How women can minimize or even completely avoid saggy breasts from breastfeeding with proper dietary preparation and strategic weaning to prepare the skin for maximum elasticity and repair.
One of the saddest things I sometimes hear from women who are pregnant or plan to become pregnant is that they intend to bottlefeed because they’ve been warned that breastfeeding causes droopy, saggy breasts.
Even women who are in full support of breastfeeding seem to accept that the choice to feed their child with Mother Nature’s best will ultimately sacrifice the firmness of breast tissue.
Are saggy breasts post nursing really just part and parcel of the process?
While every woman is different and certainly in some instances, pregnancy and breastfeeding can cause undesirable changes to the appearance of the bosom despite Mom’s best efforts, there are definite strategies that greatly lessen the impact.
In some cases, there can be little to no difference in breast appearance after pregnancy and nursing.
It really is possible to birth and nurse several children with little change in the appearance of the bosom after weaning the youngest child.
Could Saggy Breasts Syndrome perhaps primarily be the result of the appalling diet of most nursing mothers?
Does the modern, accepted approach to weaning abruptly also play a huge role in the loss of breast integrity?
Let’s take a look!
Diet for Strong Breast Tissue
The most important thing a woman can do prior to nursing is to adequately prepare the breasts for the stress and strain of nursing with a diet that results in very strong, elastic skin.
Of critical note is to embrace a traditional diet that includes butter, cream, full fat yogurt and other animal fats to maximize elastic breast tissue.
This also means avoiding toxic vegetable oils from factory-produced, low cholesterol spreads, dressings, and other processed foods.
This ideal pregnancy and nursing diet provides suggestions for daily fat intake.
The reason healthy fats in the diet help avoid saggy breasts is that every cell in your body has a cellular membrane that is ideally composed of at least 50% saturated fat.
When the cell membranes of the skin and tissues are composed of the proper fats, they are strong, resilient, and highly elastic.
Healthy Fats = Healthy Skin
If you avoid saturated fats and starve your skin of what it needs, the cell membranes will be improperly formed with an oval instead of a perfectly round shape.
This increases the risk of irreparable damage from the stretching and straining of the skin and breast tissue from nursing.
Incidentally, plenty of saturated fats in the diet is also key to avoiding stretch marks on the breasts when the milk rapidly comes in a few days after baby is born.
Skin cell membranes comprised of 50%+ saturated fat will be elastic and resilient from this sudden strain!
The benefit is stronger breast tissue that can return to its original pre-pregnancy and pre-nursing shape with as little change as possible.
Another benefit is that the breasts are more resistant to mastitis.
Elusive Nutrients
Plenty of vitamin K2 in the diet is important for breast tissue integrity as well.
This largely ignored nutrient is in the superfood natto in large amounts. Japanese women who consume it daily enjoy superior skin elasticity and resistance to sagging and wrinkling.
Low Vitamin K2 in the diet is literally the vitamin deficiency that is written all over your face (and breasts).
Over 90% of people are estimated to be seriously deficient in this nutrient!
Grassfed butter, ghee, emu oil, goose liver pate, and pastured eggs are other excellent sources of this nutrient.
Another critical fat that healthy skin needs is arachidonic acid.
This fat is primarily found in egg yolks and butter.
Interestingly, women in traditional Chinese provinces like Chongqing are encouraged to eat up to 10 eggs per day along with plenty of chicken and (1)
Without a doubt, arachidonic acid (AA) is an underappreciated fat for maintaining healthy skin.
It works by ensuring the proper formation of junctures between skin cells.
Without enough arachidonic acid in the diet, skin cannot adequately maintain moisture and is more susceptible to damage.
When the gaps are larger than they need to be, the water between cells evaporates from missing tight cell-to-cell junctions. (2)
Ideal Weaning Age
In addition to diet, the weaning approach a woman employs significantly impacts the perkiness versus sagginess of her bosoms at the conclusion of breastfeeding.
The modern approach to weaning is for Mom to initiate the process and do so fairly suddenly once the child starts eating solid foods or she goes back to work.
Moms beware: Weaning around the 4-6 month mark contributes greatly to saggy breasts.
This is the very time when baby’s demands for breastmilk are the greatest (hence, nursing breasts are at their largest size).
Stopping abruptly at this point is not a good idea!
