Breast Engorgement- Seeking Help to Stop Supply of Milk

Hi T., I just weaned my 16 month old last month and I also had very sore breasts. I found that pumping just a tiny bit (like 1 oz) was enough to alleviate the discomfort, but not so much that it slowed down the process of the milk drying up. Hot showers also helped. Good luck. D.

Pump only a little for relief and freeze it - no sense in wasting it. Then go have a friend wrap you very tightly in elastic bandages. You will be miserable for several days and do not even think of taking them off until the pain subsides. It really works!! I know this sounds very old-fashioned, bit it really works.

Good luck and blessings to you -

+B+

Hi,
The doctor or pharmacy can give you a pill to help you to dry up. I do believe you can get them with out a perscription???? Good Luck
L.

A lactation specialist told me to use cabbage leaves as well. What you have to do is take a leaf off and roll it flat with a rolling pin. By rolling it out it breaks up something in the leaf. Put the leaf in your bra. After about 15 mins in the bra my milk came pouring out. It really works!
Good luck!
B.

You can express some milk yourself. It works well in the shower. This will give you some relief!
Here's how, from google:
gently massage or stroke the breast from chest towards nipple; to soften the breast. 8-10 times.
put your thumb over areola (the black circle around nipple); and other fingers below nipple parallel to it.
now push back the breast to chest wall keeping finger at areola; 2-4 times.
alternate above movement with gentle pressing of areola to express milk; keeping fingers at same position.
now rotate fingers around nipple; parallel to each other to get more milk.
spend 3-5 minutes per breast; lo u did it.

T., Here's what I did under the advice of a lactation consultant. Wrap chest tightly with an ace bandage with bags of fz peas on/around your breasts inside the wrap. Bags of fz peas can conform to the shape of your breasts, making them more effective than ice packs. Also, be sure to drop just one feeding at a time (pump at other times if you want to stay consistent w/ the bottle/cup from here on out). Choose a feeding to drop and, at most, pump for about two minutes the first day to relieve some pressure. The next day, just skip the feeding all together. Wrap the fz peas tightly onto yourself during that time both days (and the next, if necessary). After a couple of days, you should be able to drop that feeding. Then, pick a feeding far away timewise from the one you just ended and repeat the process. Keep doing this until all feedings are dropped. This probably won't help for your anniversary, though (congrats, btw!). To help with the engorgement, fill a sink (or bowl) with warm water and submerge your breast for 5-10 minutes. Then either pump for 10 minutes if it's a feeding you are not trying to eliminate or pump for 1-2 minutes to relieve the pressure if you are trying to eliminate that feeding. Some can just squeeze their breasts into a towel to relieve some pressure, though I could never bring myself to do that. Stopping your milk supply is a slow, methodical process if you want to make sure you do not get engorged and, worse, mastitis. Try the cabbage leaves and other suggestions, too. I didn't use them but would have done just about anything. Can't hurt!

pack fresh sage leaves into your bra and drink sage tea. Will help stop the milk production. Also, wet hot compresses can help with the pain of engorgement and help to prevent mastitis. Good luck!

T.,
I would pump, but only enough to relieve you. After a few days your body will realize your not using as much as you used to. It will slow down by itself. Also cabbage leaves frozen in the freezer are awesome. They have something in the leaf that helps with this. Also standing facing a hot shower will allow them to leak a little therefore helping to bring some comfort. Just don't empty the breast. This way it will send a message to the milk glands that produce the prolactin not to make anymore milk.
Good luck, I know how you feel,
trish

Have you tried birth control pills...they will slow your milk production down. I had a newborn that passed away in 2006. I was instructed to wrap my breast up tightly and take cool showers or just wash up. It was painful (physically and mentally) but it worked... with help from Motrin.

Stand in a hot shower and lightly massage your breasts and lean over so they milk can drip or pour out. I did this instead of pimping to get bottles of milk because after I got out of the shower and bent over to dry my legs the milk just poured out on my feet and I couldn't see wasting it. I hope it works for you.

Something that helped me was to get in a warm shower and just let some of the milk leak out on it's own. It relieved the pressure somewhat. The warmth worked better for me than cold packs. Hope you find something that works for you.

Have you tried self pumping? cup your hands under your breast and "milk" like you would if you were milking a cow (or what that looks like since I've never milked a cow). Also, pumping helps with the weening process. Pump every other time but cut the time you do down each time. It could take a week or two for your body to the picture, but it helps the process go more smoothly. It will also help to ween your child because the milk supply won't be there when he goes to nurse and he will soon get the hint that there is more food to be had somewhere else.

