When will my breasts return to normal?!

[SallyMischievo]

After phasing out feeds over the space of a few weeks and just keeping the bedtime feed for the last couple of months, I finally finished breastfeeding 15 month old DD last Monday (14th March). After three or four days of being uncomfortable and incredibly weepy, I am relieved to be feeling happier now. However, I thought my milk was drying up but I have had leakage over the last couple of days and am still not comfortable enough to sleep on my front. Is this normal? When can I expect my breasts to adjust?! Many thanks for any advice.

[tiktok]

Normal. Watch for real lumps and/or redness. They're unlikely though. Give it a few more days before expecting them to be soft. Next stage is for them to feel very soft and even flat. That changes back to normal, too. The breast milk storage tissue shrinks and it takes a little while to get replaced by the non-pg, non-lactation related fat :)

[SallyMischievo]

Many thanks, Tiktok. Incidentally since I know you are an expert on all things related to feeding: my friend claims that you are very fertile in the period after you stop breastfeeding but I have not found any evidence to support this online and am not sure how the two would be linked? Could you kindly shed any light on this?

[tiktok]

Never heard of that! Maybe she's thinking of the way you can ovulate before menstruating when fertility returns after BF.

[SallyMischievo]

Thank you! Yes, that must be it