Large breasts are mostly fatty tissue, not glands, and milk-producing glands are not necessarily contained within the breast, but can spread well beyond it.

So ability to breastfeed is not closely linked to breast size at all.

Anonymous wrote:There is probably a lot more to your mom's "inability to produce" than she is letting on. They hardly encouraged moms to breastfeed at the time your mom was likely having children. Did she start with formula and think she could just nurse when she pleased? Were the babies tongue tied? What drugs did she receive during labor and delivery? Did a lactation specialist help her?

Dig a little deeper and you might find that, for a variety of reasons, you mom perhaps wasn't committed to breastfeeding.

This is a horrible post. Insufficient breastmilk is common.

Remember that in the first few days after birth you will only produce small amounts of colostrum before the real milk comes in. Don’t freak out - your milk will probably come in just fine but it Can take a while. Baby’s stomach is size of marble when they are first born so you don’t need gallons of milk. I’m an A cup and about a week after birth was producing more milk than my baby needed after initially being very nervous about weight/milk production. My advice is to spend LOTS of time skin to skin with baby including lots of “no pressure to nurse” cuddle time and have a good lactation consultant help with latch etc (get an appointment where they come to your home shortly after birth). When your milk first comes in your breasts may quickly get very hard and engorged making it hard for baby to latch and it might seem like you have no milk even though you do. Warm compress/ showers combined with Massaging breasts and pumping out extra milk if this is the case can really help.

There is probably a lot more to your mom's "inability to produce" than she is letting on. They hardly encouraged moms to breastfeed at the time your mom was likely having children. Did she start with formula and think she could just nurse when she pleased? Were the babies tongue tied? What drugs did she receive during labor and delivery? Did a lactation specialist help her?

Dig a little deeper and you might find that, for a variety of reasons, you mom perhaps wasn't committed to breastfeeding.

D cup here. Mine didn't grow at all during pregnancy. Grew a ton the first month postpartum and then went back down to a DD.

Cup size doesn't equal milk production. I read all cup sizes have the same amount of milk glands. I think that bigger women can store more, but I only heard that (not something I read).

I was an A cup before 2 pregnancies, and exclusively pumped for 24 months total. My first pregnancy, I didn't show any real breast growth.

I ended up having an unplanned c-section after a very long labor. I was so pumped up with fluids, that 4 days later, I was only 4 pounds lighter and my baby was 8 lbs at birth. No one told me that you need to nurse the baby so frequently or pump. (Mom is deceased.)
Baby 1 had a lot of trouble latching and would easily cry from frustration. If she latched ok on one side, she wouldn't be able to when I switched sides. We paid a lot for a lactation consultant's visit during the first month, and it would work while she was with us but then not work once she left. I tried nipple shields, etc. Finally, I just exclusively pumped and made very little milk. DH was way too militant in the beginning. So I pumped 7-8 times a day and finally after 3 months, made enough to not need any supplementation. All the folk remedies, teas, meds, etc. did not help me.

Baby 2, the c-section was a breeze b/c no protracted labor. my milk started at the same level I had left off at with baby 1, but 2nd baby was a voracious eater. I made just enough to feed him and supplemented with one bottle of formula to get some rest.

Just do the best you can. The nursing/pumping and sleep deprivation after the baby comes for me was some of the hardest.

Bottom line is you won't know until the baby comes. And it can be different with each baby. Some will feed easily. Others may reject the bottle when trying to wean, while others may prefer the formula bottle b/c it's way easier to suck.

Best of luck!

I was an A cup before 2 pregnancies, and exclusively pumped for 24 months total. My first pregnancy, I didn't show any real breast growth.

I ended up having an unplanned c-section after a very long labor. I was so pumped up with fluids, that 4 days later, I was only 4 pounds lighter and my baby was 8 lbs at birth. No one told me that you need to nurse the baby so frequently or pump. (Mom is deceased.)
Baby 1 had a lot of trouble latching and would easily cry from frustration. If she latched ok on one side, she wouldn't be able to when I switched sides. We paid a lot for a lactation consultant's visit during the first month, and it would work while she was with us but then not work once she left. I tried nipple shields, etc. Finally, I just exclusively pumped and made very little milk. DH was way too militant in the beginning. So I pumped 7-8 times a day and finally after 3 months, made enough to not need any supplementation. All the folk remedies, teas, meds, etc. did not help me.

Baby 2, the c-section was a breeze b/c no protracted labor. my milk started at the same level I had left off at with baby 1, but 2nd baby was a voracious eater. I made just enough to feed him and supplemented with one bottle of formula to get some rest.

Just do the best you can. The nursing/pumping and sleep deprivation after the baby comes for me was some of the hardest.

Bottom line is you won't know until the baby comes. And it can be different with each baby. Some will feed easily. Others may reject the bottle when trying to wean, while others may prefer the formula bottle b/c it's way easier to suck.

Best of luck!

Another A cup here with massive oversupply and forceful let down. I was a milk machine.

I was an A cup and nursed three big babies for over a year each without a problem.

Not I’m not even an A cup anymore...

Anonymous wrote:I’ve always been flat chested (A cup) and my breasts have not grown at all even though I am 19 weeks in. Nipples have darkened and enlarged but zero breast growth. Anyone been through this? Were you able to breastfeed successfully with very small breasts (A cup and below)? My breasts are normal shaped (teardrop shape, not tubular) but I am nervous about insufficient glandular tissue

Yep, I BFed for nearly a year. Cup size does not matter. Chances are overwhelmingly that you will be just fine.

I'm a AA, and I breast fed 3 kids for 2 years each with no problems. My breasts never got bigger during pregnancy and were only barely bigger when breastfeeding. The milk is mostly produced as the baby is feeding.

The one thing I would say is that some of the positions didn't work for me. People rave about the football hold, but my breasts just weren't big enough. To get the baby's mouth in a football hold, I would have to bend over at a 45 degree angle. I used a regular cradle hold. Also, something like my breast friend is really helpful with small breasts, as it helps hold the baby up higher.

It won't matter. My SIL was able to breastfeed. Her boobs did become super deflated as a result, but many women of all sizes experience that too.

You are me. My boobs didn't get big. I could still just about fit into an A cup after kids were born. But, I have read that the size doesn't really matter (ahem).

I learned with DC#2 there are ways to increase milk production.

1. start pumping right away after giving birth. This will help increase the supply
2. drink lots of liquid, especially Mom's Milk Tea (I think it's like a rasbery type tea)

The only positive for small boobs is that they are not as saggy as larger ones (my kids are tween/teens now), but what they don't tell you is that your nipples can get saggy. One side produced more milk than the other (and it was the smaller side, to boot ), and so I nursed more on that side. Over a decade later, I'm finding that the nipple on that side is saggier than the other. Who knew that could happen; I sure didn't.

A cup here.

During my first pregnancy my breasts got a tiny bit bigger but was able to wear normal bras. I had some trouble with nursing for the first couple of months and was a low producer but I was ultimately able to breastfeed for 13 months. I went back to my old bra size afterwards.

During my second pregnancy, my breasts went up a full cup size. Four months in and breastfeeding has been a breeze. From what I understand you develop more milk ducts in subsequent pregnancies. I do wonder if I will go back to the A cup!

I remember having the same concern the first time - for what its worth, my lactation consultant told me there is no connection between breast size and ability to breastfeed.

I BF’d for over 6 years total with tiny boobs and my boys were chunky monkeys. Milk came in much faster the 2nd time around.