advice on breast freeding or bottle feeding (insecure)

[georgi101]

this may sound a silly question but im going to ask anyway.My partner and i are going to try for another baby, we already ahve two childern. When i fell pregnant with my son my breasts where a c.cup they went up to a dd when i started breast feeding him then fell back to a c when i stopped after 7 months. I then had my daughter they went from a c up to an e (i also breast fed her) but i went to sleep one night woke up to feed my 3 month old daughter and i had nothing all my milk had gone and now my breasts are barely an a cup. I am so self concious of this and have even been depressed about it as they look like de.flated balloons. I want to breast feed my next child but dont want the same to happen again, would i be better off bottle feeding?

georgi101, it's almost impossible for milk to disappear like that...truly. What happened to you - waking up to 'flat' breasts - is normal. This is a normal change that everyone experiences - usually not as sudden as this, but normal all the same. Milk producing and storing tissue take the place of fat in the breasts, and established breastfeeding means you do not 'over-produce' milk. Result? Smaller, flatter breasts making the right amount of milk for your baby.

This change is temporary. Once breastfeeding ceases, the fat in the breasts starts being laid down again and the breasts usually return to their pre-pregnancy state (more or less). This process can take a little while - more than a few months for most people.

Hope that helps. Not breastfeeding this baby would make no difference, as the changes happen whether you bf or not, as you make milk anyway. If the sudden 'flattening' happens this time, you'll know this time it does not mean you have no milk.

hi i have just read the comment by tiktok. I was really strange i even called the BEARS round and my health visitor and none of them could explain why my body had just stopped producing milk as my daughter could not get any and i could not express any either and this happened over night. I really want to breast feed my next baby but the sight of my breasts now make me feel sick i can pinch them and lift them up with a huge fold of skin. they really do look like deflated balloons. Is there anything i will be able to do to keep a constant production of milk so that it wont just DISSAPEAR again.?

What makes you think that your daughter wasn't getting any milk?

Not being able to express any milk doesn't mean there's none there either.

How long ago did you stop feeding your dd?

BEARS?

I can't comment on the milk production issue but I do know a research study published recently that concluded it was pregnancy and not breast-feeding that wreaked havoc on your boobs.

I hope you get the support you need to breast feed your next baby . (semi-serious) If you really dislike your breasts you could always consider an uplift afterwards

I don't know who the BEARS are - breastfeeding education and something support???Maybe???

Whoever they are, they simply may not know enough about breastfeeding to have understood what was happening to you - it's very tiresome that people who are supposed to be trained dont understand where their knowledge stops. Just saying, 'oh, I dont know how that happened' is not good enough

It was deffo not a reason for you to stop bf. As mawbroon says, not managing to get anything out when expressing means nothing.

Believe me, if you had been feeding normally for three months, you will not have suddenly and permanently lost your milk overnight. I promise you.

How long is it since this happened? It can take a little while for breasts to regain shape.

bears are a breast feeding support group, my mother in law is one of them. what made me stop trying was everytime i latched her on she would suck for a while then start screaming. I did this for a while but she was just continuesly crying so gave her some sma gold and she settled. I tryed her again on my breast for the next feed and she tryed then cryed. I assumed she was not getting any so gave her formula to stop her being hungry. I dont know what happened it really upset me because i love breast feeding the bond that that gives is amazing but she either was not getting much or nothing at all and i could not let her be hungry any more. I stopped breast feeding her 16 months ago now and my breast have just got smaller since. will i be able to breast feed, with more or less non existant boobs? I know im not even pregnant with my next baby yet but i have been worrying about when i do have my next as we are starting to try next week if i will be able to and if the same problem will happen again. x

The size of your breasts makes no difference at all to whether or not you can breastfeed, georgi. In fact, some might say it's a bit easier with positioning etc if you have smaller breasts.

georgi101 - my baby is 7 months old now, exclusively breastfed, huge healthy boy and i have never been able to express more than a few drops

your baby wont care if you have flat or spherical breasts.
breast is best, everytime
good luck!

Thanks ladies. I think i will breast feed again. you have all made me realise my breasts are not for me they are not for my partner or anyone else. They are to feed my children. Really the joy of self feeding my children should out way my feelings towards their looks. thanks girls. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Don't forget that when the time comes, the lovely ladies of MN will be here to help you with your breastfeeding too, should you need it.

Good luck ttc.