Choosing not to breastfeed- what happens after birth?

[Brook450]

Hi all. I'm 5 months pregnant with my 2nd DC and planning not to breastfeed from birth. Mainly because I had breast cancer 3 years ago so only have one working boob. With DC1 I tried to breastfeed and it didn't go well, ended up pumping and found it was just too much mentally and physically and then struggled with mastitis while reducing supply. So I've decided I want to formula feed from the beginning this time.

I have a couple of questions- could I express colustrum pre birth without increasing supply so I can give baby a little of the good stuff when she's born?

And for those that have done this, how uncomfortable and difficult was it for you to make your milk dry up? How long did it take? Did you get mastitis?

Thanks in advance!

Can't comment on colostrum harvesting as I never did this.

But I did FF both kids from birth. You just need to let the MW know your preference immediately and then you take in those pre-made bottles of formula to hospital. First feed for both kids was about 30mins after birth.

Both times my milk came in on day 3/4. Boobs will feel warm and bruised a little (kind of like how they feel when you're first pregnant and they're tender) but that's as bad as it got for me. I was advised to wear a very supportive bra (sports bra in my case) for a week, and I also made sure to wear it at night. You want to avoid stimulating boob too much, so lots of support will definitely help. In shower, try to avoid too much hot water on your boobs once milk is in as it'll stimulate them a bit and drying out might take a fraction longer. My boobs were back to normal/dried out totally by about day 10.

Anecdotally, most my friends and my DSis FF from birth and none suffered mastitis. I think its more common to get that if you've started BF and are reducing/stopping abruptly once your breasts are used to maintaining a level of supply. I'm not an expert at all though!

Talking Epsom salts will make tour milk dry up.

Hi OP,
I harvested colostrum and took it into hospital in freezer bags where they kept it in the freezer. It was a good thing I did as I wasn't able to pick up my DD (after c-section) and my husband was sent home straight after the birth due to Covid, so I was on my own. She needed the colostrum in the end. Anyway, all of this meant that my plans to breast feed went to pot as DD didn't learn to latch and never did. I ended up doing a mix of pumping (using hospital grade pump which was sooo much quicker and easier than any of the other ones) and ready made formula. I'm afraid I ignored all the lactation consultants who told me the best time to pump was the middle of the night. My baby was a good sleeper so I stayed asleep too! I chose to only pump part-time for a few weeks in the mornings and once before bed and topped up the rest with formula.

There were lots of horror stories told to me about not breast feeding 100%, stopping breast milk / supply being too much, but it was fine and I eased off until it was 100% formula.

One thing I found, which you no doubt know from your first DC was the automatic assumption that you are breast feeding and it's all fine. I would imagine you will need to be very clear you do not intend to and maybe put it in bold on your birth plan / for the postnatal ward?

2KidsNoTime has nailed it - I was exactly the same. Milk came in around Day 4, and I just avoided any stimulation for the next few days until it dried up. I only had warm showers, no hot water on them, and wore a supportive bra 24/7 . My boobs were sore for a couple of days but nothing worse than that. I didn't get mastitis - as pp said that's more likely if you start and then stop. I don't know about harvesting colostrum, maybe the midwife might know more about that. Good luck !

There’s medication that can be given after birth to stop your milk coming in. I don’t know why it’s not offered more routinely but I had my DC in the private wing of an NHS hospital and my consultant suggested it.

@2KidsNoTime @starrynight21 thank you both, this is really reassuring re mastitis and that it wasn't too uncomfortable to get the milk to dry up. Will definitely have it in my birth plan and will get some of those ready to use bottles. Thanks!

@RandomQuest I ended up trying bromocriptine last time to help my milk dry up if that's what you mean. The side effects were awful though so not an easy option either.

I tried harvesting colostrum and couldn’t get any for whatever reason, so don’t get too worked up over it if you can’t.
Regarding milk supply, I think DS was about 3 days old when I woke up with absolutely rock hard boobs. The next day, gone. No discomfort, no issues. It was like my body was going ‘hey just checking you definitely don’t want to breastfeed? No? Ok cool I’ll leave it then’ 😂

Hi @Brook450

I was wondering if you were able to share how it went for you? I'm in a similar situation & have the option to take cabergoline but not sure what to do ...