Weaning - Knoxville, TN

I would use cabbage leaves and a sports bra all the time. It doesn't matter where you are or when. It really relieved my pain and my milk went away pretty quickly.

If you want to dry out you can buy a few cabbage leaves and put over your breast. This really does work and its safe.

when i weaned my daughter it took about two to three weeks before i felt comfortable. I even weaned her very gradually. I first started giving her a bottle twice a day and so on and then I was just nursing at night before I stopped. I still had milk for months even after my breasts stopped feeling full.

If you are completely done then you can get a sports bra that is tight and wear it untill your milk dries up. That is what I did with my son and it took about a week. It is painful for a few days but it eases off after a few days.

I have nursed four children, fourth one I am will be weaning soon. The best way to make your milk dry up is to suffer througha bad engorgement where your breasts get really heavy and real hard and even milk will leak so be sure to put on some nursing pads. After about a day the breasts should slowly get softer and dry up. I hope this helps. www.workathomeunited.com/myfoursonns

J.,

I nursed my twins until they were 5 months old. I was producing ALOT of milk. When i weaned i took some benedryl along with tylenol. Benedryl is an antihistamine so it drys up mucus membranes. I also expressed just enough to relieve the tension-it takes longer to "dry up" but i didn't want to deal with the pain. Also i experienced some crazy emotions after i weaned. i was on an emotional roller coaster for about two weeks. I don't know if other mothers experience this but i figured it was just my hormones readjusting.

Good Luck,
Mel

Hi! I didn't breastfeed my baby and so I became so engorged! What helped me to dry up and helped tremendously with the pain, was by binding my breasts up with ace bandages as tight as I could stand it. (have your husband or someone wrap you up-it's the easiest way) I promise it only took about 3-4 days for the milk to dry up and my breasts to go down. I heard that if you express the milk it will only make your breasts produce more milk. I know that it would feel a lot better to express, but don't if you want to dry up. So just give it a try, you'll feel better and sleep better I promise. Good Luck! Jen

Hi J.

When I weaned mine, I was told not to express anything. Take ibuprofen for the pain and cold packs on your breasts. It will take a little while, but they will stop making milk. Every time he cries it was cause let down for you until your breasts stop making milk. You will get through it! Since you are not nursing anymore, try the Advil PM, maybe that will help you get a little sleep. They make compresses for your breasts that you can put in the fridge and then put on your breasts or you can always use cabbage leaves out of the fridge.
Good Luck.
J.
(nursed 15 months)

I feel for you - I nursed my four children and also felt that discomfort. You might just have to wean yourself too (i.e., express a little or nurse right before you go to bed and stretch it for as long as you can). I did express when I was uncomfortable, but only to the point that I felt I could get that much needed night of sleep!

I nursed for a year also and it took 2 weeks for my milk to dry up and the pain to go away. I used cold cabbage leaves which helped with the discomfort. I know it feels like the pain and engorgement is never going to go away but it does. . .eventually. I expresssed once during the 2 weeks because I couldn't stand the pain but try not to do it too much because I think it will just extend the process. Good luck.

When I weaned my son, no one ever told me how to quit nursing and not be in pain myself! ;) Don't you hate that?

I finally called my doctor's office (my OB) and talked to his nurse (after three days of solid pain). She told me to put on the tightest bra I had and to put ice on my breasts (cold dries up the milk, and the tighter the bra, the better to help dry everything up, too).

I was completely milk-free in just a few days (I know that sounds like a LONG time, but it may work quicker depending on your current supply, etc.). It worked wonders for me ... no more pain!

Now, of course, this only works if you're not wanting to breastfeed any longer AT ALL, because apparently the cold dries up your supply ... but I was guessing that's what you were asking advice to do.

Good luck! I hope you're pain-free soon. That's NO fun! ;)

