To stop breastfeeding at 6 weeks.

[Mum2HC]

Please someone help me, I am so upset and desperate.
I’m on my second bout of mastitis - feeling absolutely rubbish and so tired and weak. I’ve got a ten day antibiotic course this time and still feel rubbish 5 days in (fever and redness has gone)

my boobs are making more milk than they need and I constantly feel sore on a morning.

im having to wake baby for feeds on a night when we would both rather be sleeping.

I have tried block feeding which seemed to work for a bit but I am sore again this morning and going to have to wake baby again.

I have breastfed for 18months before with no issues - I just cannot go on like this - the fear of more mastitis is ruining it for me.

I have seen lactation consultants, gps etc etc and no one seems to be able to give me an answer.

how do I stop if I need to without causing even more mastitis issues?

I feel like my baby is going to get ill all winter if I don’t breastfeed but I just don’t see another option. I’ve never fed a bottle before so wouldn’t even know where to start.

thank you so much

I think it was a mix of my supply establishing around 7 weeks (I think it tends to happen within 12 weeks) and DD getting better at feeding (she had a tongue tie and wasn't latching very well so not much milk was coming out) and pumping a bit when my boobs got too full or painful (I was bad at leaving them for too long. Although only pump a little pump not to completely drain the boob)

Really hope things improve for you, honestly felt like I was going to die when I had mastitis and I bought formula and a perfect prep machine and swore I would stop breastfeeding 😆

Just thought of something that helped me, lying in a nice warm bath with cabbage leaves on my breasts. Not a good look but it did ease things a bit. No idea why, maybe all in the mind but might be worth a try.

Second the advice for soy lecithin. It made such a difference for me- I went from blocked ducts and always on the edge of mastitis to fine. With my first I also found limping past the six week mark made such a difference. It was utterly shit until then but by 8-10 weeks we were much more in a good rhythm.

Are you taking sunflower lecithin?

I BF mine for different periods and it really didn't make any difference to them. DS1 - BF for about 5 months, DS2 (very premature) BF for 4 months, DD1 BF for about 6 weeks. I just didn't want to do it any more. Do what feels beat for you and your baby. No one should judge anyone for their choices.

There is absolutely no reason for you to carry on breastfeeding beyond the point that you want to, and it won’t make your baby sick all winter. Babies get winter viruses whether breastfed or formula fed, it wouldn’t be your fault either way.

I wouldn’t personally stop while you have mastitis because feeding through it can help clear it quicker and prevent abscesses. If you can keep going until this bout is over, then you can start to taper off after.

Mastitis is truly awful - I’m so sorry you’re going through this ♥️

Thank you everyone.

I am taking soya lecithin twice a day at the moment. Is that enough?

Mastitis can be nasty, trust me I spent 5 days in hospital on IV antibiotics after a nasty bout I couldn’t shake off. My nipple ended up black, probably had some kind of infection going on too. I have 3 kids, only managed to successful BF one of them (8 months). Ironically he was my sickest child

Of course you can stop. You can stop at any time and nobody should tell you that you can't.

There is a halfway house solution you could try if you wanted to. You could try expressing your milk. You could do that as well as breastfeeding if you are producing too much, and you could freeze it for later use. Or you could do it instead of breastfeeding if you prefer/it is better for you. If you are expressing you will continue to produce milk, so if you want to stop you will need to do that gradually if you don't want to be too uncomfortable.

if you are expressing more than your baby needs, and freezing, you may be able to donate this to a baby unit in a hospital near you. I don't have any information to give you about that, both my children are adults now so it is a long time since I breastfed.

I hope you come to the best solution for you. It is not up to anyone else what that solution is.

I would try pumping so you don't need to wake baby up at night and then you could use the expressed milk to get baby used to being bottle fed. We used the Medela hospital grade pump - you have to rent it (£50 per month) but it is really good. Alternatively there are cheaper pumps on Amazon etc., they didn't work for me but I had low supply which I imagine wouldn't be an issue for you. I would pump or feed at least every four hours to ensure you don't get blocked ducts again. If you want to stop completely, definitely don't go cold turkey, slowly taper down by dropping a BF every few days (replace with an expressed bottle or formula). Good luck! X

OP if what you really want is to keep feeding and not get mastitis, I would get a pump, look up all the different feeding positions and try them out, and look at possible diet and blocked duct links (I think saturated fat is supposed to be unhelpful for example).
I understand the desire to turn it all off instantaneously and have no more pain, but unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. If you want to stop, tapering down is the safest way for you, and it will inevitably involve feeling too full and uncomfortable as your body adjusts.
There is nothing wrong with stopping and switching to formula if that’s what you want. But actually, since it isn’t really what you want anyway, I’d go with all the steps to reduce blocked ducts and mastitis and keep feeding. Your supply will regulate. And this is probably the least painful option for you.

Absolutely this

You can take more. Pretty sure dosage recommended on Kellymom is 3-4 1200mg capsules a day and then tapering down to 1-2 as issues ease. I was v skeptical about taking it, but desperate, and it definitely helped me with recurring blocked ducts (I had oversupply and a tongue tied baby). I’m due imminently again and just stocked up in anticipation.

I suspect in the time it’ll take you to safely cut down feeding and swap over to formula, things will have started to improve anyway, so you can probably hold on if you really don’t want to stop. But if you do, you absolutely should, whenever that is. So much sympathy OP, it’s miserable.

Kellymom link -
https://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/lecithin/

You don't need anyone's permission to stop.

If it's making you miserable, just stop. The mastitis sounds horrible.

For what it's worth, I found breastfeeding very hard for the first six weeks the first time, and then it suddenly got much easier, and by the time he was weaning onto solid food we cut down to morning and evening and it was great.

But if you've breastfed before it's not as if you don't know how it works.

Formula is food, not poison.

Do stop. Baby will not be ill all winter (don’t know who told you such nonsense). You’ve already passed on your immunities.

Also, have you tried the Haakaa filled with warm water and Epsom salts trick for blocked ducts?

When I got blocked ducts the first time that helped to unclog things a lot and then my baby feeding sorted the rest out.

@Sometimeswinning

”Perfect Prep Brigade rock up”?! Have a word with yourself.

I don’t want to stop but I also can’t mentally cope with mastitis for a 3rd time - I just don’t know what to do and I know no one can tell me what is going to happen so it’s impossible! Xx

I breastfed my eldest for 6 weeks and my youngest for 18 months. My youngest is in hospital every winter without fail, my eldest is rarely ill. I really don't think breastfeeding is a preventative for these kinds of things

About what? I’m happy with whatever choices people make to feed their babies. However there are different groups who don’t just give advice but insist you’ve got it wrong if you don’t agree with them. Certain Perfect prep people fit very nicely into this.

I personally have found sunflower lecithin to be more effective. I take 2 a day but double it if I ever have a clog or signs of mastitis

Pick a feed, switch it for formula
Express just enough for comfort for that feed.
Pick another feed switch it for formula.
Express just enough for comfort

Keep going until you find the best position for you. That might be combi feeding and that might be solely formula.

I did 8 months ebf 2 months 99% BF desperately trying to get combi feeding to work then we went to 2 years formula fed transitioning on to oat milk at 2.
My daughter was utterly fabulous regardless how she was fed.
Giving 6 weeks of breast milk and those lovely antibodies is amazing! Absolutely every feed you have given as breast milk is amazing but feeding has to work for both of you and right now it's not working for you.