Mommy Makeover: Info, Photos, Rewiews, Q&A

You can have a mommy makeover once you have recovered from your latest pregnancy and you are no longer breast feeding. You want to make sure that you body has stopped changing/adjusting before planning a surgery.

Also consider whether or not you will have any more children. If all this is cleared you’re OK to have a mommy makeover. (Martin Jugenburg, MD, Toronto Plastic Surgeon)

In general most surgeons would recommend that you wait 3-6 months following a pregnancy to have a mommy makeover and that you be finished having children. The reason for this is to give your body time to recover from the affects of pregnancy and for your weight to stabilize.

There are no rules witten in stone and each woman is unique in how long it takes her body to recover. I would recommend that you discuss this with your surgeon as well as what restrictions you will have after the surgery. (Paul Vitenas, Jr., MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)

It is best to undergo a cosmetic procedure such as a Mommy Makeover when you are closest to your ideal weight and in ideal health.

This helps the patient to recover ideally and achieve the goal result. (Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)

The right time for a mommy makeover

Planning any procedure(s) requires a dialogue about the recovery time needed for healing. After the procedures you listed, I would recommend no heavy lifting or strenuous activity for 5-6 weeks.

All my patients are walking immediately after tummy tuck surgery however, you will be ambulating flexed at your waist. I generally prepare my patients to walked flexed at their waist for 5-7 days. (each day straightening up more and more).

After about 1 week, most of my patients are able to walk straight. Now, its important to schedule your procedure when you can have a break from your mommy duties given these postoperative limitations/restrictions.

Perhaps getting extra help during your recovery is needed. Talk to your surgeon about your recovery, plan ahead, prepare, and heal up nicely to enjoy your results! (C. Bob Basu, MD, FACS, Houston Plastic Surgeon)

There are some restrictions when it comes to lifting after a tummy tuck and breast augmentation. I would recommend talking with you surgeon about the time frame where you would be able to recover and still live the life of a busy mother.

It is a lot of surgery so you want to be prepared. It also depends on the amount of support you have at the house. (Amy K. Alderman, MD, FACS, MPH, Atlanta Plastic Surgeon)

I think everyone agrees that there should be postponed until you are recovered from the last pregnancy. This may take up to a year. Another important factor is that you should not be planning any further babies.

Combining some of the procedures may seem appealing, but this will increase the length of surgery and also the risks.

It will also make it more likely that you will need to be hospitalized after the surgery so you may not really save much money.

I would suggest doing the abdominoplasty first since this is your priority. This can be done as an outpatient procedure. This will probably require at least a week or 10 days of recovery before you can get back to child rearing.

The other procedures will not take as long to recover from, and the liposuction and breast augmentation can more easily be combined. (Rodney A. Green, MD, Cleveland Plastic Surgeon)

Among makeover is a combination of surgeries to address the abdomen and breast. These are typically done on women who have had babies as pregnancy may change the female form.

After your pregnancies, and after you have completed breast-feeding, when at least 4 to 6 months before considering any aesthetic surgery.

Interview several experienced board-certified plastic surgeons and let them know your concerns and your aesthetic goals.

Some surgeons may have experience doing these procedures individually but not at the same time. Many patients travel to Miami to get their mommy makeovers.

For our out-of-town patients, we offer the iConsult service which allows us to connect your computer to our network. During your iConsult, you will be able to see your photographs transformed in front of your eyes.

This is also excellent opportunity to ask any questions that you may have surgery or the recovery process. (Pat Pazmino, MD, FACS, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

The term “mommy makeover” is a bit vague and subject to interpretation, as it should be. A mommy makeover is whatever procedure or combination of procedures restore you to the way you were prior to children, or, to attain the look you always wanted before you had children but could not attain. Many times, there is a combination of procedures. Probably the most common combination is that of tummy tuck and breast augmentation. (or maybe liposuction, breast lift or beast reduction).

Abdominoplasty – as long as your weight is stable, and you are at or near your ideal weight AND plan no further children. It would be silly to have this procedure then stretch your tummy again with another pregnancy.

Breast surgery – as long as you are not lactating and haven’t been for the past several months. You can still plan future pregancies after breast surgery, although if you plan to breast feed, maybe best to wait til you plan no further pregnancies.

