During pregnancy and breastfeeding, your body may undergo significant changes that can affect your skin and muscles, both temporarily and permanently.

Saggy breasts occur as a result of pregnancy, so you might have them even if you chose not to breastfeed. As you wean your baby, check out these 17 solutions to saggy breasts after breastfeeding.

1. Wean Baby Gradually

Your skin sags as a result of drastic changes to your body. Give your skin time to heal and regain its shape as you wean your baby and the milk tissue in your breasts shrinks.

Saggy breasts begin during pregnancy, so weaning too quickly can worsen sagging.

Drop one feeding at a time, and go at your baby’s pace instead of instantly switching to formula or cow’s milk.

Give yourself several weeks or months to take your baby off breast milk, slowly replacing your baby’s milk feedings with solid food or milk.

2. Breast Lifting Exercises at Home

Besides taking care of the skin in your breasts, you should also take care of your chest muscles supporting your breasts through physical exercise.

Breast-lifting exercises also reduce fat around your breasts and other body parts. Try these exercises to tone your chest muscles:

Push-ups
Tricep dips
Side plank
Weighted chest presses
Weighted chest flies
Bench presses

3. Wear a Supportive Bra That Fits Correctly

A nursing bra can help support your breasts in a way that’s comfortable for you. While breastfeeding, your breasts can grow up to a full bra size. You need a set of supportive nursing bras to hold you up and keep your skin from sagging.

Go to a lingerie store for a fitting if you’re unsure of your bra size. You may also want to replace any bras that have stretched out so you get the support you need.

4. Maintain a Healthy Diet & Lifestyle

Take care of your skin health by staying active at least five days a week and eating healthy. When the weather is nice, it’s easy to stay in shape by taking the baby out in a stroller and going for an energizing walk.

Maintaining an active lifestyle reduces fat to fix saggy breasts. You should also eat a balanced diet with healthy fats, protein, and carbohydrates.

If you’re still breastfeeding or recovering, try to eat foods rich in nutrients that are nourishing for you and your baby.

5. Drink Plenty of Water

When you drink water, it hydrates your skin and makes it more resilient after breastfeeding. Drinking water helps keep your skin and tissues healthy.

If you’re still breastfeeding, you need to drink more water than usual because your body takes the water you consume and uses it to make milk.

You should also increase your water intake if you have an active lifestyle. Watery foods such as cucumber and watermelon can also help you stay hydrated.

6. Avoid Rapid or Extreme Weight Loss

Like with weaning, losing weight affects the appearance of your skin. Aim to lose a pound a week or less so your skin has time to shrink instead of sagging.

Focus on taking care of yourself instead of watching the number shrink on the scale. Your body went through a lot during labor and delivery, and your postpartum body is beautiful as it is!

7. Practice Good Posture

Sitting up straight and standing straight will perk up your breasts, but slouching will cause your breasts to hang and sag. Straighten your neck and back to maintain good posture.

You may want to practice by looking in the mirror so you can see what you need to improve or change. If you usually slouch, it may take some time to get used to your new posture, but it gets easier over time.

8. Exfoliate and Moisturize Regularly

Drinking water regularly helps keep your skin hydrated, but you can give it an extra boost by applying moisturizing lotion every day after you shower.

These products are known to help your skin repair itself, but they doesn’t fix sagging by themselves. Try exfoliating regularly to increase blood flow, which in turn helps you regain elasticity.

Lotion with alcohol can dry out your skin, and only use lanolin on your nipples if they feel dry.

9. Breast Massage

A woman in a white bathrobe massaging her breast.

Giving yourself a routine breast massage improves your skin and enhances blood circulation, allowing your skin to recover more quickly from sagging.

It helps to massage your breasts while breastfeeding, since it helps express milk and prevent clogged milk ducts.

Massage your breast with two fingers or the palm of your hand using gentle pressure. Work your way around the breast for a few minutes until you’ve reached the entire breast.

10. Alternate Between Hot and Cold Water in the Shower

Taking a hot shower increases blood circulation, and taking a cold shower enhances skin tone.

When you shower, switch between hot and cold water, massaging your breasts to further increase blood circulation. Finish with cold water at the end of the shower.

11. Ask Your Doctor About Using Fenugreek

Applying fenugreek to the skin can help keep it firm, but it’s not for everyone. As long as your doctor says you can use it, mix 1 cup of fenugreek seed powder and 1 cup of water.

After making this paste, apply it to your breasts, and let it sit for about 15 minutes. Then, use cool water to wash the area. For best results, apply fenugreek paste daily.

12. Do Not Smoke

If you smoke, you should stop during and after breastfeeding. Since cigarette smoke deteriorates your skin’s elastin, your breasts are more likely to sag.

Smoking is a challenging habit to break, so it’s best to reach out to a medical professional for safe, effective ways to quit.

13. Use Firming Cream

Firming cream can help moisturize your skin to prevent your breasts from sagging.

Even though you can use the same moisturizer you use for your face, it helps to have a unique treatment for your breasts because they’re drier than your face and other parts of the body.

A breast-firming cream like Palmer’s is specifically designed for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

14. Aptos Threading Breast Lift

In addition to all of the at-home remedies for sagging breasts, you can also get special treatment for them.

Aptos threading involves lifting the skin around your breasts with barbed Aptos threads. This cosmetic approach is noninvasive and lasts for a few years.

15. Laser Therapy

Laser therapy can also help treat saggy breasts after breastfeeding and pregnancy. This process involves a doctor administering high-energy beams to improve your breast skin’s elasticity and remove dead skin cells.

Laser therapy is better than other medical treatments because it doesn’t require any surgery. There also aren’t any incisions made, so you won’t develop scars. You’ll need to have routine treatments for the best results.

16. Caci Bust Treatment

The caci bust treatment is another nonsurgical treatment. A doctor uses a handheld device to transmit an electrical pulse to the muscles around the breast to tighten them. Tightened chest muscles lift your breasts after several treatments.

17. Breast Lift After Breastfeeding

A surgical breast lift may require an incision, but it is a long-term solution because it tightens the tissues in your breasts and gets rid of excess skin.

You’ll have a consultation with a skilled surgeon to get an idea of how the process works and if it’s the right treatment for you.

Conclusion

Your postpartum and post-breastfeeding body most likely won’t bounce back right away, but these exercises and treatments can help you feel comfortable in your skin again.

Sources:

Ashley Potter( Founder )

Mom of three (including identical twin boys), wife, and owner of Parents Wonder. This is my place to share my journey as a mother and the helpful insights I learn along the way.