I have been gradually weaning my daughter over the past several months. For a few weeks we were down to once a day and this week I dropped that feeding. What I want to know is how long til my breasts will feel normal again? They don't hurt per se, but are hard and uncomfortable. Will this go away anytime soon?
My breasts were never sore when I stopped nursing. Be sure you don't have a breast infection. AF
I nursed my daughter for 17 months...once I completely weaned her it took 2-3 weeks for getting back to normal!
Not sure if this is something that's completely different for every woman, but it took mine about a month, and just the other night I still got a pain in one of them. I did have mastitis though, and was then able to bring my milk production back up, and I'm not sure if that affected the time it took my body to get back to normal.
It will take a few weeks for your body to make the adjustment. If it gets really uncomfortable you can always stand under a hot shower and let the water induce let down. This will partially empty your breasts without causing the usual stimulation to produce more. It's not a permanent solution, but it can help on the worst of post-weaning days.
When I weaned my son a couple of years ago,I did it gradually (like you did), and I had one breast that caught on right away--no pain or discomfort--and one that got a bit engorged--hard and uncomfortable. I finally couldn't take it anymore, so I pumped just a little milk (less than 1 ounce) from that side. It lessened the pressure and seemed to fix the problem--my breast got the message and I didn't have to pump again.
Due to my son's GI issues, I stopped nursing cold turkey when he was 10 wks. On the days I was really uncomfortable, I would pump just enough to relieve the knots and pain. It took me about a week before my body stopped producing milk.
However, I will warn you, 8 months later I do still leak a little from time to time (when my son cries, for example). And you may want to warn your hubby before he finds that out the hard way. lol
Well your body has to have time to figure you don't need all that milk. If your breast are super full its going to be uncomfortable. If you are super uncomfortable express just a little to feel better. Not to much of course because you're trying to tell your body you don't need it. This is all I did and it did take a little over a week for my breast not to be so hard.
Well, I had gone down to 1 feeding a day in the morning. It's been 3 weeks since we've stopped altogether and I feel completely normal. It doesn't hurt anymore when you massage it. Hang in there!
