Weaning Question! - South Elgin,IL

I had to wean my daughter at 6 months because of medical issues and I did it by pumping at longer intervals, I was pumping every 4 hours and she was directly feeding from a bottle because of my work situation, I then switched to 6 hours for 2 days, 8 hours for 2 days 10 hours for 2 days, 12 hours for 2 days, then I went to pumping once a day and only did it to get like 2ozs then everything dried up, I never had any pain, was never engorged or anything....and when I was changing the times I never fully pumped because then your body will produce that much milk for the next time, I would cut it down about an ounce or so. Good luck and hopefully this advice helps you. Take care, J.

If your in pain on the one side then just pump a sip out so your not in pain. I wouldn't worry about being two different sizes because it won't last forever. Be careful just to pump out enough to relieve the pain only. If you pump out more then you will continue producing milk in that breast.

L.:

you should pump to comfort.. this will not cause your breast to make more milk.

put cabbage or cold compress' on your breast.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

My advice is to pump just enough to feel better. Try to relieve some of the pain. Keep pumping, just do it for shorter and shorter periods of time, and for longer intervals in-between. I couldn't go cold turkey without becoming engorged. I slowly stopped and my body adjusted very quickly by not making more milk. It really didn't take long at all for my body to adjust.

Good Luck

Don't worry about the different size, that is normal. Use a cold compress for the pain, I would suggest using a bag of frozen peas or corn. The bag will conform to you and is easily refreezable, and you can use it again and again. It is so much better than a hard ice pack! (Don't forget to write something on the bag so you don't use them for dinner at a later date.)

There are a couple of simple things that you can try.

1) on the side that is fuller, you can massage it in the shower or in a warm bath to relieve some of the pressure

2) I second the cabbage leaves recommendation. You take 2-3 leaves off of the cabbage and put it inside your bra and it is very efficient at relieving engorgement. I've done this when my babies were newborns and my milk just came in, and it worked to relieve the engorgement.

3) Sage makes your body produce less milk or stop milk production. You can either drink sage tea or buy a tincture or sage oil and put a few drops in a glass.

Depending on how long you spent weaning him that is perfectly normal. It also depends on how frequently he was nursing and how much at each feeding as well. I recently was finally able to wean my 14 month old and there was no need for me to pump at all either, however I had been gradually reducing her feedings. If you are still nervous I would simply put a little call into your doctor....that's what we pay them for.

J.