Advice on giving up breastfeeding rapidly

[Daffodilly]

Hi

After weeks of feeling truly dreadful I have just been diagnosed with a very overactive thyroid. I am waiting to hear back from the doctor, but it sounds like the medication I need to take may not be compatible with breastfeeding.

DD is almost 7 months so I don't feel too bad about stopping now (though would have preferred it to be on our terms). I would rather stop now than have any risk of affecting her hormones through passing on the medication in my milk.

So my questions really are:

1. how do I go about stopping quite quickly to I can start getting treatment?

2. at 7 months should I move her onto a bottle (which I know she will take), or move straight to a bottle or one of those bottle-to-cup options?

3. I assume I would go straight onto the stage 3 formula with the added iron?

Thanks for any advice or experiences from anyone that has had a similar problem.

Daffodilly

I had to stop bf sudenly but ds was older.

When you stop you can always express alittle to keep yourself comfortable whilst your body reacts to the change in circumstances.

best wishes xxx

daffo - it wd be very odd if you had to stop bf for thyroid meds, as all they do is enable you to have the 'normal' level of thyroid hormone. That's my undedrstanding of it, but I am not a doctor. This NHD drugs site is reassuring. So do check before you decide anything.

Thanks for that link Tiktok - very handy reference. Becuase my thyroid is over active the drugs are to stop the tyroid hormones being produced. The site describes the drugs as "Minor adverse effects may be anticipated on theoretical grounds." I guess I need to weigh up the risk versus benefit of continuing to BF.

I'm a little nervous of doing anything that could interfere with her thyroid function as it is a problem I've suffered with on and off for years and so I guess she is already more likely to have similar issues.

Good point about expressing - I suppose if I have to I could switch her to formula completely and just express for my comfort (though I hate it and never get much out!)

I hear I am in good company as Kate Garraway has the same problem!!

daffo, 'minor adverse effects on theoretical grounds' doesn't sound like a risk to me....not compared with the positives of continuing to bf. What have the docs said?

I'm waiting to hear back from the specialist later today - so hopefully I am panicking for nothing!

I now have to go in for a scan on Monday before any decision on medication. Unfortunately this involves an injection of a radioactive substance - so definitely no breastfeeding for 48 hours.

I think I may be spending the weekend checking that DD WILL still take the bottle....

good luck daff. i'll just mention that the breastfeeding network has a drug information line.

drugline

I had to stop bf feeding ds1 suddenly. I did not even have the option for 'one last feed'. He was nine months old when suddenly he was a bf baby one minute to not the next.

This was on a friday morning. I chose not to express, because I had a strong feeling that if my milk wasn't 'used up' it would reasorb and I wouldn't produce any more. Over the weekend my breasts did get quite full but not too uncomfortable, and by monday they started to go down. Within a week everything had settled perfectly. I didn't express at all.

Ds had no previous experience with bottles. I bought some teats and also those avent cup inserts that go into the bottles. Given the option, he perferred the latter. Although hard for us both, over that weekend, I got dh to do all the feeds. He (ds) was obviously a bit reluctant, but he drank when he was thirsty. He got used to it very quickly.

I couldn't advise about which formula to use, but I felt totally justified in using a ready made up one. What with everything going on at the time, learning how to make up bottles was one hassle I felt I could do without.

Good luck, hope all goes well.