How to stop breastfeeding

[TippetyTapWriter]

Think I've about reached the end of trying to breastfeed. Long and complicated story but at 6 weeks I still don't have enough milk and every aspect of it hurts!

How do I go about gradually drying up the milk I do have? I seem to be prone to blocked ducts/painful lumps (had at least 4 in 6 weeks). And after my first dc was born I ended up with multiple galactoceles which had to be drained in hospital so I'm keen to avoid that again if possible.

We don't have any routine to feeds, dd gets a mix of breast and bottle (formula top ups) on demand at no set timings or intervals. I get sore and engorged if I go longer than 4 hours between feeds. Expressing isn't very effective for me and doesn't drain the breast well. Though perhaps that's a good thing when it comes to decreasing milk production? Although I tend to end up all lumpy and sore if I express instead of feeding.

Thanks in advance!

[1stTimeRounder]

The general advice is to replace one feed at a time and allow your breasts to catch up (slow down production) . So for example replace last feed before bed with formula and keep this feed as formula until your body stops making thay much milk. You'll need to express a little around that time to prevent engorgement and then slowly reduce the amount/time you are expressing each day so you go slowly. Once you feel you're not getting full around that time then replace another feed and so on.

Sounds like you'll have to take it quite slow to prevent issues so definitely seek support if it doesn't work. Also once baby is on formula completely for more feeds you might find that a more predictable routine develops making it easier to identify when to feed and which feeds to drop breast in favour of bottle.

If your supply is low anyway it might not take that long to stop feeling engorged. This was my experience anyway, I went from expressing 3 times per day to stopping completely in about a week.