How quickly should you bounce back after baby?

So that bundle of joy that you have been nurturing for the past 9 months has finally arrived.

No more flutters, kicks and secret harbouring of your tiny child in your womb. Baby is here. Your body is no longer swollen with the promise of a brand new life. It is now able to finally return to a semblance of its pre-pregnancy state.

Of course you cannot completely claim it back as your own. You still need to produce the sustenance for the tiny being that has taken over your life. A crucial role which requires you to be mindful of what comes into your body and how it will impact on your baby.

But the first steps can now be taken to allow your body to be reclaimed. To escape the tent-like maternity dresses, the billowing tops and roomy pants. To finally have the opportunity to return to normality. To start to change your wardrobe choices back to some more flattering outfits, maybe even with a hint of a waist!

But, wait a minute.

Those gorgeous pre-baby clothes cannot magically be worn again immediately after birth. Your body proportions have changed. Your curves are a bit more pronounced. Especially the cleavage. For some women this is an incredible bonus. Maybe this is their first experience of actually having more than a little chest “bumpiness.” The transition to buxom goddess can be quite exhilarating.

But many women lament the changes their bodies have undergone. They long for their pre-pregnancy body, and are quite depressed and miserable at its disappearance. They yearn for things to be the way they used to be.

But hold on. Hasn’t your body just spent the last 9 months nurturing and growing a real live infant? It has been through a huge amount of stretching, growing, feeding and change. And it will take a long time to “bounce back”

Rest assured that it will. If you treat your body kindly, feed it healthy, fresh, unprocessed food. If you get it moving. Start some walking, a bit of resistance training like push-ups, planks and squats. Believe me, you will be surprised at how quickly things can change. Especially if you start with a positive mindset.

You have a huge responsibility in caring for and nurturing your new baby. To do this, it is important for you to be strong, healthy and happy.

So create a plan of healthy eating, some mild exercise, as much rest as possible and happy, positive thoughts, and you will soon be back on the way to your before-baby state. As long as you allow yourself to gradually transform, bearing in mind the huge transformation your body has undergone in the last nine months.

Main image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

21 Comments

- - KrysGrace said
  - 25 Feb 2016
    12:42 pm
Thank you for not putting a “time limit” on this. Unfortunately getting your pre baby body back is something that mothers are unnecessarily pressured over by society

- - mom81879 said
  - 16 Nov 2015
    10:36 am
How quickly you bounce back after having baby is purely an individual thing. It all depends on how the birth went, how easy baby is, how fit you were before baby. Just go at your own pace, you’ll get there

- - mom138374 said
  - 26 May 2015
    11:52 pm
I’m not stressed when it comes to losing weight, just eat healthy, take bub for walks, clean the house when you get the time etc. It’ll eventually come off.

- - mom113055 said
  - 14 Mar 2015
    2:39 pm
looks good

- - Moonberry said
  - 23 Feb 2015
    12:08 pm
I had a friend that was so obsessed about losing ‘baby weight’ and getting back her teen figure that she ended up developing depression because nothing she did was satisfying her mind regarding what she wanted to look like.

So, I was determined NOT to stress about it after having my own babies, and decided as long as I was eating healthily, and at least taking a brisk walk each day, and continued to do my motherly things.. I will lose whatever i was meant to lose, eventually! It worked… I was happy with what I achieved…

- - mom101330 said
  - 20 Feb 2015
    9:02 am
It took me a long time to get to the weight I am currently at after the birth of my son and he is 4. I was in a very unhappy marriage and had not support with my son when he was born, I go very sick and then my marry fell apart – through all this stress I couldn’t lose weight no matter what I did. A year and a half from leaving my husband and feeling like I am in a good place without the horrible and stressful legal system I am lighter that I was in my late 20’s and I am now in my mid forties. So stress and sleep deprivation can be counter productive even even you exercise and eat well.
- mom110075 replied
  
  20 Feb 2015 , 8:28 pm
  I definitely agree about sleep and stress having a big impact on your weight and well-being. No matter how good your exercise and nutrition regime is, if you are unable to get enough sleep, you will have a lot more trouble with weight loss, and all the other aspects of your life will suffer too. So try to make sleep a priority.
- - christial said
  - 19 Feb 2015
    9:25 am
Take everything slowly and don’t stress.. It’s a time to enjoy your new bub… Not a time to be worried about bouncing back!

- - jacqui88 said
  - 06 Feb 2015
    10:22 pm
I would definitely say take your time and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. take your time and just go with your baby and your body

- - mom57522 said
  - 31 Jan 2015
    10:33 pm
Bouncing back shouldn’t be the goal. Healthy eating, enjoying baby and some gentle exercise like walking or yoga, should be the focus.

- - GeoEllie said
  - 31 Jan 2015
    6:46 pm
Great article, thanks for sharing!

- - Lov'n'Life said
  - 29 Jan 2015
    6:45 pm
great article thank you very uplifting

- - mom64736 said
  - 28 Jan 2015
    12:26 pm
I think the whole bounce back thing is so damaging to new mothers! I reckon mothers should instead be told to just breathe, relax and enjoy the early days. Too much pressure to seem normal can lead to PND.

Also recommending women to do sit ups after birth is not necessarily good advice. I’d be wary of telling women to do that.

- - stepmom107932 said
  - 27 Jan 2015
    11:01 am
Staying fit or getting fit is so hard even if you haven’t just had a baby

- - kazjl said
  - 20 Jan 2015
    12:23 pm
Hmmm, is 3 years later still “bouncing back after baby”? Lol.

- - love mum said
  - 19 Jan 2015
    12:09 am
Thanyou for this story. Its great to hear realist stories rather than those hollywood post pregnancy stars that clearly have a lot of money and time to get their body back. Money can help and change alot of things

- - Shell24 said
  - 15 Jan 2015
    2:38 pm
This is something that I am struggling with myself. My daughter was born 3 months premature and is now 7 months old. She spent 112 days in NICU and my husband and I would be visiting her all day until late in the evening. We would convenience eat which hasn’t helped with the waistline and neither did the stress. We hadn’t realised just how difficult it would be when we took her home (she is on oxygen 24/7) and I usually eat when I can. I know I need to get into a better routine but I always put my daughters needs first.
We have decided that we need to look at portion sizes for our meals and try to get some exercise, we do enjoy going for a walk in the afternoon if it isn’t too hot.

- - MummaBearx2 said
  - 15 Jan 2015
    1:46 pm
I was pregnant with #2 when my oldest was 4 months old so I didn’t really ‘bounce back’ after my first. After #2 arrived I was back in my prebaby clothes after 2 weeks. Breastfeeding was like a magic pill for me

- - taynik46 said
  - 15 Jan 2015
    7:08 am
i’m not sure why anyone would want to get back to pre-baby form straight after giving birth. The body needs time to recover and people should remember that there is no ugliness in a post baby body!
- mom93821 replied
  
  15 Jan 2015 , 7:27 pm
  I agree with your comments!
- - tammykilby said
  - 15 Jan 2015
    6:44 am
Great tips an advice I love to go for Walks but the thing I always gets me is the healthy eating as I have such a sweet tooth.. Sometimes I wish I didnt