Uh… Did My Nipples… SHRINK?! (so many reasons)
It is not uncommon to be using a particular size of breast pump flange with great success, and then, to suddenly find yourself not having that same success. Often you will look down one day and think hmmmm…..those flanges look big all of the sudden. So can your nipples really have shrunk? Yes, this is definitely a thing that can happen.
So why did your nipples shrink?
There are a couple of different times that this tends to happen.
The most common reason is related to hormones. It seems to correlate in my experiences with (roughly) these periods postpartum if your nipples are going to shrink in response to hormones:
6 weeks
12 weeks
6 months
8-9 months
12 months
Essentially, from the time you become pregnant, your breasts are on a somewhat predictable developmental path, and over time, hormones slowly change. Nipples often grow in size over the pregnancy, and sometimes, in the early postpartum period. After that point, they will either maintain their size until weaning, or will slowly reduce over time.
Exclusive pumpers may find that these changes relate less to the time period postpartum and more to when they reduce the number of pumps per day. The decrease in number of pumps can simulate an older baby who is moving to more solid foods with decreased milk intake, and it may bring on these hormonal changes a little bit sooner.
The other common reason we see this is when you are sized down in flanges. Let’s say you were using a 24 mm flange for some time, and after deciding to get sized, you move down to a 21 mm. This new size fits you great, and you are loving the results for a few weeks, and then suddenly, it’s not so great anymore. When we remeasure your nipples, we may find that you measure a few millimeters less now than you did just a few weeks ago. This is attributed to the high likelihood that you had edema of the nipples from that 24 mm flange that was too large, that has started resolving over time.
So how can you protect your milk supply from the challenge of shrinking nipples?
I recommend stashing your nipple ruler someplace handy and periodically checking your measurements so that you can address this phenomenon before there is any impact on your comfort or pump output. Be sure to check height AND width of the nipple for best results, and use the larger of the two measurements.
Here are two relatively inexpensive options if you want something a little harder to lose than a printed ruler to stash away for a periodic size check:
Digital Caliper: https://amzn.to/3jKYEXc
Circular Ruler: https://amzn.to/332DfC0
