Um, really?

Louiej

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/73933011/ShowThread.aspx#73933011

 Apparently, if you breast feed your baby...they grow breast tissue. This is common.

Whatthewhat?

What is my FF baby going to grow? Cans? 

JaysonandKristin

Yep.  It can happen.  Some of the strange stuff that nobody ever tells you about while you're pregnant.

LOL at cans!!  ;P 

sbevmc09

Buh?  I've never heard this.  

What would cause breast tissue growth?  Transfer of naturally occuring hormones?  

I mean, I know that the "breasts" of babies can be swollen at birth, like their genitals.  But certainly that wouldn't be the same thing with breastfeeding?   

Allycat11

JaysonandKristin:

Yep.  It can happen.  Some of the strange stuff that nobody ever tells you about while you're pregnant.

LOL at cans!!  ;P 

Yep.  I was holding DD on my lap when she was around 2 months old and felt a bump on her chest, I then noticed she had tiny bumps under both nipples.  When we took her in for her 2 month well check I asked her Pedi and she said it was hormonal and usually goes away by 9 months I believe.   

ETA: I suppose I don't know if it is caused by BFing or not, just that it is hormonal.   

Louiej

JaysonandKristin:

Yep.  It can happen.  Some of the strange stuff that nobody ever tells you about while you're pregnant.

LOL at cans!!  ;P 

Really?? I mean, I accepted that my newborn son was lactating at birth because of hormones from me, but...growing boobs because of being breast fed? Really? How come?

JaysonandKristin

Louiej:

JaysonandKristin:

Yep.  It can happen.  Some of the strange stuff that nobody ever tells you about while you're pregnant.

LOL at cans!!  ;P 

Really?? I mean, I accepted that my newborn son was lactating at birth because of hormones from me, but...growing boobs because of being breast fed? Really? How come?

I don't have an exact answer, but I found this on WebMD:

Maternal hormones can cause temporary breast development in babies, so new parents are often concerned about those little breast buds. If those breast buds are big or even leak breast milk, they will freak out. When Dads see their little boys with leaky breasts, they want to call 911. New parents, who have been adequately prepared for this "4th trimester," may know this is normal. These maternal hormones can also make the baby have a very stuffy nose. So, remember: babies with boobies often have stuffy noses (perhaps, just like their mothers).

Just the way estrogen can cause tight jeans not to fit due to premenstrual water retention, the maternal estrogen can cause the same tissue engorgement in newborn and nursing babies. Pregnant women, especially those in the third trimester, often complain that they have a constant cold...or allergy, that is making them very congested and miserable. Those symptoms are made worse since they are unable to take most cold medicines. These symptoms may not be a cold either, but merely this flood of hormones. It is these same hormones that are transferred through the umbilical cord to the baby. Since estrogen is chemically bound to fat, and babies tend to have a lot of fat, those hormones can stick around for a few months. 

Louiej

This was on the 6-9 month board...would this still happen then? 

Amazing...here I thought someone was being ridiculous, and I'm the one who learns something. 

ta78

Yeah, my dr also said to not be surprised if my DD bled a little like a period. Hormones are a crazy thing.

sbevmc09

JaysonandKristin:

Louiej:

JaysonandKristin:

Yep.  It can happen.  Some of the strange stuff that nobody ever tells you about while you're pregnant.

LOL at cans!!  ;P 

Really?? I mean, I accepted that my newborn son was lactating at birth because of hormones from me, but...growing boobs because of being breast fed? Really? How come?

I don't have an exact answer, but I found this on WebMD:

Maternal hormones can cause temporary breast development in babies, so new parents are often concerned about those little breast buds. If those breast buds are big or even leak breast milk, they will freak out. When Dads see their little boys with leaky breasts, they want to call 911. New parents, who have been adequately prepared for this "4th trimester," may know this is normal. These maternal hormones can also make the baby have a very stuffy nose. So, remember: babies with boobies often have stuffy noses (perhaps, just like their mothers).

Just the way estrogen can cause tight jeans not to fit due to premenstrual water retention, the maternal estrogen can cause the same tissue engorgement in newborn and nursing babies. Pregnant women, especially those in the third trimester, often complain that they have a constant cold...or allergy, that is making them very congested and miserable. Those symptoms are made worse since they are unable to take most cold medicines. These symptoms may not be a cold either, but merely this flood of hormones. It is these same hormones that are transferred through the umbilical cord to the baby. Since estrogen is chemically bound to fat, and babies tend to have a lot of fat, those hormones can stick around for a few months. 

So... wait.  This seems to almost all be talking about the hormones that are transferring to baby during pregnancy and explains why some strange things can happen postpartum, but it only mentions BFing babies in passing.  So does the estrogen travel through the milk then and prolong the things like swollen breast tissue, etc?  And that would mean that the tissue that's there is just swollen, not that they're actually growing additional tissue, right?  

I'm just trying to understand this. 

Lulobug22

Weird. My boys both nursed for two years and neither grew any kind of breast. My nieces did have breast buds as babies but were formula fed so I don't know.

sbevmc09

LalaMama81:

J and k, the latter part about hormones causing the cold symptoms is interesting, happened to me moth times.

Yeah, this is the same reason a lot of pregnant women suffer from sinus problems.  It's hormonal.  

thechickencoop

Yup...hormonal.  DS had one boob until he was like...I dunno...5 months ish.  It's also why a lot of babies get acne.  I don't know if it's definitely from BFing or not though!

Minipenguin

Yeah, this happened to DD. It scared the living sh.!t out of me because it was the first sign that my sister was really sick when she was young. I tried to bring her to the ER, haha. DH talked me down.

Louiej

letranger:

I've read that old formula from the 80s included the same stuff that makes chicken breasts larger and caused bigger breast tissue in kids.

Where can I get some of that for me, lol. I just tripped over mine... 

kcisthebombdotcom

This happened to my son-he even leaked milk. The funny part was he only got colostrum for six weeks as my milk never came in.