It can be a primary cause for excessively saggy breasts similar to what happens when an obese person loses weight rapidly after gastric bypass surgery.
Tapering After Baby is on Solids
The better way to wean is as gradually as possible, ideally somewhere between the 2-4 year mark.
While this may seem to be a long time by modern standards, extended breastfeeding has many long-term health benefits for baby. (3)
When weaning is very gradual, the the demand for nursing eases off slowly as baby’s appetite for solid food increases.
This gives the body plenty of time to slowly shrink and reabsorb the breast tissue.
Skin that stretched and expanded to accommodate large quantities of breastmilk when the child was an infant can gradually be reabsorbed.
This strategic weaning approach greatly minimizes or can even completely prevent issues with sagging.
Think of the difference between someone who loses weight at a rapid pace (such as after gastric bypass surgery) versus someone who loses weight slowly but surely with improvements in diet and exercise alone.
In the first scenario, large amounts of excess, sagging skin usually need to be removed by a second surgery a year or two down the track.
The second scenario presents far fewer problems with excess, sagging skin with surgery likely not needed at all.
Extended Breastfeeding is a Traditional Practice
Nursing a child until 2-4 years old mimics the practice of Traditional Societies. (4)
These cultures carefully spaced the birth of children to ensure the optimal health of each child as well as the provision of nutrient-dense breastmilk until the child was a young toddler.
Careful attention and thought to the diet well before pregnancy and during nursing combined with a slow approach to weaning can go a long way toward ensuring that your breasts provide not only optimal nutrition for your baby but also maintain their shape and perkiness afterward!
(1) Successful Breastfeeding and Alternatives
(2) Precious Yet Perilous
(3) Do You Think Breastfeeding a 3-Year-Old is Strange? In the Ancient World, It Saved Lives
(3) Fat and Energy Contents of Expressed Human Breast Milk in Prolonged Lactation
Seems like it’s mostly genetics. But perhaps the suggestions in this article can help a little in the positive direction. Maybe not the winning key, but still something. I think the age you give birth has lots to do with how well your body bounces back.
I had my third baby over 40 and my breasts still were fine because I nursed so long which provided time for slow reduction in breast tissue rather than an abrupt stop when the breasts were at their largest and fullest. I had zero sagging! Certainly diet is important too. If you aren’t eating good quality fats to reinforce those skin cells to make them strong and their junctures tight, then forget about it. Saggy breasts will be the result.
After breastfeeding my boobs started sagging. I started using Boobpop tool and I’ve seen a drastic chance. My breast are firmer and fuller.
I just wanted to share my story. Full disclosure I have not stopped breastdeeding – thats why I am reading this article.
I was a 36b or c pre pregnancy, and the moment I became pregnant my boobs grew to a 38c and when baby came to a 38d. I didn’t gain weight anywhere else but my belly and my boobs.
I thought I would stop bfing at 1 year as I had to go back to work but my baby didn’t want to stop. He had his bobbie in the morning before I left -the moment I came home, before bed and during the night. He is 2.5 now and still breastfeeding…. He is slowly weaning him self as he finally slept through the nigh for like a week now….
I never knew what to expect when it came to breastfeeding and somehow I had tons of milk, so I breastfeed my nefwey when he came over… At some points the milk would spray so much that my baby couldn’t handle it and didn’t want to open his mouth to eat. I had to pump everytime before breastfeeding, and then re teach my son to latch because he was so afraid to breastfeed and didn’t want to open his mouth.
Then the teeth came and I thought if he bits me I’m done. And he bit me, lots, I cried and said I’m done. My boobs were sooo full of milk…. One last try and he stoped bitting after 2 weeks of constant bitting….
Its hard, and not fun. But after 9 months i started enjoying it so much. There were no issues, it was our special bonding time. To tell you the truth I am a little sad we only bf once a day now.
So I am waiting to see what happends to my boobs now.
Saying that whether or not our boobs are going to sag depends on how long we nurse is like saying you can prevent stretch marks if you take care of your belly. it’s incorrect. I lathered my skin constantly, had a great diet, avoided caffeine and sugar, nursed for a year and still ended up with stretchmarks on my stomach and breasts. And yes even saggy boobs. It was non preventable. But i have a friend who didn’t nurse her first one and only nursed her second child for 6 months. She ate junk food, didn’t lather. and she doesn’t have a stretch mark on her and her boobs are still perky. I also know someone who nursed as long as I did and no stretch marks. It’s more genetics than anything. We all have different bodies. To say otherwise is a fallacy.
