Please Share Advice!!! I'm Trying to Stop Breastfeeding..

Hi A.,
I had the same problem when I tried to stop breastfeeding. I talked to a lactation specialist who told me to express a very little amount of milk from my breasts - just enough to relieve the pain. I have a breastpump, so I did that once a day for 2 days and then I started to feel the pain and fullness go away. You may want to try that. Hope it helps. Also, some people have told me to "bind" my breasts but I've heard that is very bad for you so I chose to go the other route.
L.

It's normal. You might want to try placing warm compresses on them or letting warm water run on them in the shower. I have three girls and breast feed all of them. Good luck!

Ack - I feel your pain. I stopped just a few weeks ago. I pumped just a bit to relieve the pain (just a minute or two) and i took benadryl. The benadryl made a BIG difference. I also laid off the water. It took me almost 2 weeks to dry up :(

Good Luck!

Did you stop cold turkey? It sounds like it, and if so, that's really not the best way to stop breastfeeding. You need to gradually transition your baby from the breast to cow's milk, replacing one feeding at a time. This is best both for your baby and for you, because your body needs time to adjust. Replace one nursing session a week with cow's milk in a sippy. For example, if you nurse 5 times a day, nurse 4 times a day and give one sippy this week. Next week, nurse 3 times a day and give two sippies, and so on.

If you wean gradually, you really shouldn't experience a lot of pain. Cabbage leaves stuffed in the bra can help relieve engorgement and dry you up, or you can pump off just a little. But, I would only suggest this is you're weaning gradually. Please don't try to stop cold turkey!!

just express enough by hand to get the lumpiness away. you should only have to do it once or twice with only small amounts. it makes the week go by faster and you are more comfortable. i nursed mine for a year and went through the same thing, i just expressed just enough to make the pain go away and it worked. Did both children and both times it worked. of course make sure and wear pads because you will leak (you are probably already leaking)

just decrease by one feeding a week to gradually wean her off. Be sure to wear tight bras and don't take any hot showers ( will make you leak more).
If you try to stop cold turkey, it is faster but you do get the lumps and discomfort. Again, no hot showers or massaging them and they will return to normal in a few days.

I weaned slowly (dropping one at a a time) and still had pain/engorgement. I thought my breasts would just gradually get smaller, but when they didn't after a couple of days, I took a shower and just pushed on them to express some of the milk that way. It worked for me. It relieved my discomfort and I didn't keep producing. Good luck, I know it can be emotionally and physically a challenge!

Oh! You must feel horrible.
Yes, I've heard this is normal. You might try ice packs, or a bag of frozen vegetables. If it's not too late, you could try a more gradual approach. If you have a pump, use it to simulate nursing about 3 times a day for a while (morning, noon and bedtime), then drop the middle pumping, wait 3 or 4 days, then drop another, etc.
In the meantime, take Advil and drink tons of water. Watch out for signs of mastitis.

yes very normal and also very painful, ideally the best thing is to slowly decrease feedings . If you feed 4 times a day decrease to three over a week and then two etc..
If you have stopped feeding then use a breast pump to release (let down) but dont pump, it should give you just enough relief so you are not miserable and do as needed and milk will dry up.

take care

I stopped nursing my son at 10 months. My husband had business in Hawaii...and I really wanted to go. Anyway, I started by deleting one feeding a week. I kept the morning feeding until last. He was not eager to stop. He would never take a bottle from me. He is 9 yrs old now, so I don't remember everything. I think he was only nursing about 4 x's a day at that time. So, it took about 1 month total. I never had any problems whatsoever physically. Use hot rags to reduce the lumps and pressure. You need to watch from clogged ducks. If you have any other questions about anything else, feel free to email. I also have 3 yr. old twins. I only nursed them for 5 months. I mainly pumped, they had a hard time sucking.

I'm nursing my 4th. Sounds crazy, but cool cabbage leaves in your nursing bra. The cabbage has some sort of chemical that helps dry you up faster and the coolness helps with engorgement. Best of luck. M.

