How to stop BF early on. Advice in advance please.

[hockeymum]

Hi, I breastfed my dd for 18 months so was expecting to do the same with ds (arriving on friday by section) but I might need some medicine not compatible with BF this time and have decided that if I need it I was stop BF and bottlefeed instead (rather than risk complications I had last time). I would still like to try to BF for a few days at least and as long as possible as I understand that even a few days of colustrum is very good for the baby. With dd I obviously weened her very slowly so I didnt have excess milk and have to express. What would I do if I had to stop suddenly to start on medication? Would my milk dry up?

What have some of the rest of you done if you have stopped BF quickly while baby was tiny.

Thanks

Are you certain you need to stop breastfeeding? Sometimes Doctors say you do, when you really don't. If you go to www.breastfeedingnetwork.org they have a drugsline you can email or phone, to get up to date correct advice.

If the medication IS incompatible, how long are you taking it for? If it's only for a short while, perhaps you could pump and dump in the meantime, so that afterwards you could perhaps go back to atleast part time feeding - your supply will have diminished with sole expressing, but you could either mix breast and formula, or work to build up your supply again (difficult but possible).

Finally, if you really do have to stop breastfeeding, personally I wouldn't just stop - it would be really painful, not to mention the risk of mastitis. I would express off enough to ease engorgement and let your supply dwindle gradually.

Good info from Rosie - it is hardly ever necessary to stop breastfeeding for medication reasons. You can also check yourself on the web \link{http://www.ukmicentral.nhs.uk/drugpreg/guide.htm\here} where common drugs are listed.