Small boobs and breastfeeding

[FlossyCat]

I'm really worried that when they put baby on my chest after birth my tiny boobs won't work. I'm 40+ weeks and haven't had any leaking, they have barely grown and don't feel any different. I really want to breastfeed but am anxious that nothing will happen and baby will be starving after a couple of days. Can anyone offer any positive words of advice or personal experience? Does it automatically happen straight after labour? Other than skin to skin and suckling is there anything I could do to promote milk supply? Our NCT lady said size doesn't matter and everyone can breastfeed, but obviously some ladies do struggle for various reasons - I don't want to debate whether or not every woman can breastfeed but would really appreciate useful advice or reassurance from other ladies who were not blessed with lovely boobs. Thanks x

Breast size truly does not make a difference, so don't worry about that.
FWIW a huge breast and tiny newborn can be quite difficult for technical reasons... .

You have the right ideas re skin to skin, feed on demand not by the clock and just being led by your baby.

Yes, BFing can be hard for various reasons, but not because you have a small breast size.
Milk gets produced as it is removed - a bit like saliva production IYSWIM?

There is a condition called 'hypotrophic tubular breasts' which does interfere with BFing, but is rare and not 'just' small breasts.

Good luck!

My very, very small breasted sister breastfed twins for a year! Please don't worry. Breast size really doesn't have a bearing on your ability to produce milk.

Your NCT lady is right! Size really doesn't matter.

I've got teeny boobs, never leeked before giving birth (though they did grow a little bit) and I ended up with loads of milk. Too much in fact.

I don't know if it really helped, but my only advice would be to stimulate your supply by letting your baby suckle as much as possible in the first few days (and weeks!). If they peep - stick a boob in it!

Good luck - chances are you will be fine.

Eating good quality chocolate regularly really helped my milk production!

Having small boobs actually makes it a lot easier to bf! And has no bearing on milk supply. Good luck! I'm sure you'll manage fine. Bf is a big time commitment in the early days so try to relax into it, sofa, good telly... Make DP wait on you hand and foot :)

I've got boobs rather on the small side (a cup normally) and didn't experience much growth when I was pg with dc1. I think I leaked once the whole time I was pregnant!

I then had an elcs which probably isn't the ideal way to incourage feeding from the start as my ds had a lot of mucus so wasn't interested in feeding much for a day or two. Saying all that, on the third day after he was born, my boobs swelled to a D cup and I suddenly had lots of milk and feeding was possible once we'd both got the hang of it.

I am now pregnant with dc2 and I've increased in size much more dramatically this time! Also second the advice that a good diet helps with milk production, I always found that I was starving at first when feeding so ate everything in sight but managed to lose weight at the same time which was great!

Thanks ladies, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, your advice is helping me feel less anxious about it. I'm particularly liking the suggestion of chocolate, have already packed a large bar of Bournville in my hospital bag :) x

Small boobs and apparently the 'wrong' nipples!?! And 10.5months and still bf'ding.
Drink lots of water. Lots.
Good luck and enjoy

I was small, they never grew that much, I never leaked..

I've been breastfeeding almost constantly for 7 years now!! (different children, naturally!) including tandem nursing at one point.

I agree that smaller ones are much easier - much easier to nurse discreetly, in a sling, just in general. And they don't get so heavy and kill your back either.

You'll be fine!

As with anyone starting breastfeeding for the first time, the best indicators for success are learning as much as possible beforehand, having decent support and a source of correct advice, which often does not come from midwives or health visitors. So double check anything they tell you with the KellyMom website or get a IBCLC qualified lactation consultant to help you if you run into problems!

I have tiny, fried eggs on an ironing board style boobs. They grew a bit during pregnancy, never leaked.

When DS was born, when my milk final came in, I could've fed octuplets! I BFed DS till he was 2. After the first year they were back to normal size, but kept going.

I've gone from feeling short changed with such pathetic boobs, to being really amazed at what they've achieved.

So size is nothing! Good luck OP!

Glad you are feeling a bit better. As others have said, boob size it totally unrelated to successful breastfeeding.

It's also a bit of a myth that all women leak in pregnancy. I never have and have fed two babies to aged 2.

I have small boobs (34AA) and had no problems breastfeeding. But, they did grow in pregnancy and when my milk came in - I don't know anyone's who didn't grow.... Might be worth chatting to a doctor on that point, but not the size point.

On a related note, and apologies for a bit of a hijack, but has anyone successfully mastered bf lying down with small boobs? Am 34wks with dc2 and did breastfeed successfully for a while with dc1 but not for as long as I would have liked, and never lying down, so I still feel like a bit of a novice.

I have very small boobs and have spent 3yrs out of the last 5 bfing, and will be again later in the year.
Definitely easier than really big ones, I know of a few friends who really struggled as they had to hold their big boob away from baby's face, support the breast and found doing it discreetly much more difficult. If you have a flattish chest, your boob just sits there without flopping, and you can feed one-handed quite easily (MNing with the other).

I only got the hang of feeding lying down with DC2. I lay on my side, arm either above my head or under my cheek. Other arm around baby (also on his side but tilted back a bit- so if we dropped off, he would roll onto his back not front). There are some YouTube videos which I looked at at the time which were helpful

I have teeny boobs (look completly flat with a bra) which I probably dont need!!! lol ANYWAY my point is, after my son was born the MW helped me lay on my side and he was placed next to me with his head slightly tilted up and he fed for nearly an hour. It was an amazing feeling as I didnt have leakage or full boobs but it worked!!!

I expressed whilst in hospital after that as he had trouble latching but Im very proud he got some of my good ness for his first few feeds.

Some hospitals have breast feeding 'helpers' on the ward if you want advice on position etc so dont be afraid to ask - good luck you will be fine

Thank you both, that's really encouraging. Think I'll check out YouTube.

You'll be fine.

By small breasts, do you mean small but regularly formed breasts, or is there any chance they could be hypoplastic? Google tuberous hypoplastic breasts just to check. This condition is responsible for the 2% of women who can't produce milk and is not generally known about. But regularly formed small breasts should be just fine.

I've googled tuberous hypoplastic breasts and I definitely don't look like some of the more extreme images, but I don't have a full shape (plenty of nipple / large areole, not much to err jiggle!), they could be slightly hypoplastic. I'm not completely flat but feel like I didn't develop properly during puberty. I guess I'll just have to wait and see, and ask for advice if there's a problem. I'm seeing midwife tues, so will ask for support numbers then. Thanks again ladies x

I agree regainingunconsciousness, I've always been self conscious at my lack of boobs but have been amazed at what they've achieved, in feeding my dd. I am now very proud of them.

It is good, not having to worry about them dangling in baby's face or having to support them. They make feeding with 1 hand and holding a fork/chocolate very easy.

Good luck, OP.

Flossy, do bring it up but be prepared for her to look at you blankly. You may have breast hypoplasia although you may not. If you do, domperidone is supposed to help, although you will need a prescription. I suppose the most important thing is to be prepared, and if you do have difficulties, to seek help ASAP.

And fenugreek really helped my supply which was never great due to tongue tie stopping DS latching for first week or so.