Drying up milk

[JJ07]

When you stop breastfeeding...how do you dry up your milk???  Does it hurt????  I only have been breastfeeding for about 2 1/2 months...but he doesn't seem to be getting enough.

[nalla]

Are you stopping breastfeeding because your son isn't getting enough milk?  If you are wanting to continue, then there are ways to help your milk supply out.

If you are just done, then there isn't anything you have to do to dry your milk up.  After time it will just happen.  With my first baby I didn't breastfeed at all and after about a week my milk came in and the pressure was painful.  But after a few days my milk just dried up.  Now with my 3 other kids I breastfed for a little more than a year.  When I quit I didn't really notice any pain when my milk dried up, but at that point I had slowly reduced the feedings over a few months, and by the time I was finished we were down to only one feeding for at least a month.  How many times a day are you nursing or pumping?  If you are doing it fulltime then you might have a little pain while your milk is drying up.  If you only nurse a few times a day then you will probably not notice the difference.
And don't be worried if it takes a long time for your milk to dry up.  I stopped nursing my son 9 months ago and if I squeeze I can still get some milk out.  My Dr. told me that it's fine and he has seen women still have milk up to a year after they stop.  But that isn't typical.
So basicaly, if you want your milk dried up, don't nurse and don't express it in any way.  It shouldn't be long untill it's gone.
Good luck!

[JJ07]

Well, I wanted to breast feed for as long as possible...BUT, I had to go back to work when he was 6 weeks old :(  I have been pumping and putting it into bottles since he was 4 weeks old (it helped with his gas).  Now I am pumping about 6 times a day and the past few days I have not been able to keep up with him.  He ate 3 5 oz bottles in the time that I pumped enough for 1.  So I started mixing 1/2 breastmilk and 1/2 formula 2 days ago and he is doing fine.  Its so hard to always find a place and time to pump when I am at work and even at home....I always have a million other things to keep up with!  DH makes me feel guilty for wanting to stop, but unless he starts helping out around the house more I can't do it all!  Does anyone else feel like they do everything????

[ally76]

My mom told me, when I wanted to dry up my breast milk was to bind me.  I guess this is what they did when she had kids and her mom had kids.  She took a stretchy peice of material and very very tightly wrapped it around my breasts and then pinned the back.  I wore this for about a week and it helped.  I bathed everyday instead of showering so I wouldnt have to take it off.  We did change it a couple of times b/c it will start to smell and sweat.  I found it helped b/c your breasts are more secure then hangling loosely.  Hope this helps....it did for me.

[nalla]

Don't let anybody make you feel guitly for not breastfeeding anymore!  I can imagian how hard it is to pump while trying to do a million other things.  When my son was born he was in the hospital for 4 weeks and I had to pump every 2 hours.  It was hard.
One option that I have heard other women do is have the baby drink formula during the day and when you get home you can nurse.  You milk supply will go down a little, but as long as there is some sort of expression then you will keep it.  That  way your baby can still get of your milk, but you won't have to pump anymore.
Or if you want to stop completly that is fine too!  Don't feel guilty.  It's not easy working fulltime, taking care of kids and being your babys personal "milking cow"  either getting it from you or pumping.  It's a lot of work.
And if you don't want to nurse you could always just pump in the evening and not in the day.  There are several options.  You need to find what is best for you though.  It's your body.
Hope this helps!

[JJ07]

Thanks for the advice!  I would love to be able to continue to breastfeed...but my nerves are starting to wear thin.  I love my DH to death but he drives me nuts b/c he still expects dinner everynight and clean clothes!!! While I am juggling a full time job and taking care of our precious son,  he continues to live life as he did before.  Don't get me wrong, he is a great father.........when the baby is clean, fed and not crying, but  he is petrified to be alone with the baby for even a half hour.  I understand, but its our first child, and I don't always know what to do either!!  Sometimes I think I may be doing something wrong too.  I think he thinks I am superwoman!

[amberd5191]

Cold cabbage leafs in your bra actually take out the swelling and help your milk dry up in a few days.

[nalla]

Oh trust me, I understand!  My DH always expected me to be "supermom" too.  What got that out of him, is I had a wedding that I was going to be in.  I was gone for 4 days and my DH had to do everything!!  It really showed him that it's not that easy.  A lot of fathers/men seem to be that way.  It usually has to take something drastic to happen to shape them up!

Would he be willing to let you have a day to yourself maybe on a weekend or one of your days off?  Trust me, it's something that you need to do for yourself.  I didn't start doing that untill after my 3rd child was 2.  It was WAY overdue!
You need to have that time to recharge and relax.  Maybe try sitting your DH down and talk with him about your feelings and that you are feeling like you have nothing left.  
And this may seem harsh, but he needs to get over being afraid to be alone with the baby.  Yes, it's understandable with it being your first baby, but it needs to be addressed and taken care of now.  It's not fair to you that you have to do everything!  
I have found that a marraige with children needs 3 things..... For the mother to have a day just to herself.  For the father to have a day for himself, and both parents having a date night.  
Neither one of you can forget about yourselves and your marriage.  Maybe try sitting down your DH and come up with a schedual.  Like,  Sat. evening you will have a date night just for the two of you.  You don't even need to leave the house.  Just do someting together.  And tell him that Monday evenings he can go out with his buddies or do whatever it is that he likes.  And then maybe Wed. can be your evening for yoruself.  These are just examples and can change from week to week.  
By giving him a day, then it might be easier for him to give you a day, or an evening.  And you might just have to get drastic and just leave him with the baby.  Maybe start off slow and just you go get some groceries or something. He really needs to get over this.  It's not fair to you.  Doing the weekly thing has really helped me and my DH.

With the chores, maybe try one week you do the bathrooms and DH does the laundry.  Asign weekly chores for each of you to do.  
One thing that my DH told me when I was trying to get him to help, is that it would look to him that I was just nagging him and telling him everything that he was doing wrong, what he wasn't doing etc.  But once I started using words like "us", "we", "together", etc, it helped a lot.  Maybe try that.
Men don't always think like women do, so I have had to learn my DH "language" and he has had to learn mine.

I hope this helps and hope you can get your DH to help out more.  If you want to vent I'm hear all the time, or I can give you my email address.  I know how hard it is.  I went a really long time having to be "supermom".  It's not easy!

[JJ07]

Thanks!  Its good to know I'm not the only one, I feel better after venting a little bit!!!

[40yomom]

HELP!  I stopped breast feeding my son at 10 months old.  He is now 25 months old and I still have milk.  And it is not just if I express it.  It actually still leaks.  I have asked several doctors for help and they have no answers.  I know there was a medication they used to give back in the 90's that worked wonderfully but for reasons unknown to me the FDA pulled it.  I have been trying to research the medication to see if I could possibly get it from Mexico and see why it was pulled but I am having trouble finding out the name of it.  Does anyone out there remember what it was called?