Liposuction – anytime, best if weight is stable and near ideal weight. (Mark D. Epstein, MD, Stony Brook Plastic Surgeon)

In addition to waiting until your weight and breast size have stabilized it is important to think about the amount of help you will have caring for your children while you recover. If you have an active toddler you may need more help in caring for them than school age children. (Michael Philbin, MD, Edina Plastic Surgeon)

Having a mommy makeover should be timed accordingly, First, you should wait at least a year after having your final child or at least until your body is back to “normal.” Your weight should be close to your ideal weight and you shoudl have stopped breast feeding for at least 3 – 6 months. (Steven Wallach, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Ideal candidates for Mommy Makeover surgery have reached their target weight, have finished breastfeeding, and are in otherwise good health. If you satisfy these criteria, you do not need to wait until the baby is 2 years old. (Olivia Hutchinson, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)

You should wait until you are finished having babies and breast feeding. After that, it is really up to you. After surgery you will need help for the first several weeks and shouldn’t lift anything heavy (including toddlers!). It may be easier to have the surgery before your baby becomes a toddler, but only you can decide this. (Grant Stevens, MD, Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon)

The best surgery time for a mommy makeover is when you are done having children. If you are breast feeding, you should wait at least 3-6 months from the conclusion of your breastfeeding to have the surgery.

If you had a C-section with your last child, you should wait about 6 months to allow recovery from that procedure and to allow your skin to contract. There are no set rules as to when exactly to have a mommy makeover, but you should discuss the timing of the surgery in more detail with your plastic surgeon. You may also want to get your body weight down to or close to your pre-pregnancy weight prior to having surgery- and this varies greatly from patient to patient. (William Bruno, MD, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)

You should plan on your surgical procedure when you are in a position to rest for a couple of weeks, without the never-ending demands of motherhood. Since lifting should be limited in the first few weeks, my patients either wait until the youngest child is a toddler or when they have family members available to help out.

Waiting until your youngest is 2 years of age is certainly reasonable and would also give you a chance to continue with a diet and exercise program that will put you in the best shape possible prior to your procedures.

Since these are truly elective procedures, you should plan on scheduling this when it is best for you and your family. (William F. DeLuca Jr, MD, Albany Plastic Surgeon)

If you are no longer breast feeding and you have plateaued as far as your weight then you are ready.

Please make sure you have enough support at home for your recovery time. (Norman Bakshandeh, MD, FACS, New York Plastic Surgeon)

Surgery Time to Get Mommy Makeover When You No Longer Need to Lift Children

The most important timing decision is when you will no longer have to lift small children. After a Mommy Makeover it is crucial that you do no lifting for at least 2-3 weeks after surgery. The other major timing factor is to lose your pregnancy weight and be as close to your ideal weight as possible. (Brooke R. Seckel, MD, FACS, Boston Plastic Surgeon)

Mommy makeover timing
You should wait at least 6 months after pregnancy before considering surgery. You should also wait at least 6 months after you’ve stopped breastfeeding. If you are considering having more children, please wait until after since your results can be negatively affected. The only other thing is if you’ll have help while you recover-it’s best to take it easy for a few weeks after surgery, which means you should get help caring for your kids. So, if you’ve waited the required amount of time, don’t want anymore kids and have help with child care, then you can explore your surgical options now. (Leila Kasrai, MD, FRCSC, Toronto Plastic Surgeon)

When to schedule a Mommy Makeover

It is important to wait until about 6 months after breast feeding and your weight has stabilized before considering surgery. Also, you want to be finished having children. You will need help for the first two weeks after surgery as it usually takes that long to be able to walk upright. Keep in mind that you will not be able to do any heavy lifting for 4 to 6 weeks, if you will have help then it is not necessary to wait until your baby is 2 years old. Please see the attached video for 2 of my patients that share their story of the Mommy Makeover. (Miguel Delgado, MD, San Francisco Plastic Surgeon)

On average, the recovery for my patients after a tummy tuck with some type of breast surgery to include a breast implant with or without a breast lift entails about 4-6 weeks of down time. The first two weeks you cannot lift more than 20lbs, and you will need help at home with the children as you will not be able to do most of the things you do for them at present. You might have to call on friends or family to help you as doing both surgeries is more challenging than just part of the mommy makeover. Besides that, I will also say that you should make sure there are no more children planned in the future, otherwise that pregnancy can undo all that you would have had performed. (Julio Garcia, MD, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)

As you see from the many answered postings from the experts there is NO perfect surgery time. To answer you directly – do it when you can afford it, have excellent help for you and the kids, really understand the risk/benefit ratio. (Darryl J. Blinski, MD, Miami Plastic Surgeon)

There is never an ideal surgery time, but I consider these some important points to meet before considering a mommy makeover: After you are done having children At least 3 months after breasts have stabilized in size (approximately 6 months after finishing breast feeding) When your weight has returned to normal (or within 10% of your goal weight) When you have excellent familial support to help take complete care of your children Someone to care for you for about 2 weeks. (Michael A. Bogdan, MD, FACS, Dallas Plastic Surgeon)