Post-breastfeeding Body

Oh, H., if you are only smaller, count your blessings. I am almost finished weaning my son, and I have gone from a C to a B. I actually don't mind being a B. What bothers me is that all the skin from my pregnancy and nursing size D is still there,; it's the "filler" that's missing, so I am left with flabby, floppy, squishy sacks of nothing in place of what used to be a pretty good looking pair. I recently went to Victoria's Secret to buy new bras to fit the new me. It took the manager, a sales clerk, and EVERY bra in the store before they finally found one that fit me (the last option they had). The problem was my breasts are so floppy, they kept, well, flopping out the front of the bra every time I bent over. The bra that finally worked for me is made of memory foam, so it contours to my new sad, shape.

It's pretty depressing, but I'm still glad I breastfed. At least a good bra makes them still look good with clothes on!

1 mom found this helpful

I have four children and breastfed all of them for over a year. My breasts are much smaller than they were before kids, unfortunaltely, (as I wasn't that busty to begin with!) Now that I am done having kids, I have bought smaller bras (with padding :)) and accepted the fact that it was the price I paid for my beautiful healthy children.God Bless-- E.

It's not the breastfeeding...HONEST. It's post pregnancy and age that factor into the equation more. I have breastfed all three of my babies 2 of them for over 2 yrs! I started off a C cup went up to a G with my first pregnancy and have now been a DD for the last 5.5yrs. Even though my breasts are larger, their shape and volume have changed after each pregnancy.

I went from a B cup to an A cup! So sad!
It was worth it though. My son is amazingly healthy and I am very proud of myself for nursing him.

Yes it is - my breasts completely shrunk after breasfeeding each kid. The good news is that as I've got older, they've filled out a little bit more (I'm 44) so they're not as inadequate as after having my three boys! - good luck - Alison

That is normal. Mine are still shrinking and I weaned my daughter last July.

I've breastfed 2 babies, my last one was for 20 months! When I weaned her, my breasts shrunk up and were COMPLETELY deflated! After a few months they will look less deflated, but I actually lost a cup size. Sorry :)

Ah yes! Unfortunately this is true. New bras are always a treat!

after breastfeeding my daughter for 16 months, i have noticed my breast are smaller. she is my second and i breastfed my 1st till she was 14 months. very sad isn't it? now my boss breastfed her kids for a few months and she claims her breast got bigger.

breasts will be different after breastfeeding.. my sister in laws breast got smaller after feeding each of 3 kids.. she had a boob job after the 3rd kid.

now she says she has nice perky "Ds"

From my own experience and from what my friends have all said, the answer is unfortunately "YES!" I didn't think it to be possible to get smaller, but in fact it was. :)

That happened to my sis in law. She started out before her first pregnancy as a 38D, then after having and breastfeeding three babies over 6 years, she is now a 36B.

Hi H.,

Yes unfortuntaly this is normal. I too went, after nursing, from a small b to an A afterwards. My girlfriends sister was a C pre then after nursing an big A. Some of us just are not lucky enough to stay that size...lol

Take Care,
S.

Still nursing... before I was a B, not I'm a C.. they are starting to shrink a bit though. It's a bummer they won't look the same after I'm done breastfeeding, but it's totally worth it in my opinion and who really knows if you have a good bra right!?

Yup, it's normal all right. Mine didn't shrink until after my second child. But I went from a C to a B. The interesting thing is, last year (my kids were 13 and 16)I went to buy bras and I've increased back to a C. (Unless they're just doing weird things with bra sizes like they've done with women's clothing sizes!)

Hi H.,
I can tell you that unfortunately some of us lose what little we had when we are finished breastfeeding. I am currently 2 cup sizes smaller than I was before having my children (now 14 and 11 yrs). Both boys were breastfed for more than a year and I do not have any other medical conditions that would affect my breast size. I went from a C(on the pill) to a large D with my oldest to a B in between my kids (barrier method) and never got bigger than a C while nursing my youngest because he nursed so often. Now I am a small A. I hate it, but it is one of my "mother-warrior battle scars" and I try to be proud of that.
Hang in there. Victoria's Secret has some great padded bras so no one else has to know!

I started with a C and now after 3 nursed kids I am still a techinal DD... But I have noticed that YES, the shape changes, the consistency, and the feeling in them... But hey..wouldn't change the nursing time for a second!

That did not happen to me, but have heard it happen to many other women.

You are normal.

Hello. I am still nursing, but near the end. My boobs are smaller and lower than pre-pregnancy. Plus, I was a 34A pre-pregnancy.... bummer.

Hi H.,
My daughter was a formula baby, I tried to breastfeed but couldn't. My boobs also got smaller than they were before I had her...along with the rest of me. But I don't think it's unusual for it to happen. A friend of mine said her feet grew a size after her last son! Hope this helped :)

I did not breast feed - tried and tried and it didn't work out, but, a good friend of mine breast fed both of her kids. She SWEARS that she was a C cup prior to pregnancy and, literally, and A cup afterward. She has always joked about it...well, you know, in a joking yet not joking, sort of ugggg kind of way. So, yes, I do believe that can happen.

As for me, if I were to get smaller, they'd disappear. (HA!)

:-D

Sadly this is normal, whenever you see your smaller breasts
think of your sweet children and you'll be happy.

I breastfed 4 children and my breasts never shrunk. My 1st mother-in-law, however, had 4 children which she never nursed. Her bra size went down from a D to an A, and her shoe size up from a 6 to an 8. She always said that everything just dropped!

Hi H.,

What you've experienced is very normal. It's because while you were pregnant your body produced the ductal structure required for breastfeeding. Now that you've weaned, it's involuting (going back to pre-pregnancy). The good news is that within the next several months your breasts will fill back with adipose tissue, which is generally there when not breastfeeding. Give it time. You'll be back into your old size (as long as your weight is about the same) in no time. Great job breastfeeding -S.

A close friend is visiting me for the first time since I had (and breastfed) my son and one of the first things he said was, "Dude, your breasts shrunk." That's what I had thought but because I see them all the time it was hard to tell.