Stopping breast feeding

[Charlster77]

Hi, can anyone else out there help? I stopped breast feeding my son last week and my right boob REALLY hurts! I know they are meant to hurt for a while but Im not sure what is normal and what is not! My right boob feels as though it has got a golf ball stuck inside it. It hurts to touch. Is this what happens or should I go and speak to the doc about it?

thanks in advance!
x

Sounds like a blocked duct. Have you tried expressing a bit to see if that helps?

No, not yet but I might give it a try. I hadn't becasue I was not sure if that would send my boobs mixed messages about whether to keep producing!?!

Get a flannel and run it under warm water, put it on the sore bit, this will encourage the milk duct to open. Or go in a hot shower and let the water run on it, then try gently to express - only express till the pressure goes. You may find a stringy bit of manky milk comes out. Don't worry this is fine. If you find your boob going red and angry looking though, you need to get some antibiotics because a blocked duct can go onto mastitis quite quickly (though you tend to have flu symptoms too).

BTW the clearing of a duct won't confuse your boobs. It'll still take a few weeks to get totally dried up though.

Wow! Thanks for the info, sounds good and I will give it a go!

Did you just stop at once and go cold turkey? It's pobably a blocked duct, so be careful it doesn't develop into mastitis.

It's always a good idea to cut dwon gradually so that your boobs get used to the reduction in demand and drop the supply accordingly.

When I stopped with my DS I expressed a few ozs off each time it got unbearable, just enough to relieve the pressure iyswim.

I'm in the process of weaning my DD at the moment. she is much older though and I've been doing it by cutting out a feed per day. She now only gets a BF through the night and first thing, but I didn't feel any letdown this morning so i think my body is reacting to the reduced demand for feeds

there is useful information on kellymom rearding blockages and pain as well as weaning and how to do it gradually.

I hope you can clear this blockage soon; I have had lots of blocked ducts as well as a few bouts of mastitis and it is not pleasant at all

Thanks again. I did wean him off and got down to just feeding him once in the night and then the 1st feed of the day. I was doing that for about 8 days and then stopped altogether. From everyones info, it does sound like a blocked duct so Im going to give a quick go at expressing and see if that helps.
thanks again.

RESULT! Thanks guys, I just went and expressed a couple of oz's and the 'lump' has reduded down. I can still feel it a bit but it has definatly reduced a lot. Should I keep expressing??

Charlster - same thing happened when I stopped (went from two really short feeds a day when DD was 15 months). for the first week, my boobs were fine, then they got hard and sore - this lasted for about another week. I expressed every day or two in the bath (just a little) and this really helped.

Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks so much. I think I will do the same.

If the lump is decreased, you can stop expressing but keep an eye on it. It should now go down on it's own. Take some ibuprofen (to reduce the swellling and also because you may have sore norks after the prodding).

It really is one of those 'aaah' moments when the pressure goes isn't it. A bit like the first post childbirth poop!

Also try taking some sudafed - this is meant to help "dry" your bodily fluids, including milk.

May be an old wives' tale though ;)

That's true about sudafed, it's the galfeisen (can't remember how you spell it). Tixylix has the same stuff in if you have any of that (and doesn't knock you out).