I weaned my son in January of this year and I am still producing milk. I do have some small lumps near my armpits where some of my milk ducts are, and still experience some slight discomfort under my armpits on occasion. I also noticed that the milk tastes salty. Is this normal?
Also, I have an appointment with my breast care specialist in a few weeks, but I thought I would ask in the interim.
I finished bfing my 2nd daughter in 1995, my milk stayed right through to DD #3 being born in 2010. I felt a little weird about that but what can you do? Apparently its normal.
It takes awhile for it to stop completely.
I swear, I had milk after my kids weaned, for like close to 1 year. If I squeezed my nipples, I would see a bit come out.
Then one day it was just gone, dried up.
For the lumps, tell your OB/GYN. It could be plugged. Not good.
I think that's pretty normal. I know women who can squeeze out small amounts years and years after they stop nursing. If you're worried about plugged ducts, though, you can take a lecithin supplument. That should help with that.
I've read bm can last for 7 years..i quit bfing 2 years ago ..and still have milk ..there are teas i think that u can drink that help get rid of it..or antihistamines..i don't mind the milk b/c its only noticeable if i squeeze it out..ew..but don't expect to dry up completely for a long time
D.
You might have mastitis. (a clogged milk duct) The milk gets salty when that happens. You can try some hot compresses to alleviate the pain and work through the infection, but sometimes antibiotics are required. Can your specialist see you sooner? It can become quite painful after a few days...I had mastitis so bad once (while I was nursing) that nothing helped, and my baby went on a nursing strike because the milk was so salty.
Took me quite a long time to finally stop producing, but then i had been nursing and or pregnant for nearly 10 years before my third one weaned on his own. It probably took close to 18 months before i really noticed that i couldn't even squeeze any milk out by hand.
As far as the discomfort... i would try to massage that since it might be milk that is sitting stagnant and you could end up with plugged ducts. I had some of that happen in the first couple of months when my last one weaned.
As far as the taste, well that might just be because of what you've eaten recently or maybe if it suddenly got warm in your area? Shouldn't matter much.
Keep the appointment, and go to urgent care if you spike a fever. The lumps might turn into mastitis, espically if they get tender and hot.
best wishes
I'm not sure it ever stops completely.
I had my son 12 years ago and sometimes I'll still notice a little dried milk residue on my nipples every once in awhile.
It's only been a few months.
Give it some more time.
I stopped nursing my twins January of last year. I became pregnant in October and was still producing milk. I've heard you can produce up to two years later.
If you wean suddenly or over a short time span... it can cause issues with your breasts. They were meant to breastfeed for at least 1.5 years and when you wean before that it takes a lot longer for the production to slow down. Milk will always be there... it never stops producing, it keeps up a bare minimal 'memory' production which is why re-lactation is so easy to do.
Sounds like you weaned very quickly and now you may have clogged ducts... massage the breasts and under the armpits ina shower as hot as you can stand. Do this once a day until you feel them going away.
