Finishing Breastfeeding

Hi! If you can get away with it, a great way to wean is to go away for the weekend. I did this recently and it worked really well - plus, you get to relax. I took a pump along ( I recommend a double electric...hand pumps don't work nearly as well...maybe you could rent one?) and pumped only when I was really engorged. After the weekend, I only needed to pump a few other times, again only when necessary. Within a few days, the milk was gone.

I would say when you get engorged, just pump a little bit until you dont feel like your boobs arent going to blow off. I did that for a couple days, and then it just slowly went away. Your milk supply is probably down a lot anyways since you only breastfeed a couple times a day.

Stopping cold turkey can lead to engorgment, so when you feel the engorgment just pump to release it, dont empty. You can wear bras with breast pads in case you leak. Make sure you dont have any stimulation to the breast whatsoever, (so hubby is to leave them alone) when you shower dont let the water hit them.

Good Luck hope all goes well, any questions feel free to PM me.

Mint helps dry up milk. Try some mint tea several times a day!

M. in Anderson

The way that I stopped both times was I started pumping exclusively, and gradually I pumped less and less until I was only getting like an ounce or two. I had very very little discomfort (form what I've heard to compare it to) and it really didn't take that long to do it this way. Obviously you would need to pump and dump I guess, but I'd suggest this way b.c it simply was not uncomfortable for me.

Good advice to pump a little not a lot. Although pumps remove less than baby so if you wanted to empty your breasts with the pump than you'd gradually decrease your milk suppy anyway. Depends on whether you want to decrease fast or slow. Also, the cabbage leaves work to help decrease milk supply and therefore engorgement. I just wanted to add that some of my clients put the leaves in the freezer first and say that that relieves some of the pain from engorgement, as well.

So sorry that you have to cut your breastfeeding relationship short. I have heard that green cabbage leaves relieve engorgement and mastitis. I would imagine it can also dry you up if you just use them a lot. You put them in your bra all day, to use them for that reason.

I used green cabbabe leave in my bra for 1 day and it all dried up. I never made too much milk anyway, but this has worked for several people I know. Just take a large whole green cabbabe leaf and placeit over your breast inside your bra. I think there is some sulfur in the cabbage that dries up the milk. If you put it in the fridge first and let it get cold, it will really soothe the engorgment too. Good luck!

K.

I just have to say... many doctors recommend against nursing with drugs that are perfectly safe, did you check with dr. Hale's book?

With that out of the way (and maybe you don't want to keep on even if you can), cabbage leaves in your bra should help dry you up and help with pain (put fresh ones in and change them when they get wilty--it won't smell great, but you don't need to do it for long and it does work), sudifed will dry you up, which is why most people don't take it while nursing. If you feel engorged, pump or express just enough to relieve yourself, that way you won't get mastitis, but you won't be stimulating more milk.

Take care.

K.