boobs dont feel as full anymore :(

[honey2theb]

for the last few weeks my boobs havent felt as full, and are not leaking! just a bit scared my milk is drying up. for the first few weeks my boobs were FULL and i leaked all the time. is this normal or is there something i can take to make more milk?

oh btw i give dd maybe one bottle a day, would this make a diff? sometimes she doesnt have a bottle feed.

thanks

honey xxx

[emkana]

It's normal for the breasts to adapt and not to feel so full/leak anymore.

However, giving a bottle can upset the balance between supply and demand.

How old is dd?

[Ozymandius]

It's normal! People wouldn't breastfeed for a year or two if they kept leaking. YOur body gets used to making 'on demand', not overproducing. You are fine.

[honey2theb]

dd is 13 weeks on monday. shes had a bottle now and again since she was born really.

[jamila169]

It's perfectly normal for your boobs to settle down after a few weeks honey, The supply tends to balance out with the baby's demands (apart from growth spurt times ) so you'll leak less and you boobs will settle down in size. As for the bottle -you mean AF? if so, is there any reason you don't express? (if it's really necessary to get dd to take a bottle)It would be better to keep your supply working as it should if you expressed rather than giving formula at this stage

[JoyeuxNoelBiggy]

Could well be normal, that full-to-bursting thing eases off.

[honey2theb]

jamila, i do sometimes express, but sometimes she does have formula. i dont really know why TBH. Lately she hasnt been having many bottles, she seems to be refusing them. ( only bottle she likes is a MAM one)
i tried expresing yesterday and only got a tiny bit out! but dd seems happy and full.

[jamila169]

If you think it would be useful for her to be happy with a bottle, then keep trying with the expressing, if not, then jack it in - I expressed for DS1 as i was back at work,and had a go with the other 2, but I ended up thinking why am I doing this? and realised I didn't have any need to

[abibatousmum]

please don't worry- this is totally normal! I have been bf my dd for 10 months now and I quickly found that the body is really good at matching the milk supply to the baby's needs. Once you have been feeding for a few weeks you won't feel as full as your body gets used to when the baby feeds and only makes the milk that is needed. If the baby feeds more often for some reason (if they are ill maybe) then your body will make more, and if they wait longer for a feed then you will feel really full again! Your body gets used to the times you feed too. If you are healthy and have a good diet then you will always make as much milk as your baby needs- and don't forget that your body starts making more milk as soon as the baby starts feeding so you will never have no milk. Giving a bottle will mean you make less milk not more- if you don't feed the baby then your body will not replace that milk. The body is very good with coping at changing patterns though, so I wouldn't worry that you don't give it every day- you will still have enough milk to feed her on the days you don't give her a bottle- but of course if you start giving her a bottle several times a day your milk supply will drop down. You won't stop making milk unless you stop breastfeeding altogether though. It is simple supply and demand- the body is very efficient. Just enjoy feeding and don't worry, your body knows what it is doing!