Your boobs after breast-feeding - honestly...

[musicmaiden]

What are they like?

I EBF for 8 months before (reluctantly) giving up, and am just drying up now. Used to be a 36C pre-pregnancy, going up to a 38DD while bf. Now my left boob is tiny and flat. My right has more size/shape but still deflated. None of my old bras fit properly (and there I was looking forward to getting back into the pretty ones)

Do they ever get back to 'normal' or no?

This is purely a vanity question, I know

I was a 34B before pregnancy.

Had first baby at 35
Fed DS1 for 18 months
Fed DD for 27 months
Am still feeding (tho only once a day now and almost given up) DS2 after 32 months

Which means I have breastfed for 6.5 years of my life

I now wear a 32E or 34DD.

They are a bit droopy but perfectly acceptable for my age (45).

I have a personal theory that maybe, just maybe, it is stopping suddenly that makes you lose a lot of firmness. As I have stopped very gradually.

I was always small of chest. But then I fed DD1 for 7 months, had a 5 month break, fell pregnant with DD2, breastfed her for 11 months, then fell pregnant straight away with DD3, then fed her for 11 months.

I was a 32A, then breastfeeding took me up to around a 34D.

Now....

Well, back to a 32A, but my nipples - it's like they've got brewer's droop!!!!

I agree with the re-filling theory! Mine were quite deflated (particularly the right one which dd2 preferred). But now 9 years later, they are definitely refilled and bigger than before - probably due to about a stone weight gain though. Mirena coil also helpful for enlarging bust!

Mine are actually bigger than pre children. Just a bit baggy but thank the lord for push up bras. Now I have a cleavage !

After I finished feeding ds last time for 5 months they were quite soft and deflated but over time they regained some plumpness. They ended up almost the same as before just a tiny bit saggier, if that's a word?!

This time, don't know yet but at 34ff it's not looking good

BF DS till 15 months, he's now 21mo. Am same pre-pg bra size 34b (was 34f whilst bf), boobs look the same in my pre-pregnancy bras but theres definitely a little droopage.

After 15 months of BFing DS it suddenly struck me that they looked like something from National Geographic. They miraculously perked up and plumped up again when I got pregnant again but am already anticipating the sagging ironing board cover look that I will doubtless be sporting in a year or so's time.

I haven't read all the posts I confess but saw this in active convo's and had to add my two pence worth before bed. My boobs are smaller now post children after bf, than pre children AND they look like used tea bags now I swear

Night ladies

Not fantastic but i know mum's with saggier boobs than mine who didn't breastfeed.

So def think it's a pregnancy thing.

Also not letting your breasts becoming too massive and engorged so that they stretch to bursting point. Easier said than done.

Bf ds2 now and they go from looking full and pert to empty and saggy on a daily basis which makes wearing a great fitting bra a bit of a pain as half the day it fits and it doesn't! Ho hum so is life. I'm happy they are fulfilling their job and the bond between my boys.

They went saggy after each but perked up again within about 6 months of stopping b/f. I am in my late thirties and they are not too bad, not spectacular but ok considering they did almost two years of b/f with both dc respectively.

Is it true though that your body changes shape after pregnancy, your ribs expand or something because I am down to pre dd weight but some jeans still feel tight and not quite right iyswim?

fabulous.

pag Oops what I should have said was boobs were fine after giving up (slooooowly) after BF for nearly four years DS1 then straight on to DD.

And now nearly having given up feeding DS2 after a further 2.5 years I am cautiously optimistic that they will still be OK.

I will let you know what I think when I do stop. If I had the nerve I would even post a picture

I'm obviously lucky - mine are exactly like pre-preg versions, just a bit darker and a little bigger. Just as well as I stopped using the left breast at 8 months and carried on bf to 14 months with the right, so I'd have looked very lopsided if they'd changed!

Only annoying thing is while I can still wear pre-preg tops and trousers, they don't come as far down/up so some leave a gap in the middle. I invariably discover this when in a hurry to get to work.

I BF for about 2 years in total. My boobs are in better shape now than before babies - although obviously some of that is to do with the fact that I was a size 6 before babies so had NO boobs at all and now I'm significantly plumper all around I'm a 34C now - they go south a bit when let loose but all in all I'm pretty happy. Now the tummy is a different story...

I breastfed two ds's for a year each. I can honestly say that although initally after stopping breastfeeding they were 'less fatty' for a while, after about a year, the fat appeared to redistribute and they were pretty much back to normal. In fact, when I was measured for a bra I was the same size - 34c/d depending on make of bra and cut. Other frineds have said he same about after a year or so they get back to normal so I guess for some that is the way.

I have friends who have not been pregnant or breastfed and they have saggy tits which just came with age and weight changes throughout their lives so...

i ebf for 6 months, and did mixed feeding up to a year. my breasts went from being small, shapely and firm to flaps of skin that hang over my chest. if i lean forward without a bra on, they hang like empty balloons with a teaspoon of sand to weigh them down. they are literally 1cm wide/deep when i lean forward. so gross, i try not to look :s

i live in a (very) padded bra so noone knows - no partner since child, am scared what reaction would be if there was one!!

however, that said, i am proud to say that i have the breasts that i have, because i have created and nourished another human being to existence

yea, my boobs are gross, but have you SEEN my gorgeous child?! lol x

I was a 38B when I got pg with DD1. Having now bfed for 4 years straight, with DD3 (7m/o) they are now a 36G but 'lower' than when I first got pg.

I really think that it's pg that causes sagging. Your body releases relaxin, a hormone that softens the ligaments of the pelvis (also can make your feet spread/grow). One of the places relaxin is made is the breasts so I wonder if the ligaments that support the breasts also soften. Just my little pet theory though.

Nursing not behind saggy breasts

I bf two babies. When I'd finished bf my breasts were empty and deflated looking however they soon regained their firmness and I'm back to excatly the same size and shape I was pre bf, they're pretty much in exactly the same place too, no pointing down or anything.

Mine are back to normal! But it took til DD was about 2.5.

There have been a few scientific studies which showed that BF doesn't cause saggy boobs (as tyler80 says). It's pregnancy wot dunnit.

Can't really say - I stopped after 2 years + of BF when I was 5 wks pregnant, and now the blighters are filling out again! FWIW, I can really recommend the 'getting-pregnant-as-soon-as-you-stop-BF' method of ensuring pertness.

Mine used to be pert, small and beautifully formed. I can say this because they are a totally different shape now. I'm willing to believe that it's pregnancy, not BF. I've always used decent bras in pregnancy and while feeding DS and think that makes a HUGE difference.

But really, I'm not that bothered - they're still nice, just different. DH loves them! I'm mostly disappointed that the nipples didn't stay dark chocolate brown...

Now, my stomach, on the other hand... When I'm done having children, I'm seriously considering having the shrivelled apron of stretchmarks 'done', and sod my once-feminist credentials.