Engorged!

Hi L.....
Try hand expressing just a bit to relieve some of the fullness...try doing this in a warm/hot shower. I hope this helps. :)

hi L.,

that must be painful!! If you think your baby is done, then I have heard that cold meds like Sudafed wll dry you up in no time. congratulations of making it one year!!

W.

I'd really recommend pumping a little to release pressure, as suggested, so that you don't get plugged ducts. I had plugged ducts a few times as we slowed nursing, and it's painful, makes you feel like you have the flu, and not that easy to fix.
Good luck!

I can't remember how long it take for the milk to go away but some things I did to relieve the pain of engorgement was. Place warm washcloths on the breast and let the milk just leak out a couple times a day. Also try and manually express the milk out to relieve some of the pressure. Those two things helped me so much cause I breast feed my children up until they were almost two years old. Well I hope I was of some help good luck.

I know this might sound silly but it worked for me... cabbage leaf worn inside your bra. Take a whole leaf and cap it around your breast and use your bra to hold it in place. I'm not sure of the science, buy yahoo! I sure felt better. Good luck!

You still need to pump, just less and less. Your body can't quit making milk "cold turkey."

When I had this problem someone once told me to pump, but DO NOT empty the breast just release the pressure. And they will dry up as breast milk is a supply and demand thing the less taken out the less that comes back in.

I have also heard the cold cabbage leaves help, or massaging and expressing some milk while showering helps.

Hope these tips were helpful.

Hi L.. Get some liquid sage (tincture) and this will fix this problem very quickly. Your local health food store might have it (I don't think you can get it at whole foods). I ordered mine online through www.herblore.com and get the Sage Tincture. I had a very difficult time w/ plugged ducts and trying to stop pumping. within 24 hours of taking the sage tincture, I was feeling so much better and I was completely dried up within 48 hours. no joke. This is just liquid sage (like the herb). Good luck.

Put cabbage leaves in your bra. When they start to wilt, get new ones from the fridge. It's absolutely amazing how well this works--didn't believe my midwife until I tried it.

If that sounds too messy, there's a product called Booby Tubes you could try.

Hi L., Sorry to hear you are feeling engorgement pain, no fun. You can try Ibuprofen to help with the pain, it is also an anti-inflammatory (reduces swelling) 600 mg every 6 hours. Also try ice. The ice will help to reduce swelling and feel good as well. The best way to make ice packs is to take baby diapers and run them just a little under a running faucet then place in freezer. Place one underneath your breast and one on top. Your bra will hold them in place. Wear for about 10-15 minutes. If you need to you can pump or just hand express until comfortable. You should be past the engorgement in 2 days. Hope this helps.

T.

It will last for at least a couple days. Wear a tight sports bra or wrap your chest in ace bandages tightly. This will help to hurry up the process. My daughter quite nursing at 6 weeks so been there done that :)

First of all, you say your baby "recently stopped." Are YOU weaning baby, or did baby just stop nursing out of the blue? If you weren't planning to wean yet, it could be a nursing strike (babies rarely wean themselves suddenly). Babe can usually still be coaxed back to the breast w/ a little effort, if that's what you want. Check out kellymom.com for some advice: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

If you weren't looking for any of that advice, my apologies! Even if you don't plan to continue to breastfeed, I would pump a little bit, and gradually stop pumping to decrease your milk supply slowly. Engorgement can lead to a breast infection if you are not careful.

Good luck!