Particularly after the early weeks, it's perfectly normal for your breasts to feel soft and comfortable. This is because the amount of milk you make by this time will be in sync with the amount of milk your baby will be drinking. Some mothers, even in the early weeks, find that their breasts feel comfortable.
But even if you do everything perfectly, some women will still become engorged. It's not a guarantee. If you do and don't do anything, the engorgement will likely last for 7 to 10 days. But if you take steps to treat the engorgement, usually it will be gone within maybe 24 to 48 hours, at least the worst part of it.
But some produce almost more milk than their breasts can hold, which makes them feel rock hard and uncomfortably full – a condition called engorgement. While this is usually only temporary, the 24 to 48 hours it typically lasts for can be painful.
The breasts of some women grow in several sizes as they breastfeed. When they stop the breast tissue that is responsible for the production of milk will rebound, or involute. It usually takes around six months to regain the shape they were in before their pregnancy. Sometimes the breasts remain deflated looking.
One of the most common is a blocked duct, clogged by milk, causing a hard lump that may be sore and tender. Massage the affected area, especially when feeding or expressing, to help release the blockage. Gently press a warm flannel on your breast, or try a warm bath or shower before a feed to help ease the discomfort.
Your breasts feel softer
This happens as your milk supply adjusts to your baby's needs. The initial breast fullness reduces in the first few weeks. At around 6 weeks, breast fullness is completely gone and your breasts may feel soft. This is completely normal and has no effect on your milk supply.
Making milk creates denser tissue in your breasts. After breastfeeding, both the fatty tissue and connective tissue in your breasts may shift. Your breasts may or may not return to their pre-breastfeeding size or shape. Some women's breasts stay large, and others shrink.
Breasts go through many changes during pregnancy and grow larger to prepare for breastfeeding. Then, after a baby is born, breast milk fills the breasts, stretching the skin even more. Once you wean your child and the breast milk dries up, your breasts may appear smaller, less full, and even saggy.
It's normal for your breasts to feel different after your baby is born. They are making milk and have extra blood flow, so they may feel tender and full. But if your breasts are warm, hard, and painful, they may be too full of milk, or engorged.
Your healthcare provider would likely recommend that you continue to pump until your baby is able to breastfeed effectively and once you have a sufficient milk supply. Once this has happened, they will likely advise you to stop pumping and just breastfeed - and, of course, get plenty of rest in between.
There's no set time for engorgement to subside. The engorgement you feel after giving birth is usually the most severe. Most people stop feeling engorged within 10 days; however, feeling “full” can last several weeks. Breast engorgement can come back as long as you breastfeed, chestfeed or pump breast milk.
Your breasts will feel softer and less full as your milk supply adjusts to your baby's needs. This does not mean you have low supply.
Despite views to the contrary, breasts are never truly empty. Milk is actually produced nonstop—before, during, and after feedings—so there's no need to wait between feedings for your breasts to refill.
If you're wondering how to tell if your milk supply is drying up, one common sign is that your breasts will start to feel softer.
Unfortunately, since breasts are not made up of muscles, it is not possible to firm up breast tissue with exercise. Breast lift surgery is the only way to bring back the original shape of the breasts. However, you can take certain measures to improve the overall appearance of your breasts.
Approximately six months after weaning, the milk-producing tissue is replaced with fatty tissue. If you return to your pre-pregnancy weight, your breasts may return to the same size, but they won't be as “perky” due to the stretch of the breast ligaments and skin from the previous breast enlargement, and gravity.
When the gravity pulls the breasts down, those ligaments and the skin can stretch, and so the breast then droops. This depends on the elasticity of your skin and of your ligaments, as determined by your genes and diet, and also on normal aging processes.
People with all different breast sizes are fully capable of producing a healthy supply of breast milk for their babies. Your breast milk supply is not determined by the size or shape of your breasts but instead by how much and how often your baby feeds.
Breast lift surgery is very effective for reversing sagging. Your doctor can remove excess skin to bring the sagging breast up. You may also want to have a breast implant inserted to make the whole breast look fuller.
After your baby has stopped breastfeeding, you might have lumpy breasts for 5-10 days. A sore lump might indicate a blocked duct or the beginnings of mastitis. If this happens, try massaging the lumps or expressing a small amount of milk. This might reduce the lumpiness.
What is this? Sometimes milk will continue flowing or dripping the entire time you are pumping. This is because when breastfeeding, your body is continuously producing milk. If this happens, watch until you have had two or three letdowns and the speed of the drips slows down dramatically.
Keep Hydrated
As a nursing mother, you need about 16 cups per day of water, which can come from food, beverages and drinking water, to compensate for the extra water that is used to make milk.