Wonky boobs- breastfeeding advice from experienced Mums pls

[FTMaz]

Hi all,

I am FTM. Currently have a 13 week old DS who is EBF (with some expressing).

when I got pregnant my boobs were a 32E (for reference in 5’2 and a size 8) which I had always felt self conscious of. I am very sporty and have always felt like they are in the way or drawing very much unwanted attention. Since BF they have ballooned up to a 32HH which has made me feel incredibly self conscious and uncomfortable. Many of my pre baby clothes now fit me apart from on my chest. I am also back in the gym but again have just felt very self aware of my massive chest!

anyway in the last couple of weeks I have noticed that my boobs have finally started to deflate. My right one is probably only a size bigger than before but my left remains very big. I’m hoping someone with more BF experience can offer me some advice on how to reduce the size of the left or tell me what I’m doing wrong.

i BF on both sides I would say fairly evenly. However sometimes it seems that my DS can’t get enough milk from my right boob so I switch to the left. Also I pump first thing in the morning to leave a bottle for my partner whilst I go to the gym. I always do this from the left boob as it is so full when I wake up and feed DS from the right. Is the pumping what is causing it to stay so big? Would I be better switching feeding to left and pump to right? I know if I reduce feeding from the left the supply will drop but how do you do this without it becoming so full and painful? Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated so I can try and look somewhat normal again!

just for info I have a very good supply and I’m not worried about this :)

I'd say it would probably be the pumping. I know the temptation is to keep using this boob because you can probably pump more quickly but I'd try and even out it out a bit more and try pumping from the right side first

I think it will be the pumping. I've fed four kids for years each, and the pump always made my boobs go nuts.

I would switch to feeding from the left and pumping from the right. It will probably take longer to pump the required volume from the right, but worth persevering! Once the boobs even out a bit, start alternating which boob feeds and which pumps at the time of day that you pump.

Thank you for the replies, I wasn’t sure if feeding or pumping would result in more milk. I pumped from the right today and it took sooooo long but I will persevere!

Hi @FTMaz I'm not bf at the moment but I'm pregnant with my second. I am the same height / bra size as you and I just wanted to commiserate because my boobs are SO annoying!! I actually found bf really hard with my first as they were just ridiculously large, couldn't get into good positions etc. but do want to try again with my second. My right boob is slightly bigger than my left and now that I'm pregnant it's ridiculously huge!! And weirdly when bf the right boob produced way less than the smaller left one (useless!! lol)

Can I ask what pump you are using? And do you have any bra recommendations for when they're huge?

I hope your right boob gets the message soon! lol x

I found always doing both sides at each feed and switching which side I started with each time evened things out and reduced issues over time. Like you I had one side that felt way more full and tended to favour that one first initially, but this perpetuated the issue as one breast makes more if being used more.

I was the queen of wonky boobs. I think it was because I found it much easier to position DS on the left when we were starting out. He got increasingly frustrated trying to feed from the right, but could fill his boots from the left whenever he wanted. By six months, my DH had christened my boobs 'Laurel and Hardy', and despite concerted efforts to get Righty going by using it first and pumping from it, it was having none of it, and I eventually gave up on it entirely and just fed from the left for the next couple of years. DS was a very early talker and came up with the word 'mambo' for breastfeeding at 14 months (no clue why!), and he used to call my boobs 'Big Mambo' and 'Slow Mambo', so I think poor Righty just wasn't up to the job! 😆There can be a threefold difference in the number of milk ducts between breasts, apparently, so maybe that was part of it as well.

Hi!
welcome back to the annoying boob crew 😂

I found maternity bras an absolute nightmare. I ended up with these hideous ones from M&S search ‘lace non padded bralette’. They aren’t padded so nipples were a slight issue but they were only ones with a soft enough band but big enough cup. Also although it’s a ‘bralette’ they actually provide good support.

now I’m BF I wear a bravissimo sleep bra in the house as it has no wiring. However it’s sag central so I use the hot milk (I also got these from bravissimo) ones with a slight pad and a wire and give me quite good support, not perfect but best I could find.

okay so pump…I originally bought the madela one and HATED it. Mam have just bought out a wireless wearable one and it was on offer for a couple of weeks so I now use that and I would say it’s very good although expensive!

good luck with your next bambino and feeding, hopefully we can both figure these bloody boobs out! 😂

This made me laugh out loud 😂 kids are so random my cousin calls his Ewan sleep sheep ‘Helen’ which I find very funny.

well my righty certainly is slowwwwwww

Another mum with wonky boobs here! Nothing I’ve tried has fixed it for me with my three babies/breastfeeding for four years. I’ve just bought crop top like soft bras and I squish one boob to the side a bit to make a kind of uni-boob 😂 looking forward to when I wean!

@FTMaz my left always produced less milk than the right I think it's pretty common as others have said try to pump off the slower one to kick it into gear abit more x

@FTMaz thanks so much for the recommendations! I had the Lansinoh pump which seemed ok but wondering if there might be a better one out there for these unruly giant boobs!! Will check out the Mam one!

Im sure I’ve ordered the bravissimo sleep bra and it was sooooo comfortable but yes a bit sag central 🤣 however I’m willing to prioritise comfort at the mo as they’re so sore! I’ve also tried on the M&S bra too and it was very comfortable but I remember nip visibility under a t shirt was quite 👀🤣🤣although may give them a go as just want to be comfortable and a soft band is an absolute must!! I can’t stand anything too tight and am wearing H&M maternity joggers that are practically falling down atm lol

@spiderlight I had a good laugh at slow mambo 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Hi all…just a wonky boob update. So I’ve laid off the main boob in hopes it would help but OH MY GOD it is now absolutely huge. I’m writing this whilst I pump it as I want to go to the gym but absolutely can’t with this massive throbbing boob 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ is this something you just have to go through for long term gain?

I don't think this is what you want to hear but my babies always got more milk from my right boob and I am now 2 years on from my last BF and my right boob is still bigger than the left 🙄Having said that, it is far less noticeable than when I was still feeding so it will calm down.

Don’t pump it, you’re just telling it to make more because your “baby” is still hungry for it. Hand express only for comfort, as little as possible, so it will stop producing as much. Put cold compresses on it and do not stimulate or touch it unless you are doing the minimal hand expressing for relief.

If it’s throbbing take painkillers too and be very careful of mastitis or clogged ducts, especially if you’re wearing a tight sports bra or doing running or any exercises using your arms up high or weights with your arms.

This may sound ridiculous it makes me feel a bit nauseous trying to hand express, would a manual pump be okay do you think?

Pumps are just more strenuous on the breast than hand expressing so use the manual one slowly and only until you feel comfortable again, no longer.