Belly Bandit

I'm curious if any one has used the Belly Bandit or anything similar after giving birth?  And if so, do you think it made a difference?

http://bellybandit.com/

I was thinking of buying one but I'm not sure if it's just all hype!  Any input is apprecitated.  Thanks!

Hi jaimesun,

The belly bandit is good to help you with posture and support (that extra skin isn't very comfortable) also the compression does help with swelling, however skin recovers at different times for different women based primarily on genetics. Having something compressing your tummy isn't going to make the skin tighten. Only time and exercise will do that. Even with time and exercise, depending on how much you have stretched of course, your skin might not make a full recovery. It is quite common for the skin to detach from the muscle, causing a flap. That can only be corrected by a docter. So I would recommend saving some money, just buy a back brace and when our docter says it's okay. Start excercising those ab muscles. That's what worked for me, it was a long process (about nine months) but my skin got back to pretty much normal. Hope my reply helps, good luck!

I think it would only help with your own comfort, not the recovery of your former body.

I wore a Control It! slimming tank after my son was born. It helped support everything and keep it from jiggling. Since I had a repeat c-section, I now wish I would have gotten some sort of postpartum support band (there are some sold especially for post c-section) because the slimming tank simply wasn't enough although it did help. It definitely didn't help me return to my former shape.

My opinion would be to wait until the baby is born and see how you feel. I guess that doesn't apply if you've already given birth. If that's the case, I suggest trying on some slimming tanks and see how you feel.

I used the Taut made by Brooke Burns I think? and loved it. It really helped the swelling.  I wore it for about 3 weeks postpartum, it started to get itchy after that.  I had two and I would rotate them while the other was washing.  They are really helpful if you have a seperation in your muscle.  Good luck

I wore the Belly Bandit – the bamboo one was my savior….my doctor recommended it to me after my c-section. My friends went with cheaper versions and wound up asking to use mine when I was done b/c there’s didn’t work, ha!

As others have said, it may help with comfort after pregnancy for the first couple of weeks or so, but I really don't see it helping the skin return to normal or reducing stretchmarks.  I'd actually bought a wide ace bandage to help support all that tummy postpartum - don't try that - it doesn't work.

Thanks so much for your input, it's been really helpful!!  Good luck to everyone!

I researched all the brands, bought the one you are questioning...wore it for two months w/o ever taking it off except to shower...wasn't satisfied...tried a different brand...wasn't satisfied. They don't live up to their promises, but if you want something to help with posture then it works, but it doesn't help you get your waist back faster...as soon as I took it off, even after two months of non-stop wear (I even wore it to bed every night) there was no real improvement. Your stomach naturally shrinks a few days after anyway and I had a friend to compare mine to to see if the darn thing actually worked...which it didn't. Know what does work and won't cost you as much money? Exercise. I have been exercising regularly for the past three months and the "results" I experienced with the belly bandit can't hold a candle to the REAL results of exercising. I only wish I had realized that a silly invention that promised to do everything for me wasn't gonna work. BUT, if you just want to look good when visiting relatives to show off your new baby...it works for that, but the results are not permanent. I bought an abwheel...which was 8 dollars...and that works!

Not sure if it helps at all with getting your body back into shape afterwards, but I lived by Spanx post pregnancy with my first child and will do it again with the second.  I use the prego Spanx now while going through the pregnancy and it really helps with lower back and under belly support.  I have my non-prego ones waiting in the rear!  Most people couldn't believe that I had just had a baby when I wore it...like I said, it wasn't a permanant thing though.  Nothing replaced good ole fashion exercise and diet.  I was pre-pregnancy weight (minus 10) 5 months post partum.

Good luck!

Sarah