The Fourth Trimester: What You Should Know about Life Postpartum

While most women are forewarned about engorgement, few are tipped off to the fact that their breasts will suddenly deflate at six weeks postpartum. It takes about that long for your body to figure out your infant's nursing needs and adjust to making milk at the appropriate times. With milk coming in at regular intervals, moms don't have that bursting-your-buttons feeling anymore, leading some to erroneously believe that they're not making enough milk. Couple the feeling of soft breasts with the fact that most babies have a big growth spurt at six weeks and seem constantly hungry, and you've got legions of nursing mothers running for the formula to take up the imaginary slack. The answer here is to trust your body—your baby is hungrier because he's growing, so just feed him when he asks and your breasts will make more milk to meet the demand.