Looking for advice from (really) small breasted woman

[Beanonorder]

Everything I have read says that breast size shouldn't affect your ability to breastfeed but I'd really like to here some positive stories from other small breasted women.
I am an A cup (yay for me - not!) and in my last pregnancy I didn't change size at all - throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding. (Yes I was very devastated!). I was able to exclusively breastfeed for the first six weeks but then we had some serious failure to thrive issues and I was pressured into starting to combi feed. I did continue BF til 7 months. I don't regret doing it but I really, really want breastfeeding to go better this time. I often wonder whether I could have succeeded with some real support and more knowledge.
My dh has commented that my breasts have grown this time but I don't believe it - I still fit into my regular bra's!
So can anyone who has stayed small share their story? How did you do it? How'd you keep your supply up? Did you have to feed a lot more often? I was also unable to really pump last time - a whole day of pumping didn't even give me one feed worth of milk.... I've bought a medela electric pump this time so hoping that helps.

 

[flump1]

I dont really have any advice I just wanted to say that im very small chested and have a very very healthy supply of milk (Maybe even oversupply not sure though!) So I really dont think it has anything to do with the size of your boobs whether feeding is going to work. I have fed on demand from birth to present (6 months) And always ensured she fed until she pulled off herself no time restrictions or anything (I have to pull her off sometimes now as I can easily tell when she has finished feeding and is just pacifying but my supply is well established), I also eat alot of oats just because I like them but I often wonder if that helps me produce so much milk lol, my baby is a complete booby monster though and is always feeding so I think thats the main thing that keeps my milk level up..
Just have baby on the boob as much as you can and hopefully it will all go to plan for you! Dont worry so much about not being able to pump much as I think for some people pumping just doesn't produce much, baby is alot better at getting the milk out. I hope it all goes well for you this time!

 

[Snufflepop]

Hello! I am (was) an A cup pre pregnancy. I am slightly bigger now that I am BFing but not hugely. I went to maybe a c cup with the initial engorgement but since that disappeared I have levelled out at around a small b cup. I have a fantastic milk supply, if anything I had an oversupply at the beginning but that's a lot more regulated now. I fully anticipate when I stop nursing that my boobs will shrink back to an A cup but probably be saggy too......sigh!

Anyway to answer your question I didn't feel that having smaller breasts made BFing harder and didn't do anything special to help supply, just fed lots and lots and lots in the early weeks for as long as LO wanted. Good luck!

 

[Dream.dream]

Breast size is due to the amount of fat in the breast not anything to do with the glands that produce milk.

If your worried about supply do everything you can to promote a good supply and a good breastfeeding relationship

- put baby to the breast early and often ,
- lots of skin to skin contact
- avoid pacifiers or bottle for the first 6 weeks
- drink lots of water and eat a healthy diet , a breastfeeding mon should eat a minimum of 1800 calories a day
- get babies latch checked a bad latch can affect how much milk a baby can transfer and reduce supply .

 

[Ruth 1980]

I don't have small boobs but I did want to share this. I had so many problems bf'ing both my babies (but I'm a stubborn mule so I'm still going ) and this time around got to see a fantastic lactation consultant. She told me that in her experience it's women with bigger boobs that usually have the feeding problems! And I said I was surprised because I thought smaller boobs might struggle to produce milk, but she said smaller boobs produce milk on-the-go as mum feeds baby, whereas women with bigger boobs have space to store milk but that can lead to problems like fast letdown, oversupply, mastitis, clogged ducts etc. I thought that was interesting
Wishing you all the luck in the world next time around! You can do it x

 

[Beanonorder]

Thanks so much! That makes me feel better!

 

[SarahBear]

No personal experience here. I didn't fit an A-cup prior to my previous pregnancy, but my breasts did increase in size. I have read, however, that with enough stimulation, even men can breastfeed babies! So if men can do it, small chested women sure as heck can! As for your previous experience, I'm not an expert and don't know what happened, but I would not worry about it being connected to breast size. It may have been a support issue. I would just really make sure to have good support going into things this time around.