Trying to stop breast milk production

[YMNH]

I've been having a rough few weeks with breastfeeding my 5 week old. The doctor and health visitor have said she has all the symptoms of reflux so long story short I am now just formula feeding. Because I have such a good milk supply, I'm really struggling to slow the production down. My breasts are really full, warm and painful. Does any one have any suggestions how I can help relieve this without stimulating them to produce more milk. I want to stop the production as quick as possible because I'm in so much pain. Please help

Warm shower, gentle massage to let off a bit.

Buy decongestants e.g. Lemsip, side effect is it dries up bm. Take a safe dose

I've tried the massage and also hand expressing a little bit but it doesn't seem to work as after about 10 minutes, they're really full and hard again. Will definitely try Lemsip and warm shower though, thankyou

Put cabbage leaves in your bra, it sounds mad but it works,change them every few hours.

I bound mine really tightly with a scarf. Was uncomfortable but helped with the production and they tried up relatively quickly.

The safest way is to swap to a bottle slowly. Add in a new bottle every few days. Start with night feeds. It may not be what you want to hear but anything else risks blocked ducts, lumps and mastitis.

Take ibuprofen too.

Its really hard if you have too much.
You could reduce supply by only expressing one side (one side only) for a set number of hours then only expressing other side for the same. If you Google block feeding that should help.
I was breastfeeding abut had to to this for 6hr intervals as I had a massive over supply.(dc2) I stopped cold turkey with dc1 at 2 weeks old and it was not nice. Wish i had a hakkaa pump to just take the pressure off.

Don't express any as your body will think there's a demand and will just make more. Wear a well supporting bra and take regular paracetamol.

You an ask the gp for an injection that prevents milk production, can't remember the name.

To dry up milk production all together there is an injection you can get.

DIY technique I recommend cold cabbage leaves in the bra, wash and keep in the fridge, replace once limp - will give relief from the pain and seem to inhibit milk production.

Sage (dried from the supermarket) is very powerful and you can take this on bread or off the spoon - a quarter to one teaspoon twice a day and it will dry up excess milk supply.

Don’t pump, but do gently hand express a little for comfort if you need to, and to avoid mastitis, but try not to do it too frequently and reduce how much you do it gradually over the next week or two until you can stop.

If you are in lots of pain and have a hard hot red boob you may have mastitis (infection) and need antibiotics.

Thankyou for all the replies and suggestions. Going to try cabbage leaves as I had no idea that was even an option. If that doesn't seem to help, I will ask the doctor about the injection. Thanks again everyone

Savoy cabbage leaves, washed and stored in the fridge are your friend. The cool relief!

You may need to hand express tiny amounts to stay sane and avoid infection.

In the olden days they would bandage the breasts fairly tightly to inhibit milk. How safe this is, I'm not sure. But I can understand why it might feel good.

Painkillers are your friend too.

I'd heard about sudafed being good for drying up milk, but not sure of the science of it (it dries up phlegm, so I can see why it could work).

Then, finally, it's time. Eventually, slowly, it will dry up. But you need to be careful of mastitis. Monitor your temperature carefully.

Oh, and one last thing. No bear hugs. The pain and the inevitable let down of milk....

Can I ask if your baby has been checked for a tongue tie? Many babies show symptoms of reflux etc and the cause can be tongue tie. It's why I gave up with my first before I knew anything about TT.
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