Exercise After Having a Baby?

I started walking (at least to the end of my street) within a week of my c-section. In the weeks ahead, I increased the distance little by little until there was no pain. I can't remember what my doctor recommended for actual exercise. Maybe 6 weeks? I'm a runner and I do remember that she told me to wait until 10 or 12 weeks for that. Whatever it was, I started slowly with walking, stationary bike, elliptical and then classes. I LOVE boot camp type workouts. I started slow and then ramped up my efforts as my strength increased. It changed my body and I weigh less now than before baby. I push myself harder in that type of environment than I would otherwise. And when you don't have a lot of time, it seems to be the most effective.

After you get the go-ahead from your OB/midwife if you had a c-section or anytime you feel "OK" if you had a vaginal delivery. Start slow and work up. I started 2 weeks after with my first delivery (vaginal) and 7 weeks after my c-section wtih #2. Have fun!

If you have no bleeding you can begin moderate exercise.
Do not exercise when you are bleeding. If you are nursing full time you very likely won't get a period until your baby is more than 6 months old.

At about 4 weeks I think I was trying to do some mommy and me pilates from a book, and at 8 weeks I was able to easily do a 1 hour class of pilates. I was also walking a lot after the first week (I had a tear, so it took me some time to get back to that), and then hiking within a month. Like the other moms said, listen to your body, and if it hurts, stop. Also, if you start to really exercise, and you are breastfeeding, make sure you up your food intake even more.

i believe you can begin low intensity exercising now. you may want to speak to your doctor at your next appt especially if you had any complications at birth. congrats on the new little one and good luck!

6 weeks is typical for a c-section (check with your dr to make sure). Start slow and gentle; your body will tell you when/if you are overdoing. After my first C-S my expectations were larger than my capabilities. Dr said I could start exercising at 6 weeks, so at 6 weeks and 1 day I did a few stretches and then decided to start with crunches. I layed down on the floor and my head came off the floor, tried again and once more, my head came off the floor. By my 3rd try I was laughing so hard I was literally crying :) My husband came in to investigate thinking something was wrong, but joined in laughing when he saw my pathetic attempt at a crunch. Enjoy motherhood!

usually once you hit the 6 week mark you are good to go. After my first c-section I asked my doctor at my 6 week check up if I could start exercising and he said yes. He said you'll know if you are doing too much.....like if you feel any pain anywhere stop. He said you'll feel pain long before you do any damage to any part of your body that is still healing. So as long as you feel comfortable doing whatever like running, weights, crunches, exercise tapes etc. go for it.

Start slowly and listen to your body. It will depend on several things, how much you exercised before the birth, how your body has recovered after, what type of exercise you try. We're all different.

Don't be discouraged if exercise doesn't feel good, or you find you need to stop and wait awhile longer. It'll all come back in time! (Don't read those stories about supermodels who run marathons within weeks of giving birth!!)

I exercised a lot while pregnant, and it still took me quite a while to get back into it. I walked often (with stroller) but didn't feel like running again until I stopped breastfeeding. But, once the BFing was over, I was right back to the level of working out I'd been at before. And I was 41 at the time.

Have you had your 6 week check up? If not -ask when you go if it's okay to resume exercise. Chances are it's just fine! If you've already been and they didn't say anything or not to do anything, then you should be fine. I started an abdominal pilates "baby and me" class at 6 weeks post-partum with my first. We used the babies as our "weights."

I started two weeks after having my baby. I had no complications with my delivery. I just went slowly and did what my body could handle.

It depends. Did you give birth vaginally or was it a c-section. Generally, your doctor should be the one to give you the thumbs up for resuming an exercise regime since he/she knows the status of your healing process better than any of us.