when will my milk dry up?

[Moomin]

dd2 is now 3 weeks old and i made the decision to bottle feed when she as 3 days old and wouldn't take to breastfeeding. However, my milk's still going - have to wear pads all the time and i can feel my boobs tingling and can see milk coming out very regularly. i thought it might have dried up by now with no stimulation - any ideas how long it might take?

[JessicaandRebeccasmummy]

moomin - bumoing for you hun.... my boobs are killing me too and Rebecca is only a week old - PLEASE someone tell me this isnt going to carry on for another 2+ weeks!!! (My nipples are the worst - tingling to the point of pain!)

[stardoman]

I'm sure this is really unusual, but my SIL didn't breastfeed any of her 3 children, not even one feed. With her youngest her milk didn't dry up until he was nearly 1. She went to the doctors a couple of times but he refused to give her anything to help dry it up. Apparantly her mum (who breastfed all 3 of her children), always had far too much milk and used to donate a lot of it to a local milk bank.

Mandy.

[Mojomummy]

could you express & feed the breast milk once or twice a day for a week & then cut down to once a day, reducing it gradually ?

[Mum2Millie]

Hi,

I switched from Breast to bottle feeding after a week (couldn't keep up supply), it took a good 3-4 weeks for my milk to dry up completely, but the pain did go after a couple of weeks I seem to remember!?.

I didn't express though, I just left them to their own devices!! I think expressing will make your boobs produce more milk.

It was quite difficult feeding during this time as dd could smell the milk on me.
Hope this helps!