Drying up milk supply 😓

[RWK29]

Any tips and tricks ladies? Our breastfeeding journey has unfortunately come to an end. DS was refusing the breast due to reflux and it played havoc with my milk supply. Weight was dropping and after discussion with HV I decided to express as much as I could and transition him to formula over a week (done on her advice). I’d love to be able to just exclusively express and give him breast milk bottles but expressing full time was really taking its toll on me physically and mentally so I’ve reluctantly followed advice to transition. Im really gutted about our BF journey being over 😔 today is day 1 of full formula feeds and my boobs are not letting me forget it 😓

Cold cabbage leaves, tight sports bra, and it's maybe not recommended but I took Sudafed tablets after reading about it online which worked wonders.

Try not to drink too much either. Obviously enough that you’re not going to get dehydrated but not as much as usual.

Cabbage leaves...so strange and smells bad but really works. Take ibuprofen regularly and do not touch your boobs. If you are really incomfortable just pump a small amount off to relieve the discomfort, if its a small amount it wont affect the drying up process. I weaned one feed at a time but was still engorged. When i got down to 2 breastfeeds a day i was having to top baby up with formula as my supply had pretty much gone so it doesnt take too long for your body to realise x

@Orchidflower1 oh gosh 😳🙈 here’s me that drinks nearly 3.5l of water a day 🙈

Thanks all!! I’ll try and grab a cabbage and hope for the best 😅

How many times a day were you pumping? I pumped for 12 weeks with ds1 and when I decided to stop (at 10 weeks) I cut out a session every 2 days if I remember correctly. By the time I stopped I was down to just one session. I only had a little discomfort for 2 days after that and used the lanisoh ice packs I had for that. (Frozen face clothes would do)

@shouldistop pumping was all over the place just whenever I could manage 😓 I’m in lockdown alone with a baby that doesn’t like to be put down at all so it was whenever I could entertain him out of my arms for 10 minutes 😓 I’ll try the ice packs!

If you pumped any more than once day in the last couple of days then you may have to pump a bit today and tomorrow just to wind down supply and relieve encouragement. You don't want to end up with mastitis.

I would try and not go cold turkey pumping for your comfort if possible.
If you were pumping several times per day, going to nothing could cause mastitis.
Can you try and just pump morning and evening for the next three days, for 5 mins. Then drop to just morning and evening 3 mins for 3 days. Then just morning or evening just enough to be comfortable, 1 min maybe. Then stop? It will take 1-2 weeks but might help any major discomfort or needing antibiotics

@shouldistop @Caspianberg Yeah I’m going to try pumping a couple of times a day for a few minutes just to keep the pressure down and I’ll gradually reduce it. It’s amazing how sore full boobs can be 🙈

@RWK29 yes it can be really painful. Remember to take painkillers if you need them. In my experience health visitors don't know much about exclusive pumping as it's not very common. Drying yourself up in just a week isn't realistic without major discomfort.

@shouldistop Yeah I noticed that about pumping! It’s never really discussed as an option! Hats off to anyone that manages it because it is a LOT of work 😳 and I only did it for a couple of weeks!