I recently posted a question here about how to wean my (almost) 12 month old son off breastfeeding. The response was overwhelming and I went with the most common answer - just stop cold turkey. I can't believe how smoothly it went. He didn't even notice! In fact, this has been the first time since he has been born that he sleeps through the night. But now I have another issue...engorgement!! I didn't realize how painful this was going to be. I hadn't been nursing him that much so I am surprised at how swollen, painful, and ROCK HARD my breasts are! So ladies, any advice on how to stop the inferno errupting in my boobs???
Do you have a pump? Is so I would pump out all the milk say once a day then go down to once every other day and so on. That is what I did... If you do not own a pump I don't know what you should do. Good Luck.
cabbage leaves...seriously. Put a cool leaf in each cup. Also sports bra and ice packs and in a couple of days you will be like new. Good luck. Also a little motrin never hurts!!!
well this wont stop it all together but it sure does help make it a little more comfortable. get yourself a bag of frozen peas. when you are feeling that not so good feeling, take them out of the frig bust it up a bit so its not a solid piece of ice and place the bag over a towel and on your breast. the bag of peas conforms to the breast nicely without the nusence of constantly falling off. good luck!!
You poor thing! My daughter weaned abruptly at 15 months and left me uncomfortable, too. I would try to consume as much parsley and sage - in food or brewed as tea - as possible. These herbs/veggies naturally help to dry up your milk supply, and have long been used by weaning mothers. Besides being helpful in this regard, they are also very tasty and nutritious and relatively inexpensive.
Good luck, and good for you for nursing your child for almost a year!! Your son will enjoy the health benefits of having been nursed by his loving mother for the rest of his life, you should be very proud.
I just thought i would reply because i had the same experience as you.I stopped breastfeeding a few months ago and went cold turkey also.Could not believe how hard and painful my breasts were.What i was told from a few different sources was to put cabbage leaves in my bra.I know it sounds strange but these actually start working straight away because they stop your milk flow.It was the greatest relief i have ever felt.Hope this works for you.
Hey R., I had some nursing issues also and worked with some fantastic lactation specialists. I would suggest expressing or pumping just enough to relieve the pressure but DON'T empty your breast. Your body will think your baby doesn't need as much milk and will automatically adjust to the amount it thinks your baby needs. It will probably take a few weeks but it will adjust automatically. This is the most painless way I know. Some people say just leave them alone and they will stop producing but that is just unnecessary pain in my opinion. :) Anyway, enjoy the extra cup size for a little longer and God Bless.
wear a bra 24 hrs or wrap yourself tightly with some ace bandages.. the engorgement only lasts a day or two, although it's a tough day or two! Take some Advil too.. just get it over with and you will be fine... just don't let the baby kick you when you are holding him! LOL
First awesome job nursing so long. Its great for both of you.
Now a couple tricks I was told was taking a warm shower and rub your breats to help express some milk or even take a daiper, soak it in warm water and place it on the breast. Silly little things that I was told. Hopefully soon the pain will go away as the milk dries help.
Good luck! :)
As I said before, "cold turkey" is terrible advice. It is bad for mom and bad for baby. You risk clogged ducts at best and a serious infection that could land you in the hospital at worst.
12 months old is much too young to be weaned. That being said, if you want to avoid infection, and you are for some reason adamant about not nursing your baby, you need to start pumping and gradually weaning yourself down.
I can't believe you were told to go cold turkey. It's so dangerous.
massage them and i went throught 2 whole cabbages! pull off full leaves (rinse) and stick em in your bra. They feel better when chilled, and there is something they release that helps engorgement. Once they get wilted, chuck em and put in fresh ones, sleep with them too. If you need to pump a little here and there, thats ok, just dont over do it because your breasts will make more. Also if you have a hand held shower head the high pressure around the really sore parts of your boobs will feel great, after a week of this it will start to feel much better, after 2 weeks you should be about done. Remember the cabbage leaves!!!! Goodluck!
I have tried cold cabbage leaves (which works well) for one of the times I stopped weaning. The coldness feels great and something about the cabbage leaves helps the engorgement to go down. I don't know why that is, but it does work. The other thing I had to do was express a little milk to relieve the presser when I weaned my second son. I had to stop cold turkey with him due to a medical issue. It helped to express a little milk here and there to relieve pressure, but not enough to keep my milk lactating. I know in the hospital that they bind you up with a tight band around your breasts for the first days after giving birth, if you are not going to breast feed. Just be cautious because if you don't get relief soon, you could wind up with a plugged duct or mastitus.
