ok i am sure some of you read my other posting about weaning my daughter. I just did this Tuesday and i am happy to say she is doing great. She goes to sleep on her own in her crib and i pat her to sleep. But now its me i need some advice! my breasts are a bit full. its not really painful unless you touch them. my question is when will my milk supply decrease?? i havent nursed in 4 days, at all. not even expressed a small bit. but are there any tricks you can do? with my first daughter i cant remember how long it took me to dry up. also how long will it take before i get the dreaded period back?? any advice appreciated!! thanks mommas!!
Thank you to everyone for their help and advice. I got so engorged I tried expressing a little by hand but that just wasnt enough! Last night I let my daughter almost empty them. It was the last nursing session. So it was a goodbye for both of us. I did get a lot of personal messages telling me I should keep nursing......My daughter and I are both ready to stop. She has gradually getting bored with it and I am ready too. The past two weeks I have gradually been decreasing feedings. The nights were the last to go! Now we are both doing great. I am comfortable and she is happy and puts herself to sleep at nighttime. We had almost 13 months of great nursing so I feel she got what she needed and we bonded and now on to the next phase of babyhood!! Luckily its not the end of nursing for me! Hubby and I want ONE more so I look forward to the next one and the bond of nursing!!
I always tapered off gradually so for me this wasn't an issue. Maybe you could taper off a little more slowly.
Did you know breastfeeding helps brain development up to 2 years of age? They had a special article about it in the Seattle Times a while back.
I agree with the last response. Hopefully you weaned gradually so that you don't end up painfully engorged, but in the case that you still are, cabbage leaves work great. I didn't ever use them myself but my Sister In Law did and raved about them. Just get a head of cabbage at the grocery store. Take one large leaf off and warm in under the faucet of warm water and lay it over each breast for a few min. You may have to do it a couple of times until your milk dries up, but it will soothe the engorging. This technique is recommended mostly for beginning nursers who engorge easily when starting out and they always warn to not over use it because it could effect milk supply, so I think it would be perfect in your case where you are wanting to diminish your milk supply. Good luck and congratulations on your growing family.
Just take some ibuprofen for pain, I think Don't express, or your milk supply will keep coming.
Hi K.,
I weaned in mid-Sept last year and didn't get my period until end of October. That was about six or seven weeks. Depends on you, I guess. Anyway, the period was bad, but I actually felt more normal than I had since I gave birth after I got it.
As for weaning, maybe you can try expressing just a bit to relieve the pressure. That helped for me.
Weaning means that you do it gradually. So, if you did it cold turkey, your breasts will engorge. I would express just enough to feel relief and express less and less each day until it stops hurting, then let it dry up on its own.
It took more than 2 weeks for me to stop producing milk. Refrigerated cabbage leaves help (peel a couple off and stick them in your bra. Replace when they get warm and wilted). Also Earth Mama Angel Baby makes products like Booby Tubes (for engourgement discomfort) and No More Milk Tea.
Hi, I've heard that adding sage to your diet can reduce your milk supply. So try that in a little pasta or as a tea if your breasts are uncomfortable.
I just joined Mamasource so I have not read your other post about weaning, however big kudos to you as that can be a struggle so it's good to hear that she is doing well.
As for the milk drying up, it can take weeks. I have heard if you put cabbage leaves on your breasts the supply decreases, call it kinda strange, however my neighbor did this a few months ago after I researched this same topic for her on the internet and it worked. I just googled, cabbage leaves on boobs or something. I've already heard from friends that taking something like Benedryl helps too because of the anahistamine.
If your boobs are just so engorged and really hurt you might just massage them in the shower and maybe try to get a little milk out, I had to do that because man, oh man, did they ever hurt. Sports bra too, I wore mine.
I don't remember exactly how long it takes for the milk supply to go away, but if you haven't expressed any, I would, or it does get painful. It won't prolong the drying up of your milk, since she doesn't sound like she is nursing at all anymore, so you will need to relieve the pressure at least a little bit. It won't take long for your period to come back, since she has stopped nursing, probably a month or two. fun fun. I loved the first year of nursing how it kept my periods at bay. :)
I weaned slowly, so I never had trouble with being too full.
You can talk to your dr about a med to dry you up faster..
For about a week after I'd weaned my son my breasts were really full and uncomfortable. I actually had to break down and feed him once, after 8 days, just to relieve the pressure. It was kind of nice - a good-bye to nursing for both of us - and after that my milk dried up. Period came about a month later. Good luck...
I had a lactation specialist who told us to take Sudafed. It will help dry you up. Something about the decongestant in it.... Give it a try. Hope this helps!
Wear a tight sports bra or wrap your chest with ace bandages tightly. The compression is an old school (my great great grandmother's) trick to getting it to go away faster. Good luck.
