeding and Weight Loss
Bio: Hi, I’m Richard Matthews the co-creator of CrunchyParents.Com. My wife, Karen, and I write about the Benefits and Secrets to Attachment Parenting on our blog here: CrunchyParents.com/blog. Visit our site today to learn how you can raise a happy, healthy baby naturally.
Also, we recently put together a comprehensive, 300 page, eBook that covers many of the health benefits of Breastfeeding; along with some other Natural Parenting Techniques – To claim your free copy today, click here: http://crunchyparents.com/free-gift
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