Hope that helps
K.

Hi T.,

Congratulations on your anniversary! Just to let you know the shower on the breasts actually stimulates the milk supply. However, if you get into a warm bath and just let the milk out in the bath it does not stimulate more to be made. I have four children that I breastfed and was told about this trick in the beginning and it worked so well. I used it all the time because I had such an over abundance of milk. So much in fact that when my youngest was in an incubater when she was born for joundice, the nurses asked me if I wanted to donate some of it to the NICU as my baby could not use all of it. Needless to say I donated all my baby did not use. The cabbage leaf also does work to ease pain, but I do not know about milk supply. I tried the cabbage leaf when I had a breast infection and it worked wonderfully. Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful time.

D.

Hi T.,

If you have a pump with you (I'm not clear whether you are home or out of town) Go ahead and pump. I know that everyone will tell you that letting milk out just tells your body to produce more (which is true) but if it's between enjoying your aniversary and painful breasts... I say empty those babies out! And don't worry about it stimulating more milk... even if your body thinks you still want milk... it has noticed that you want it less often :-)

There isn't really a way to stop milk supply cold turkey... so even if you've closed up shop for your DS, you'll probably want to continue pumping (gradually waiting longer and longer between pumpings, just like you would if you were gradually weaning DS)until you're down to just once a day. At that point you can probably just quit and except for a little fullness around that time, you'll be fine.

Good luck and congratulations on 5 years!

T.

Decongestants will shut down a supply (as will some birth control pills... that is what did my wet nurse in... oi.)

If you can get to whole foods, the aromatherapy route is a dab of sage oil on the chest. (clary sage).

And like others said, pump n'dump for the big night, just so you are comfortable.

Happy anniversary!!!

Hi T.,

I found just putting warm towels on my breasts helped out and kept them from hurting while the milk was drying up.

Hope this helps.

Happy Anniversary.

N. Marie

Cool cabbage leaves are very effective. Good luck and enjoy your anniversary!

Go for the cabbage leaves! I have had 4 kids and it was not until the last one that I learned the cabbage trick. It was magic!!!!

I know this may sound strange, but put cold cabbage leaves in your bra. It really feels good and there is some natural compound in there that helps reduce the engorgement.

Hi there! Can you pump a little out? Being engourged hurts so bad! I remember going though that. It will subside. I don't think there is really much you can do to releave the pain unleass you let a little out. Can you call a lactation consulted in your area? La Leche?? Good luck, and Congrats on your anniversary!!

Call La Leche League in your area or speak with a lactation consultant. In the meantime, you might want to express a little milk so you're not too engorged.

It usually takes about a week, but for me was only really uncomfortable for three days or so. Binding your breasts tightly really helps--wear a tight sportsbra or two (one over the other) day and night. Motrin helps relieve the pain and inflamation, too. Ice is good, but sportsbras helped me the most.

cabbage leaves are supposed to be a natural way to help stop production. place them in your bra.

A couple of great resources for breast feeding (for future reference)...

www.kellymom.com
www.llli.org

Good luck!

T.
Founder
www.theparentpack.org

I got a breast binder online at babycenter.com. You might be able to find it at babies r us. It's not very expensive ($15) and it works well. It's like a big elastic wrap that is held by velcro. It took a day or two of wearing it (even at night and right back on after a shower) to stop the engorgement and soreness. Then by the end of the week, my breasts felt almost normal again. The binder is like a corset and when kept really tight, my breasts didn't hurt as much. I've also heard the herb, sage stops milk production. I would use it in chicken and have even tried seeping it as a tea (though that didn't taste very good).

Hope this helps...

i've heard peppermint tea is good milk stopper...

Same thing happened to me, I know how painful it is. My dr said and this helped...
1. Wear a sports bra all the time, preferably a tight one.
2. In the bath tub try to express some milk to relieve the pressure.

Good luck!

try cabbage leaves in your bra, this should help dry your milk.

Cabbage leaves. It sounds like an old wives' tale, but it's not -- this is something that was recommended by a lactation consultant. Get a nice big cabbage leaf for each side, crush them a little bit and stick 'em in your bra.

Here's some more info, in case you think I'm a lunatic: http://www.drgreene.com/21_1814.html