No Longer Breastfeeding but Breasts Hurt

When you weaned did you wean feeding by feeding or all at once? Feeding by feeding really should not have caused you much discomfort. I had a golf ball sized lump in one of my breasts after weaning my DD. It was painful to the touch. I would recomend massaging the sore area and letting the hot water in the shower pound on the area to give relief. Also, if you weaned all at once you might need to pump here and there if you think you are engorged to get relief. As long as you pump rarely and inconsistanly it should not cause you to keep producing. Hope you feel better soon!

Pump. Pump until you feel comfortable. You are still lactating so it won't be relactation. If you pump it will relieve the pressure you are feeling. Don't pump till you are empty. Just pump to make your self comfortable. Because you won't be pumping all of the milk, you will make less each time and need to pump less often. Do not believe that because you don't pump you are not still making milk. Trust me. I had problems with my milk supply. In order to keep your milk supply up or increase it through pumping alone you have to pump more often than you would have had to breastfed twins.

Try pumping for 10 minutes a couple times a day, no set times. Just when you are feeling pressure. Then cut it down to 5 minutes after a couple of days, and then cut down the number of times you pump. You may only need to do it for a day or so. You may only need to do it once. But don't go around in discomfort because you are afraid pumping will prolong it. It won't. I've been there. You can't start lactating again because the truth is you haven't yet stopped.

I know a year after I stopped breastfeeding my daughter I still had milk (very little) but I still could pump out a couple of tablespoons of milk. Same with my son. But the discomfort of not feeding them when I weaned them gradually was minimal if none and pumping alleviated that. When I felt that pressure I pumped a little out and it felt fine afterwards. About a week after I dealt with the pain by pumping, I was fine and didn't need to pump at all anymore.

If you don't believe me, check with La Leche League. They are experts.

Good luck.

Hi
I just had this problem. my son is 16 months and i stopped breastfeeding him a month ago. the pain was more than i expected. The best advice someone gave me was to put green cabbage leaves in my bra. The sodium in the cabbage draws out the milk and it's coldness from being in the fridge acts as an icepack. In 3 days my breasts were fine. Leave it to good old natural remedies. I hope this helps you...pumping will only confuse your body. You want the mild dried up.
L.

Do you have a breast pump that you can use? You may have to pump every once in a while to relieve the pressure.... but you shouldn't have to pump very long or very often and you should be able to stop very soon.....

Best of luck, and the pain won't last long :o)

ICE! For reasons of my own, I chose not to breast feed my youngest and I suffered a little bit of engorgement!! I found that cool showers and ice packs did the trick. DO NOT TAKE HOT SHOWERS!! It only encourages milk to come in.

D. M

my sister's friend told me that cabbage leaves work! seriously, you place the leaves in your bra and for whatever reason, it will help dry you up. that's what she told me she did when i was undecided about how to feed baby. i never tried it, but it can't hurt to try!

Hi C.,

Don't pump!! It will only tell your breasts to produce more milk. I second the hot shower and possibly hand squeezing a few drops out to relieve the pressure, but no more than that. I had mastitis with my first child - it usually occurs when bacteria enters the milk gland via the baby's mouth or fingers. With my second child, I wore a sports bra night and day until I dried up and it helped with the pain. Good luck! You'll be back to normal in no time!

I've never experienced a lot of pain, but I've always heard women say put cabbage leaves in your bra and change them when they are wilted (the cabbage not the breasts! lol ;) )
The pumping will signal your body to produce more milk and then it's the cycle of getting engorged b/c you don't want to pump more... talk to your DR. too about it.

When I completely weaned my son at 10 months I was down to pumping once per day when I stopped all together. It took 2 weeks and then my breasts suddenly felt engorged. I didn't do anything (like pump), I didn't get mastitis or clogged ducts and it went away after a few days.

Do NOT pump!! If you pump your breasts will still make milk.. which in turns your breast will hurt longer. I know it's very painful, even more at night - wear a sports bra ( something tight ) with pads. I've even used wash cloths in my bra. You'll look a little silly for a couple days but thats the only thing that helped me. The pain will go away in about a week. Good luck, I hope this helps.
- A. C.

Hello C.,
I had the problem of leaking and also of hurting as well, and what i would do is get into a hot shower and just let the water run on my breast and it felt wonderful afterwards i would put on my bra and then a pad, then iwould wrap my self super tight with a ace bandage or two and then presure of the ace bandaged helped with stopping my breast from filling up soo much with milk, and i was done leaking in about two too three weeks. I hope that this helps. Good Luck
S.

It takes quite a while to fully dry up. Try ice packs to calm the pressure but you are right about preventing mastitis. Don't be afraid to pump becuase if I get blocked ducts I'm really prone to mastitis and you really don't want that. It really does take a while to dry up. Just pump enough of to feel comfortable. It probably took this long to fill up with milk becuase you have been weaning and so your baby wasnt eating that much milk.

The right thing to do is to pump just a couple of ounces out every 6 hours around. Mastitis is horrible (it took me three months to get rid of and is EXTREMELY painful!). You never realize that the area can be so sensitive, but it can really hurt. I spoke with three LLL consultants, a breastfeeding consultant (an MD) and a breast surgeon, not to mention three different OB/GYN doctors. They all told me to slowly cut down production (NOT stop cold turkey). And by the end of about two or three weeks, you can stop all together. Key is to just cut down a little bit at a time. All the other advice (cabbage leaves, ice, etc...are also a good compliment to this advice.

Best of luck to you,
M.