Enforcement at 7 months

[miltonj]

Hi.

My daughter is nearly 7 months and has taken to solids really well. Even before we started her on food, her interest in milk was dwindling. Now she only really wants to feed once in the nighttime, in the morning and is fed to sleep. Day time feeds she tends to fall asleep so doesn't end up having much.

As a result I have a very painful, enforced breast. I don't really know how to prevent this. I've tried warm compress, hand expressing, shower, pumping etc but won't go down. I got enforced quite frequently in the early days and even ended up being hospitalised with mastitis and sepsis so really don't want to go down the road again!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I'm in a fair amount of pain!

Engorged not enforced!!

If you think she’s not going to increase her feeds again then you can hand express just enough to feel comfortable when you feel full, don’t fully drain them. Your breasts should then adjust to produce less milk. Keep an eye out for any blocked ducts though and clear them ASAP if you get them.

Make sure you keep an eye on her nappies to make sure she’s hydrated.

Oh the joys of autocorrect!

You can ask GP, I think it's possible to take medication to slow milk down, however I'd think it will sort itself out over a couple of days.

But....
Are you giving her too much solids? She should be mainly milk at this age.

Let her get a bit hungry, offer her a breastfeed, then top her up with solids. She's supposed to be getting used to solids while still relying on milk, rather than the other way around.

Thanks for your replies @CrazyKitkatLady @picklemewalnuts
I'm not too sure if she's eating too much. She has 'lunch' and tea, but sometimes lunch is just a small frozen yoghurt teether thing. However she eats for England at tea time. She also has lots of sips of water.

I'm not too sure what her poo is meant to look like at this stage? It's frequent, small amounts and around the consistency of quite thick peanut butter 🥳 does this sound about right? She strains an awful lot and is in obvious pain when pooing which she wasn't previously. Anyway I've gone completely off topic!

I'm so sorry, being engorged is the worst feeling. Can you adjust timing of day feeds so she is more awake and hungry?

@Bridget83 I'll give it a go!
I feed on demand so whenever she gets a bit whiney. Problem is it either sends her to sleep straight away or she's just too distracted, she's so nosey and she would basically rather do anything than breast feed! People talk about their 'boob monster' babies... that is not my daughter!