This is very common. You might want to take some type of Ibeuprophen (Advil or store brand), to relieve your discomfort, and bind your breasts as tightly as possible (with a good sports bra or something of that nature...holding them tightly in place). Your milk will begin to dry up after a few days of not being nursed. It is extremely painful.

Or, if you DO NOT take the Advil, you can let the baby nurse once a day for awhile. The milk will dry up more slowly then. It will signal your body to cut back on the milk production. But you shouldn't do this if you are taking medication. And letting her nurse anymore would just continue the milk production in your body.

Since you've already stopped her from nursing, though, it might be best to continue in that direction..especially if she seems to be doing okay. And go ahead and bind your breasts tightly and take the *Advil* product. It cuts down on the pain and inflamation.

Good luck and God Bless.

hi, my name is M. and I am a mother of two little girls and pregnant with my third. the best advice is to use lots of breast pads and place something cold on and around your breasts to help the soreness and pain...for example cold cabbage leaves soft ice packs and you'll be fine within a week maybe less. Good Luck!

Hi-I feel your pain, literally, my twins were weaned at 6 months. I had the same symptoms, tender, lumpy and very full breasts. My twins are now 20 months old and it has been a while but this is what I recall:

- I pumped just enough to relieve the pressure, I leaked a lot, too.

- I 'massaged' both sides prior to pumping and anytime I felt a hard spot.

- I kept myself 'bound' pretty snug, I would wrap a towel around my chest a few times a day.

- I didn't try but I heard cabbage leaves cupped around each breast (in your bra) helps stop the flow?

Good luck and hang in there, it'll stop aching soon.

I just weaned my daughter last month and I went through the same thing. If you have a pump, pump some milk out to relieve the engorgement. Don't pump a lot (because you will stimulate milk production...just enough to soften up your breast.) This will make a world of difference. If you don't have a pump, you can even hand express some milk out. Another thing that will really help is cabbage leaves. For some odd reason they REALLY help. I didn't believe it til I tried it myself. Put cold cabbage leaves inside your bra over your breast and change the leaves every 2 hours. Do this for a few days until your engorgement subsides. The cabbage will start to smell once it gets warm...I know it's gross but trust me...it works. I hope you get some releif soon...I know it was very painful for me. Good luck!

My lactation specialist said to pump your breasts just a little bit to ease the discomfort. Normally, after you nurse, your body "replenishes" your milk supply, but if you are only pumping a small amount out, your body doesn't get the message to make more. Eventually your milk will dry out. It worked for me!

I have nursed two babies (am done now) but it is so painful for your milk to dry up. I heard that you can take Claritin tablets to help dry up, but personally, I would let my breasts get full, where they hurt, and I would just express a little milk and then eventually (over a couple of days) they will get less and less full and the pain will go away.

Hope this helps!

It is NOT normal for your breasts to be in pain when you stop nursing your child. You need to stop using your doctor who told you that it is normal because obviously they don't know very basic facts.
Weaning can occur 2 ways. Either 1)infant led or 2)parent led. Infant led is called natural weaning. Either way needs to occur GRADUALLY. You stop one nursing session every few days. Some books/experts say reduce one nursing session a week but we were fine with reducing 1 every 3-4 days.
Your body produces milk on a supply/demand. If your daughter has been nursing quite a bit and then you suddenly stop, your body is still producing milk to satisfy the high demand. So, you have all this milk in your breasts with no place to go. This will cause you to get a clogged duct which could lead to mastitis. The best treatment for either problem is more nursing or pumping on the affected breast which defeats the goal of weaning.
If you will gradually cut back on the # of times you nurse, your body will adjust its production without causing you problems and won't be a huge shock to your daughter. We cut out afternoons first. Eventually, we just had night nursing and finally my son didn't even want that. We did infant led weaning and just finished up right as he turned 16 months. I had absolutely NO pain or discomfort. I have many friends who nursed and they experienced NO pain or discomfort either. The only problem I had was mental. I miss it! I miss that quiet, snuggle time together. My son is very active so nursing was one way we had to have some quiet time together.
If you want more info, you can visit the La Leche website or attend a La Leche meeting. My son and I were regular Leche meeting attenders. It was great for me to be around other like-minded mothers and be able to have all my questions answered.