My 1 Year Just Weaned 9 Days Ago and I'm Having Some Discomfort

Frozen cabbage leaves helped me 2 summers ago when I went threw this with my first. Helps dry up milk and made me a lil more comfy. Congrats on making it this far.

You are right on track. It took me two weeks to lose the pain. Everyone is different, but it sounds right.

Actually this is normal. While your daughter is no longer nursing, your breasts are still producing. Try expressing or pumping out the milk. Not a full pumping. Just enough to make you comfortable. If you empty the breast completely, you will continue to produce. If you empty it but not completely, you will still produce milk but your milk supply will decrease with the demand. Most people I have talked to only have to express or pump for a week or two before they are comfortable and not engorged from lack of feeding.

In the meantime, it may sound odd but cabbage leaves inside your bra for a day or two can help with engorgement, also. I'm not sure why it works but I know it really worked for my aunt. Just stick it in your bra between your bra and your breast. Change it a couple of times a day.

Also, a hot shower where you let the water fall directly on your breasts can help. Usually by releasing some of the milk. I know when my son stopped, I manually expressed some of the milk during each shower for the first couple of weeks and that was enough not to be engorged.

Anyhow, hope this helps. Good luck.

I just weaned about 3 weeks ago and had similar discomfort. My Dr. (and advice I found on the internet) told me to do warm compresses and then gently massage your breast (especially where you feel lumps). I used a compress I had that would be similar to rice in a towel or bag and microwaved it for a couple minutes then placed it on my breasts (it wasn't super hot, but pretty warm). When I would massage, I was expressing some milk which made me worried that my body would keep making more, but it didn't. After 2 days of this I was pretty much normal, no pain, no lumps and unfortunately my breasts were back to normal size. You can do a search on the internet to find out how to make a warm compress at home (that's what I did). Good luck - hope it works as well for you! I would try this before taking the time to go to the Dr. - if you do a google search, you will probably find lots of similar advice (that's what I did).

Hi T.,

Kudos to you for nursing your baby to her one-year birthday! That is a great accomplishment and you should be very proud of yourself. I'm sorry that you are having discomfort. Here is some info on kellymom that might help you:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/weaning_mom.html

J.
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You may want to try expressing just a bit of milk to help with the discomfort. You want to where a jogging bra so that it will help cut down the milk supply faster. You can also try cabbage leaves in your bra to help with the pain and if you where them for a while they will also help slow down production

For a couple of weeks I would get in the shower and message my breast to let out some of the milk to release some of the pressure. It is normal for you to be tender when holding your daughter, it your body's natural response to her for your milk to come in and be ready for her to feed. You can also put cabbage leaves over your breast inside your bra to help with the discomfort and it will help dry up your milk. Good Luck!

Just hang in there....do not pump or feed your baby. You'll be ok. Take some Tylenol if it gets too sore. I nursed 3 kids for a year also.

T., I'm going through the same thing atm. And believe me, I understand your pain. From my understanding (what my mother tells me) is this is all normal. As for the lumps, I've known women who have gotten them after nursing. Apparently, they are cloged milk ducts and can happen to some women. Personally though, I would still get them checked just to be on the safe side.

Hi,
I think you have a clogged milk duct. I have had that a bunch. In order to prevent it turning to an infection use a warm compress on the area, massage the area, take a bath or shower and try ot express some milk-normally you nurse or pump to clear the duct as well but since you are weaning I am not sure... It is pretty uncomfortable/painful but it can go away pretty easily as well. It usually take me aday to clear it up. Hope you feel better soon!

This is normal. It will be sore for awhile. Try expressing a little to ease the pressure, but not too much to keep your body to keep producing milk. I quit cold turkey with one of my children, it was so painful. I did gradual weening with my other children, which helped out a lot so there was not discomfort as much. So maybe you could express the milk, but gradually not express so much to reduce the milk flow naturally. Hot as you can stand washcloths and tylenol help too with the pain/soreness. Hope this helps...

first of all they are going to decrease in size because they are bigger when filled with milk. it sounds like hromones is why your breasts are sore. i would keep a bra on even when you sleep if they are sore. i do not know where you live but if you live in the mantua/deptford area a really good gynocologist is Dr.Keswani. he was awespme and a friend of mine from work really liked him also,he has a great bedside manner.

This sounds weird, but try putting cabbage leaves in your bra. It helps your body to absorb the excess fluid.

I agree with Melinda... probably best to get it checked thoroughly just in case, even if it's a clogged duct.

Hi, It's normal that you are a bit uncomfortable...hot showers, ice packs, good tight bra's, and time will all help you through this. You could also try binding...take a bath towel and have your husband wrap you tighly and pinn it before you go to bed or when you are up but not leaving the house. A nurse did that to me when I went through this with my first one and it really felt good espically if you warm (or cool which ever feels better to you) the towel first. Best wishes

It is typical to have sore breasts after finishing nursing. I also had them for about two weeks. You can try putting cold cabbage leaves on them to relieve the pain or even a cold compress. It may take a while for the soreness to go away. My doctor also told me to stand in a warm shower and let the milk leak out which would help with the soreness. She also told if it gets too bad then try to pump a little bit and it would relieve the pain. Good Luck!

Hi I can sympathize I have breastfed all three of my girls and had a similar problem and also mastitus. My sister in law was a lactation consultant so I was very lucky to have her help. As your weaning be careful to go slow. Don't try to do it too quickly. One feeding every few days. This is also going to sound crazy, but putting raw cabbage leaves on your breasts will help. I have no idea why but it really helps. I just stuck them in my bra while I was watching Tv. If you need to release som pressure when your in the shower express some milk yourself while massaging a particular sore lump. It is all prtetty normal but weird the first time through. Good luck to you and your little one.

A little about me: I'm a SAHM with three girls
Gabriella 8 1/2, Jaclyn 6 today and the terror Angelena 4. I love being home and look forward to going back to teaching again when they are much older. I love that my husband made it ossible for me to choose. I live in Hatboro PA.