Engorgement Pain!

you might consider this a sign that you should continue breastfeeding! unless there is a significant medical reason that you need to stop now. especially since your husband is gone a lot and you can be with your baby fulltime, breastfeeding is a wonderful way to continue your bond and give your baby the best possible nutrition as well as sense of security in the world, a gift which will last him, you, and your whole family a lifetime. the world health organization recommends breastfeeding until at least age 2, and children in most cultures nurse much longer than that. mine weaned themselves at 2-1/2 and 4-1/2 years and are now breastfeeding their children until they wean themselves. if you need more support and/or information to continue breastfeeding, you could contact la leche league. they also have some excellent books such as mothering your nursing toddler and how weaning happens.

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Why did you stop breastfeeding? It is not unusual, and very good for the baby to breastfeed until they are 1 1/2 or so. I found it easy(ish) to stop then because we could have a rudimentary discussion about it, because by that time my milk was running out, it hurt mommy and he could drink from a cup.

Best wishes,
Sarah

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Here is the best advice. Take two of your son's diapers, get them wet (not sopping) and put them in the freezer. WHen they are frozen, just stuff them into a sports bra, or your nursing bra assuming that you still have it. It's soft, cool, and it feels wonderful. Leave them in for about 20 minutes and pop them back in the freezer for the next time you need them. The cold also helps slow mild production, not just decrease swelling. It works fantastic, and you can go about your business while you are wearing the diaper packs. This came directly from a lactation specialist. Good luck!

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Are you following a doctor's instructions? One has to 'wean off' of breastfeeding...cutting out every-other-feeding for a couple of days, then cutting out every-other from what is left on your schedule for another couple of days, and so on, until you're down to one feeding a day. Hope this was helpful.

I had that problem when my son decided to wean himself off of the breast when he was two months. I just kept releasing just a bit of breast milk from each breast to keep from getting overly engorged.

ahh did you not ease him off slowly? like taking him down till he is nursing about every otherday and then once a week until none at all? cus if you didn't yeah you are going to be engorged

Try breastfeeding one more time. I swear it helps and it won't really dely the dry-up process!

cold showers ice packs and if you get to engorged just let some milk out in the shower with your hands. it will take up to acouple weeks for the milk to dissapate. good luck

Sage (the herb). When I was desperate to stop producing milk, my herbalist gave me a tincture (liquid herbs) of sage and I was completely dried up in a about 36 hours. what a miracle! I don't know where you can get it at a store, but I ordered mine online from herblore.com

A.,

The only other idea I have to add, besides wrapping yourself up as tight as is comfortable is a cold/cool compress.

Good luck,
M.

Hi A.,
When you stop nursing, it should be after you have weaned the baby. You gradually nurse less often and for less duration. When done properly, you should not get engorged. If you have already stopped, it is too late to WEAN the baby. I would pump out some of the milk to make yourself comfortable, and then relieve your self when necessary, gradually so that eventually you just stop making the milk. I hope this helps.

PS I just noticed your baby is only ten months old. You can nurse him much longer. I nursed my son until he was 2.
Blessings,
J.

You may try binding your chest with an ace wrap or something similar. Don't bind them to the point that they hurt, but it will keep them from being overstimulated and making more milk. You can gently extract some milk by hand so that they aren't feeling like they'll explode. And don't let anything touch them...even the water in the shower. Try lightly cooling them with ice packs or frozen vegetables a few minutes for every hour if you need to. I know all of these tips helped me to stop excreting a little more comfortable and a little quicker. Especially the binding. It felt much better.

You probably stopped too suddenly, it happened to me. When you nurse for this long, weaning should take a month or more. You might want to start again and wean more slowly.

It is really painful to dry up. With my oldest I weened him off by cutting down on feedings and didn't have any pain but my youngest stop feeding on his own when he got a cold at 10 months. My suggestion is to try and cut back and get down to a couple of feedings a day and it won't be quite as painful. I don't think there is a great way to handle this otherwise.
Sorry,
W. W.

i'd advise against wrapping as it can trap milk in your ducts and you can get an infection.

you can take antihistamines as it does affect milk supply in some women.

i'd agree that it would hurt less if you do it more gradually but if you really want to quit, don't give up now because you're almost there. it took about 5 days before it didn't hurt anymore but i could still feel milk in there.

I had found that if you release just enough to make life comfortable it helps. it won't delay the drying up process too long. It will help.

