Colostrum to FF

[MotherofKitties]

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice on how to deal with milk 'coming in pain' if possible!

Has anyone gone from feeding colostrum straight to FF when their milk came in, and if so have you got any tips on how to deal with your milk coming in if you're not feeding?

I don't want to breastfeed however I do want to give baby colostrum when she's born, and I remember how uncomfortable it was when my milk came in with my first LO. All of my girlfriends have breastfed their babies so I don't have anyone to ask in real life about how they dealt with their milk coming in when not BF, and how long it took for the milk to go/stop leaking.

If anyone has any tips I'd really appreciate it, I've tried googling but everything NHS/semi official just talks about how to persevere with BF rather than how to manage your milk if you're not.

Thanks in advance

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Could you try just expressing enough to make you comfortable? Express too much and you could stimulate your supply and if you don't express at all you could risk mastitis. Enough to make you comfortable should be fine though.

You could hand express or try a cheap pump? Any milk that comes out could be given to baby or thrown away, it's up to you

[MotherofKitties]

Thanks for reply @JiltedJohnsJulie

I did think about that but didn't know if that would make it worse, as in stimulating the milk supply?

I keep reading about cold cabbage leafs kept in the fridge being one of the few things that help so looks like I might have to stock up on cabbages when the time comes...!

[delilabell]

I just went cold turkey. The midwife said it was the best way. It was only at night that my boobs leaked. Showers with warm water directly on them to milk them. My dd went straight onto bottle happily. I think (was four years ago) it took about a week and I only had a couple of says of discomfort.
I really hope it goes well for you. Don't get pushed into doing things you don't want to. I felt guilty for ages after x

[delilabell]

Didn't finish that! And I really shouldn't of.

[MotherofKitties]

@delilabell thank you for sharing your experience, that makes me feel a bit more confident that I can do the switch without too much bother (hopefully!) and thank you for your words of encouragement, I really appreciate it

I was made to feel very guilty when I struggled to BF my DD first time round, and in retrospect I wish I hadn't put so much pressure on myself, something which I'm determined not to do this time x

[Dmt80]

I did the same as you OP and I found wearing two bras at a time really helped as movement stimulates milk production. It took around 10 days for my boobs to return to normal.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

If you struggled the first time it might be worth reading up on tongue tie as it can affect bottle feeding too

[MotherofKitties]

@Dmt80 ohh interesting tip, I haven't came across that one before, thank you! I'll give that a go!