Belly Binding « Back to Group Discussions

[Thyme Mama]

I spent months researching this (on an anecdotal level), and decided I was definitely going to try it this postpartum. I ordered a Bellefit pull-on girdle and it arrived two days ago. I am so excited to test it out after the baby is born! I will do my best to share my experience with it. Postpartums are so unpredictable!

Have any of you tried belly binding, or know anybody who has and their experience, or are any of you trying it out this postpartum period?

I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences and plans!

[Dahlea]

I have only heard good things. I didn't do it the other 2 times but I'm trying it this time. I figure it can't hurt-my ab muscles are shot anyway!

[Krystal1220]

I used a Belly Bandit for about two weeks after my son was born. I think the recommendation is to wear them for 6-8 weeks, but I didn't think it was very comfortable. My stomach went back to normal fairly soon, which I guess I attribute to the binding, but I don't have any other experience. Now I remember that it was nice in the beginning to feel like I had some back support.

[sere234]

At about 2 weeks pp last time I remember getting these cramps in my torso and abdomen. Just general cramping and lots of discomfort. For 2 whole days!! Kinda made me feel like I couldn't stand up straight. Midwife said it was probably everything moving back into position so I wonder if using a belly binding thing this time would help? I might.... Have a friend who does belly bindning as her job so I'm going to talk to her about it today.

[guen]

Never heard of belly binding.  What is the purpose of it? 
 

[chrissy]

i really want to try binding my belly this time- had my baby yesterday- but i'm not sure what to use.  i have a support belt type thing, but it is not comfortable.  oh, i have a separation between my ab muscles and i really want to work on that.
 

[Krystal1220]

Originally Posted by chrissy 

i really want to try binding my belly this time- had my baby yesterday- but i'm not sure what to use.  i have a support belt type thing, but it is not comfortable.  oh, i have a separation between my ab muscles and i really want to work on that.
 

Congratulations, chrissy! Post the details in the new baby thread, if you feel comfortable/have time for sharing :) I hope you and baby are doing well!

[sunmamma]

Oh man! I wrote a whole post and it got lost in the cyber ether! I'll try again...
I've been using the baboosh tauts binder since day two, so three days now. I LOVe it! Last pregnancy I used a sarong for about a week. This is much easier and more effective. It feels great to have the support and my belly has gone down quicker at this point than my past two pregnancies. I have some herniation and pretty intense muscle separation so this is a wonderful thing to have! I will be doing the suggested 40 days. It is recommended that you wear it all day and night but my hormones are a bit wonky still and I have been sweating at night so I decided to go for comfort and not wear it while sleeping. Ehem, I mean "sleeping"....you know how those newborns can get days and nights flipped around!
Belly binding is such an old practice, and makes total sense to get that support. It is claimed that the binding also heIps shrink the uterus back down to size. I only wish I had started with my first! I wonder if I may have promoted better healing of my core.
I will check back in and give further review after some time with it. : )

[guen]

OK, at the risk of making you all think I'm absolutely crazy.....Is anyone else here not a little proud of that post baby pooch in those first weeks after birth?  I remember looking at myself in the mirror after the birth of my first baby and, for the first time in my life, was struck by how proud I was of my body for what it had accomplished.  Now, after every birth, I find myself kind of appreciative of that pooch and not feeling particularly motivated to disguise or hide it in any way.

That said, I realize, after reading up on belly binding, that it is about much more than "hiding" the ppp (postpartum pooch ).  I'm not for a moment suggesting anyone here is vain or that, if  you do want to hide it, that there is anything wrong with that!  Too each, his own.   I was just wondering if anyone else felt the same way I do or if I'm just really weird!

[Thyme Mama]

You're too cute! I definitely don't feel the same way. I will never forget the feeling of shell-shock when I saw myself after my first was born.  Looking back now after having three kids, I can say that my body did indeed look extra awful after my first. Even in all the books I had read, no one *really* talked about exactly how strange you may look to yourself. Just vague sentences like "You may be surprised at how your body looks after you give birth." YEAH.

Belly binding for me is about helping my diastasis rectii to heal. Also, I recently read that a midwife said, "You know that funny my-organs-are-falling-out-feeling after you give birth? Well, it's really your organs falling back *into* place!" That makes perfect sense to me!

And like so many lost arts, obviously there is a good reason that essentially every traditional cultures does belly wrapping during and/or after pregnancy! I meant to try it last baby, but I couldn't decide which kind I wanted to use so I didn't bind at all.

I am stoked so many of you are going to try belly binding! Let's all try and give a little update at some point. I am really curious to hear how the different styles and techniques work for different mamas.

Thank you for sharing sunmamma! I definitely want to hear more about your experience. I don't know that I saw the Baboosh when I was looking? Maybe I did. There are so many to choose from!

[MrsKoehn]

Originally Posted by Thyme Mama 

You're too cute! I definitely don't feel the same way. I will never forget the feeling of shell-shock when I saw myself after my first was born.  Looking back now after having three kids, I can say that my body did indeed look extra awful after my first. Even in all the books I had read, no one *really* talked about exactly how strange you may look to yourself. Just vague sentences like "You may be surprised at how your body looks after you give birth." YEAH.

Belly binding for me is about helping my diastasis rectii to heal. Also, I recently read that a midwife said, "You know that funny my-organs-are-falling-out-feeling after you give birth? Well, it's really your organs falling back *into* place!" That makes perfect sense to me!

And like so many lost arts, obviously there is a good reason that essentially every traditional cultures does belly wrapping during and/or after pregnancy! I meant to try it last baby, but I couldn't decide which kind I wanted to use so I didn't bind at all.

I am stoked so many of you are going to try belly binding! Let's all try and give a little update at some point. I am really curious to hear how the different styles and techniques work for different mamas.

Thank you for sharing sunmamma! I definitely want to hear more about your experience. I don't know that I saw the Baboosh when I was looking? Maybe I did. There are so many to choose from!

I am planning to do that. One of my SILs said she didn't do it with her first and had that "falling apart" feeling when things were falling in place. She said she did it with her next and felt SO much more comfortable and seemed to heal faster. She had her baby in March, passed it on to her sis for her 4th of July baby, and now I have them. They're all different kinds. She has a small, medium and large and looks like they were all used before she got them but in good shape. I'll post this two cents worth and bump it to see how anyone's doing who has been using them. :)