J.,

I'm a little surprised at some of the responses as everything I've read and been told has said to go slowly and not stop nursing cold turkey to prevent pain, engorgement and mastitis. My girlfriend swears by the cabbage leaves if you do get pain/mastitis but I have not had that problem. My daughter is 11 months old and I started weaning her a couple of weeks ago. I started by dropping 1 of my 2 pumping sessions at work for the 1st week, then when my body adjusted to that the 2nd week I dropped the other session. I tried to follow this same schedule at home on the weekends, too. I supplemented these sessions with frozen breast milk and formula for my baby. Previously I would nurse exclusively on the weekends but would send my baby to daycare with breast milk I had expressed from the day before at work. The key I think is to go slowly to let your body get used to this process. There were a couple of times I was a little uncomfortable but my body did adjust rapidly. Only a couple of times did I need to pump but I only did enough to relieve the uncomfortableness - I was told not to empty out your breast because that just increases the demand for milk which defeats the purpose. I've also been told that if you don't have a birth control method then you need to have a plan since the normal hormones will be coming back (since nursing isn't a birth control method anyway you've probably already explored that). Also, your menstrual cycle should go back to normal after weaning. I've also read that it may take several weeks to months for the breasts to return to normal size although they may not be completely 'normal' as compared to before. Also, not to stimulate your nipples at all, including squeezing them to see if they're still producing milk, as this will tell your brain to keep making milk. This could also take several weeks to months depending on the person. www.babycenter.com has some good advice/articles I would suggest if you haven't read them already but I don't think anyone should have to suffer through pain.

Good luck!

I, too, am surprised by all the responses which tell you to quit cold turkey. You should start by eliminating one of your nursing sessions. Then in a week or two eliminate another one once your body adjusts and so on. I started out by eliminating the night time feeding. In the morning when my child would nurse, that would relieve the engorgement. It wouldn't empty my breasts completely and it took about a week or two for my body to adjust. Then I eliminated the next feeding closest to bed time. Did that for a couple of weeks and so on till my children were weaned. (I have four children 17, 16, 4, 2 and I did this with all four). If you get engorged then only eliminate enough milk to ease the engorgement, do not empty your breasts completely. Emptying your breasts completely will only produce more milk. Mastitis is an infection in the milk duct. If you have mastistis your breast won't just be sore; you will be in excruciating pain. Your breast, at the area of the infection, usually will either have red streaks going from the nipple up the breast or just red, like a sunburn. I have had mastitis, two times. The first time I had the red streaking marks. The second time - no red streaking marks or red at all, just pain. I have also had mastitis which led to an abcess which led to me being put in the hospital for three days because I was septic (toxic); I nearly died. That was the second time. Like I said, I didn't even had red marks or a red area. Not until the second day in the hospital where half of my breast looked like I had been out in the sun way too long. I don't say this to scare you, I tell you this for you to be informed and know what can happen if you don't seek proper medical attention. PLEASE, don't let it go if you think or don't think you have mastitis. You need to call your OBGYN and talk to them. Your doctor can properly diagnose if you have it or not. If you have a good doctor, they won't mind the call.

I just recently weaned too, it took about 2 to 2 1/2 weeks to finally have my breasts back to normal. Yes the best advice is to let nature take its course. you will notice at night your breast will start naturally leaking so wear a breast pad but once you go through some pain and some wet nights your body will stop producing milk. If you expel some then the body keeps making it. Good luck, I only had two really painful days the others were just uncomfortable.
Red Cabbage leaves are what lactation consultions recommend for pain. Place a few of the leaves in the freezer to get them cold and then place them in your bra for 5-10min. This also aids milk elimination and stopped production.

One thing my midwife told me to do, which helped alot was to but green cabbage leaves in my bra. There is some property in them that helps with the soreness. It's best to let it chill in the fridge before you put them in, and switch them out when they get warm and limp. I know it may sound a little weird, but it helped me immensly.
-K.

J.,

Hi there. I’m sorry I don’t know much about Breastfeeding I only got to breast feed my daughter for about 2 and ½ weeks. She was 4 and ½ weeks early and spent 2 weeks in a nicunit. She had some really good nurses at the nicunit. I was having a lot of trouble breastfeeding and they wanted me to feed her and then go and pump but that did not work. I also all so very sick at this time. I had to have a C-section. But to get back to what I was going to tell you is. That she had a nurse that told me to put lettuce leafs on my breast. Something about the lettuce will cause the milk to harden back up. The nurse also told me that it would stop the pain. I did not have any pain that I know of from my breast. But you can try the lettuce on your breast it may help. I hope that will help you some. Good Luck.

K.

J.,
Congratulations for coosing to breastfeed your baby, that is really the best choice! The reason you are experiencing such discomfort, may be because of the way you weaned your baby. Weaning should be a process of gradually decreasing the number of and duration of feedings. If you stop breastfeeding all of a sudden, you will have fullness and discomfort. It will take your body some time to adjust to this engorgment. I don't think you should express, this will actually lead to more engorgment. If you are truly all done with nursing your baby, you will have to sit tight for a few more days before you will feel relief. Try a warm washcloth to help alleviate the pain. Good luck to you!