I was told to take either Sudafed or Benadryl and that would help dry you up. The downside is they may make you sleepy. Have you tried binding them up yet? I did it before and besides not being all that attractive in clothes, it seemed to work. Good luck!

I took "as hot as I could stand it" showers and let them leak a little while standing in the water and it took away the pressure and I wasn't encouraging more production while doing it. You might have to sqeeze them a bit to let a little out. Plus it gave me some "me time."

I had to spend a lot of time either in the shower or at least with warm wash clothes (in ziplock baggies) tucked into my bra for some releaf! I was miserable for about a week and then it got a lot better and was manageable.I'm just sooo glad I wasn't working while going thru it.

I wish I had more information/knowledge on the subject for ya.
Good Luck!

Hi A.,
I breastfed all 3 of my kids and when it was time to stop --ouch!! :) After a few days it will quit hurting but don't be afraid to express a little milk in the shower or into a hot washrag. The first time I stopped nursing was the most painful of all 3, but it really will come to an end eventually.

Call your ob-gyn. Besides the pain you could get mastitis and that will be extremely uncomfortable. They can tell you what works best. Stopping cold turkey probably isn't the best way, but weaning to where you go from nursing 4-6 times a day down to 3-4, then 2-3, once and then none, and it will take about 3-4 weeks to make a smooth transition for you and your son.

My sisters both bound me tight with a wrap. It was like Scarlett being sinched in her corsett in Gone With the Wind.
It helps from more coming in and in about 3 days, you are felling better. The advice below is also good to do with.

i just quit breastfeeding my daughter after 12 months. I had terrible pain for about 4 days after i stopped. My mom told me to breastfeed one more time (i was worried this would make her want it again, etc) but i did it anyway. She was only on for like a minute a side. NO MORE PAIN. i haven't had any more engorgement or anything at all. I am glad i listened! Good luck!

According to my friend, put a leaf of cabbage on each breast for 15 minutes. She swears by it! It will decrease your milk, and the cabbage comes away wilted! Don't know the physics of it, but there you go! Good luck!

Try drinking water less for a day or too. Exercise more, and take your mind off it. Cold packs when you can.

I would suggest pumping for just a short bit to relieve the pressure and encourage your body to stop producing so much milk. If you pump for just a few minutes every 4 hours the pressure will be relieved and the supply will go down - and you can put the pumped milk into bottles of formula or into cereal...I nursed my youngest for a year and this trick helped me.

Good luck!

I recently worked with a woman who placed her newborn for adoption, and she needed to dry her milk up in a hurry, she used sage tea (you can find it at most natural health food stores) and avoided showers that were too hot at all costs! Maybe take baths for awhile instead? You can still use the cabbage for relief of discomfort, but your best bet for the actual drying will be to use the tea, and not stimulate any more production. Hope this helps :)

Another good piece is to try taking a decongestant like Sudafed. When I was sick with a cold, I took that stuff all the time and it greatly decreased my supply. Even though you aren't sick now, it might work to give you some relief.

Good luck!
H. C.

It seems you may have weaned too fast. How is your baby doing?
Gradual weaning is usually better on both of you.
www.kellymom.com has some great info on weaning.

Try taking some Benadryl. I slowly phased out my breastfeeding but my cousin stopped cold turkey when her daughter bit her so hard that she drew blood. She went from 4 to 5 feedings one day to none, took Benadryl at doctors recommendation and had no engorgement. I also took the Benadryl and had no problems at all. It will definitely help dry you up much quicker.

Best of luck.

My lactation lady told all of us girls that when we were done BF to take Sudafed - it will dry you up. They also warned us that if we were sick and took it, it could effect our milk supply. Hope that helps.

Wear a tight sports bra or wrap yourself tight with an ace bandage. I got the advice from my mom who got it from her mom, seemed to work for all of us. Good luck.

Hi A.. Your best friend for the next 3 days is ice packs! Ice packs help reduce the swelling and feels good. A trick we used on the postpartum floor and lactation clinic was to take a diaper run it under water, place in freezer and then place the diaper on the underneath part of your breasts, you can place them on top too, double pack- your bra will hold in place. Wear for about 10-15 minutes. You can also express a little milk just for comfort. Continue taking the ibuprofen. Hope you feel better soon.

T.

I found that wearing a sports bra really helped. It is a very tight fit if you wear one from pre-pregnancy but the binding seems to help with the pain. Good luck

Sounds like you're trying everything. You CAN pump just enough to take the edge off, but it will take a little longer for your milk to dry if you pump at all. You'll have to decide if it's worth it.