I just gave up our last morning feeding. Since I was only down to one, am I likely to get engorded or notice any changes? How long until the milk is gone?
If you've done a gradual weening, you won't get engorged. There was so little being made when we quit that I barely noticed a difference. But it was weird, even a year later I could literally squeeze my nipples and a teeny tiny drop of milk would come out.
Probably won't get engorged but you can have a little milk in there for a long long time but not really a problem. It was always sad for me as well as happy.
Weaning is gradual. The body adjusts to this.
You will not get engorged.
Drying up takes time. It is not overnight.
I nursed both my kids. They self weaned.
I dried up after awhile.
I'm talking months.... until I dried up. Or even a year.
There was still a little milk in my breasts.
It is gradual.
Just like LeeLee S. says below.
I didn't get engorged at all after I weaned my son but still used to get the let down feeling, with mo milk, for a good year after I stopped nursing. I actually went to my OB I'm make sure everything was ok, and she said it was. I was sad to be giving up that closeness but it was time.
Good luck to you and I hope your experience is painfree!
My daughter and I just finished our last feeding 2 saturdays ago and I have not felt engorged at all. I agree with one of the posters that it's sad in a way but being pregnant,breastfeeding,being pregnant again, and breastfeeding, I'm ready for my breasts to have a break.
I went down to one feeding for just a couple weeks. When I stopped it just dried up and nothing more.
I think everyone is different, but I was very lucky with both my BF experiences.
I never got engorged when drying up. And had no painful issues. Hope it happens for you!
Good luck!
I stopped nursing my DD at 19 months. I did the same thing, graduated down to one feeding and dropped it. I didn't get engorged. I leaked more than usual for a few days, then my milk just gradually dried up. She is now 25 months... I still have some milk. Luckily, it does NOT let down when I hear a baby cry any more... It does NOT leak, and I do NOT get engorged. It's just.... there. I can express some pretty easily, but it's not a nuisance at all. :)
We did a very gradual weaning, and when I finally stopped cold turkey I did not get engorged. I BFed my son for 23 months, and I would have gone longer but I got a really bad ear infection and needed to go on antibiotics that weren't BF friendly. I thought it would be harder for my son to stop, but he did great. It took a really long time for my milk to go away altogether, and even now after 8 months I can still express a few drops if I really try, so it's not gone entirely. You probably won't notice anything different, but even if you do it won't likely last too long.
For me, it depended on how fast I weaned. If it was gradual, I did have some engorging (sp), but it wasn't painful as when I went cold turkey with another child. When it was gradual, I think it was maybe 2 weeks at most for me to dry up completely and feel comfortable wearing a bra w/o leak pads. When I went cold turkey, that took a lot longer, it was a good 6 weeks if I remember right, could have been longer.
