This post is really putting myself out there! But I’m really excited to share my Belly Bandit results with y’all. I’ve never worn any kind of wrap after babies, but I wanted to try it this time. I absolutely loved wearing the Belly Bandit. It’s a very tight fitting binder that you wear immediately after delivery and it’s supposed to support core muscles, minimize stretch marks, help you lose inches and accelerate healing.
I was very bruised all over my torso after this baby. I’m not sure why, but it was too painful to touch, much less wrap up tightly. So, it was about 5 days after Lincoln was born before I started wearing it. Here’s a reminder of my big ole baby bump before delivery.
And here’s what I looked like 2 days postpartum, without wearing the Belly Bandit yet.
Once I was comfortable enough to put the wrap on, it was heavenly. After a c-section, it’s very sensitive around the incision and you feel like you’ll pop open anytime you cough, sneeze or laugh. The Belly Bandit held everything together and was so comfortable. My back felt better, my incision felt safer and I looked instantly skinner! This was 1 week postpartum, 2 days of wearing the Belly Bandit.
Here is 3 weeks pp and I was then wearing the wrap during the day for a few hours. Nothing too much, but I was really happy with my results even at that point.
1 month pp, I was even flatter.
Now here is 8 weeks pp, right before started working out. This will be the before to my after picture this spring!
Overall, I am very pleased with how helpful the Belly Bandit was for me. If you’ve had a c-section, you know how uncomfortable it can be to have a baby on your stomach while you nurse and how hard it is to get up and down out of bed. The Belly Bandit helped both of those things so much. If I was having another baby, I would hands down use it again! My one and only downside, was that I have a short torso. I’m only 5’2″, so when I wrapped it low enough to be around my hip bones, it was still up to my bra. I think the only issue that caused, was that it liked to ride up a bit. Not enough for me to stop wearing it or not wear it again. I highly recommend it to everyone having a baby!
Did you wear any kind of binder post baby?
After having my Belly Bandit but not using it for baby #1, I decided to try it after baby #2 and it did help. Granted I didn't wear it every day for hours on end, but I still liked the results. Sometimes if I'm having a "fat day" I'll put it on and pretend its helping lol (maybe I should add I'm almost 2 years pp 😉
For both my pregnancies, I wore a band immediately after birth. It worked for sure! But I just bought the $5 velcro exercise bands from Ross; that's all you need! My OB commented on how quickly my uterus shrunk, and I was in pre-pregnancy jeans by 8 weeks. My belly isn't the same as it once was, but it's pretty good for having had two kids! Lol! Please post more about your workout routine. I so need the motivation!
Working in physical therapy, I know how important compression is after a c-section. I asked for a binder my first morning after. I preferred the hospital binder because one, insurance paid for it and two, I found it way more comfortable and flexible. I'm short as well plus have a short torso so it was a much better option for me. I wore it most of the time I was awake from day 1 or 2 and shrunk pretty fast. And of course, it made me feel like I wasn't falling apart in the middle 🙂 And 16 months post partum, I wish it would work now for the food baby I've got going on….LOL!