breastfeeding question

My son is 2 mnths old and starting to refuse to breastfeed.  He throws a fit and pushes me away.  He has been doing it off and on for over and week and last night and today he just will not breastfeed at all but he will take formula no problem.  The question is now, what do I do to get rid of my milk.  Do I do nothing or what?  I am engorged right now and it is very uncomfortable.

[Cheyenne_08]

My son had torticollis and it prevented him from breast feeding when I finally was able to try. I had to pump for the first few months so that they knew exactly how much Milk my son was taking...but when we tried bfing, he would latch on GREAT and then a few minutes later would be screaming and pushing me away, then took a bottle just fine!!! So, when I stopped, I actually did nothing. my engorgment only lasted a few days...my milk was completely gone after 4 days!!! But, I was slowly drying uo to begin with! The only advice i have is wet cabbage...don't leave it on for longer than 20 minutes at a time though...it is said to ease the engorgement!!! Good Luck!

[JJety]

I would call your doctor and have him checked.  There might be some medical reason he's refusing you, so definitely get him checked.

If the doc says he's fine, and you want to dry up, then I would suggest pumping whenever you feel painfully engorged.  DON'T let yourself suffer through the pain of quitting cold turkey.  I did that with DS and I was so sorry I did.  You need to pump enough to relieve the pressure - maybe only 1 ounce.  You should see a big difference in less than a week and probably be able to stop pumping.  You probably will totally dry up within a few weeks.

[JJety]

Also, I know you say he's eating from a bottle, but is it possible he just wants to suck on you for comfort and is getting upset that milk is coming out?  Both my kids were big suckers and needed pacifiers to soothe them.  I would often think they were hungry, they would latch on, but then arch their backs and get mad.  You automatically think there's something wrong with your milk and they're in pain but that's not it at all - they just want to suck, not eat.

[misslollipop]

my ds did the same thing weeks ago, i just pumped to ease the pain it took me a week to dry up