How to wean off breastfeeding with mastitis

[Mars80]

Hello. Wondering if anyone can help me. My baby is 9 weeks old, she was born 5 weeks early and had severe jaundice so I was unable to breastfeed her so I expressed breastmilk and gave to her via bottle. At week 6 she latched on and everything was fine till 10 days ago when I started to have lumps in my breast and engorged breasts. I have a mild form of mastitis and I think has come about because I was expressing more milk than what my baby actually needs. After all my hard work trying to get her to breastfeed I feel that enough is enough and I want to move away from breastfeeding onto bottle feeding but how do I do this without causing more problems? I have lots of frozen breastmilk so I can continue to feed her breastmilk via bottle for a while..Any advice would be most apprieciated...i have asked so many people but noone can give me advice on how I go about weaning off BF. BF is great but I've had so many problems that it is affecting my mental state now and things feel they'd be easier if I quit now..
Thanks

ok firstly - if you stop feeding before the mastitis has cleared you WILL make it worse!

I had a really nasty mastitis when DS was about 3 months old - and there were times when I couldn't feed him - awful....

to clear the blockages if normal feeding etc isn't doing it - you will need to do really firm massage... by that I mean... this is what I did:
fill sink with HOT water
dangle boob in to it (classy I know)
soak flannel and lay on the top of boob
then massage breast - thinking deep tissue style... really firm, from the outside towards the nipple... really hurts - gives bruised feeling BUT

I had had nasty mastitis for 9 days, 3 trips to doc, 2 types of antibiotics - this was the only thing which cleared it!

Have you got to the bottom of why you got mastitis? It can be badly fitting bras ? bad latch ? a million other things...

once the mastitis is healed... if you feel you still want to wean from the breast - do it gradually, one feed at a time (a few days apart)... the last thing you need after experiencing mastitis is engorged breasts - risking getting it again!

good luck!

If you want to stop breastfeeding I would really try to wait until you have got the mastitis sorted first. Stopping or cutting down on breastfeeding is very likely to make it worse and that's the last thing you need right now after everything you've been through.

Once your breasts are "stabilised" (IYSWIM) you can drop one feed every few days. If you are prone to mastitis then I'd make that very gradual and err on the side of allowing extra time to elapse before you drop the next feed. Sudden changes are quite likely to spark off the blocked duct-possible mastitis issue again.

thank you - was thinking i'd get rid of mastitis issue first and then drop a feed from breast per week? does that sound ok?think mastitis may ber due to poor latch because it can hurt when she feeds from me.Due to take another course of antibiotics but fed up with being on meds as have had at least 5 diff antibiotics since leaving hospital...

second what noseynora said.
i find it easier to do it in a hot bath though and when it is very painful to start off using a hairbrush to comb down - this makes it more bearable when it comes to "massaging" it. also, use some showergel/olive oil or something to help. i massage the sore part downwards with my knuckles as well as fingers (not at the same time!). you need to keep feeding.
it's miserable, i know, good luck.
also lots of good info on kellymom.

your decision obviously as to whether to keep BF but i have found that i can spot the early symptoms of blocked ducts/mastitis much more easily now (6 months down the line) and although i am prone to it and it is a big PITA, it is usually more easily dealt with.

If its latch and you get some pain there do you have any local bf support group? There was one run by nct near me and it was a lifeline! They can really help. If you didn't have the mastitis and latch probs would you continue?

Your slow wean sounds fab, to make it even more gradual you could decrease feed time each day for that week, then you would probably get no engorgment at all

i think i'll try a local bf support group..everyone i speak to seem to think it would be a shame if i gave up now after all my hard work which i guess is true but then again i dont want to have another issue further down the line - i think i'd be really upset and frustrated.some people have said that moving to formula may cause even more preobs which has put me off.

If you're not sure about local groups, give the nearest branch of the NCT a call. I know my branch has a few breastfeeding counsellors and they also have details of all the local parenting groups.