A year of nursing is really not long enough unfortunately as suggested in the post Of course, the method mentioned in this post won’t work for everyone, but it works for a lot of women who have emailed me their results! One woman who has a twin sister followed this approach and had very little sagging post nursing .. her twin sister nursed for about 6 months then stopped and her breasts sag a lot.
I would have to say the toddler issue is a personal experience… both of your perspectives are right and wrong. To say “for most women breastfeeding is rough” is not entirely accurate. Some women love breastfeeding. At the same time, the response of “Words spoken by a women who has obviously never breastfed a toddler with h a mouthful of teeth,” is a little much. Some women really do struggle with breastfeeding, and any time on the breast is better than none!
I loved and love breastfeeding my children. It is a wonderful bonding experience with my babies. However, my daughter weaned herself at around 15 months by biting. She was only nursing twice daily at this point, morning and night. She would bite and think it was funny. It happened enough I reasearched it and found it’s a common sign of being ready to wean. So I told her she wouldn’t be able to nurse anymore if she continued- she did It again, laughed, and was done nursing with no complaint. Never asked to nurse again.
My son is the same age now, 15 months, and still nursing multiple times a day with no end in sight. Every child and mother is different!
Speaking of, my breasts seemed to deflate overnight a month or so ago. No change in nursing with my son. I also just found out I am hypothyroid…could it be because of that?? I feel saggy otherwise too, like I aged 5+ years overnight 🙁 My diet is mostly good, lots of good saturated fat from coconut oil and meat. Lots of veggies, gluten and dairy free due to my son’s intolerances. I do eat some junk food, especially chips. I am so discouraged by my breasts…I’m hoping if it’s hormone related (thyroid/ estrogen dominant) I can regain firmness.
It sounds so lovely and I wish it was true but how your breasts end up is really still based on your genetics. I have an extraordinarily healthy diet (and I do incorporate plenty of healthy fats that you used as examples) and I breastfed all 3 of my children until age 2.5. However, my breasts are now unattractive and saggy enough (a saggy size 32B) that I am considering surgery which is something I am very surprised to hear myself say. But my breasts really are that bad now. I am fit and relatively young and I have good skin with no stretch marks but my breasts did not fare well with childbearing. Anyways, it is what it is and I have friends whose breasts look great after the same scenario. Everyone’s body reacts differently and kudos to you if your breasts look good still. The rest of my body shows no evidence of pregnancy/nursing but these boobs are another thing all together.
So refreshing to read your comments. I have been breastfeeding for nearly 5 years thank God. my first son till nearly 3 while also breastfeeding my second. Who was born when my first was 2 years old I did think I would stop at 1 years old so that he can go onto cow milk but I saw the benefits of mother milk for them I’ve carries on.
I have to say it’s not as hard as it looks. Yes they way have teeth and yes iv have been bitten once but like to say they do not do it again. I do not feel their teeth and it gets much easier. My youngest nearly 3 is slowly weaning off and having when he sleeps etc.
To all new mum’s out there do give it a go the blessings of breastfeeding your baby out weights bottle by far.
Weaning between 2-4yrs when my child is toddler with a mouthful of teeth?! Sorry, but for most women breastfeeding is rough and to stick it out that long sounds miserable, not to mention impractical. It makes sense if that would help with sagging, but it’s not going to happen.
Words spoken by a women who has obviously never breastfed a toddler with h a mouthful of teeth. It’s not a big deal! They might bite … maybe once??? You jump from being startled, the child cries because they realize they’ve hurt you and then they never bite again. End of story. I’ve breastfed 3 toddlers for 2-4 years. Same thing every time.
I’m a new mother and currently breastfeeding my 3 week old baby. I started out with 34D and I am now 34DD. I’ve had friends tell me their boobs get smaller, larger, saggy, or perky after so I guess it all just depends on your body type. But idk if this makes you feel any better but I wish my boobs will get smaller after breastfeeding. When they’re bigger I feel like the areola looks big and dark and I don’t like it 🙁 I really hope they do go down even more than my prepregnancy size.
Hi where did you purchase the Somaluxe firming cream