Every breastfeeding mother comes to a point where she is faced with having to wean her baby. It’s often a bittersweet moment. One filled with joy of being able to eat, drink whatever, and go wherever you want…but also one of sadness as you may be mourning the loss of those quiet special moments between you and your baby, and that special time of closeness and bonding you shared. Alas, all things come to an end. For some women this will be an easy decision, for others a hard one, and for even some a decision they medically didn’t have a say in. Whatever the reason, breastfeeding is an accomplishment you should be proud of no matter the length of time, whether it was 1 week or 2 years. You did a wonderful thing for you and your baby. So now that the time has come let me walk you through how to dry up your milk supply. The process seems odd, but it works.
I never recommend going cold turkey. Your breasts and your baby wont be happy! I would try, if possible, to start cutting out a feeding session and replacing it with a bottle of either expressed breast milk, formula, or cows milk if over 12 months. This will allow your cellular breast tissue to gradually realize what’s happening and avoid you become severely engorged. However, If the gradual weaning process isn’t right for you, and you want to quit cold turkey, then here are the steps to follow:
- During the drying up stage, very important to NOT stimulate your breasts with a pump or massage. This will only make the breasts think it needs to produce more
- Buy a head of green cabbage and keep it in the refrigerator to keep it cold and fresh. Peel off 2 leaves, crush them with a rolling pin to break up the enzymes, then place one leaf on each breast, inside a well fitting bra. (I know that sounds really weird….but cabbage when placed topically secretes enzymes that dry up the production of milk. It works)
- Replace the cabbage leaves when they become wilted with fresh ones from the fridge. Be sure to do this for 24-48 hours.
- Wear a tight fitting bra such as a sports bra
- Use ice packs to bring down the swelling of the breast tissue if you become severely engorged
- Buy some peppermint Altoids, and eat one Altoids every hour (you don’t have to wear those!) The strong peppermint will lower the milk supply
- Sage tea will also help in drying up your milk
- In severe cases, decongestants such as sudafed or anti-histamines such as Benedryl may be helpful, but this should be done under the care of your physician. Breasts are mucus membranes and will respond to the “drying out” method these drugs produce.
If for some reason these steps are not working, then contact a Lactation Consultant, such as myself for further guidance. You may smell like peppermint coslaw for a few days, but in the end your breasts will be happier that you chose not to just abandon them through this process. Best of luck!
Copyright© 2011 Danielle Gauss – JustBreastFeeding.com. All Rights Reserved.
Please help my baby have a horrible rash on his bottom duecto my breast milk and I csnnot breast feed him due to my engorgement I am trying to wean off cold turkey and God it hurts. Scared of my ducts clogging whatcto do how should I know…5 weeks breast feeding
I am so sorry to hear that your little one is suffering from a diaper rash, but I don’t know if it would be from your breastmilk. My guess is that if his rash is not clearing up with basic diaper ointment, I would take him to his doctor to make sure it is not a yeast infection, which would not be caused by anything he is eating from your milk. An antifungal cream should help treat that. As for the engorgement, I would always recommend doing it gradually. For right now, unless you really want to give up breastfeeding, I would treat his rash, maybe cut out spicy foods and dairy, and continue to breast feed. Initially though, so you don’t get an infection pump out both breasts till empty, and then begin the treatment recommended under weaning. Hang in there. I do hope you find a root cause of his rash.
I breast fed for 4 weeks and still got no relief. My boobs hurt when feeding my little girl. So I stated pumping and feeding her with a bottle. My breasts fill up really fast and fill up a lot. It seems like they always hurt and I am not sleeping well because of the fullness. They literally feel like rocks when I get up throughout the night to pump. I’ve decided to introduce her to formula and stop pimping but I don’t know how to do that. I read the above article but when I do pump do I need to empty my breasts or just enough to relive the fullness? I am definitely going to try the cabbage leaves and altoids. Please help!
Hi Ashley,
I apologize for just now getting back to you. Your breasts work by supply and demand, the more you stimulate the more milk you will make. Originally you want to empty them completely, or as best as you can. Then I would use cold compress for the discomfort, and begin to space out the pumping, with less minutes. So for example if you were pumping every 3 hours, I would go to every four hours, and only pump 5 min instead of 15. During this time I would begin eating the peppermint altoids, and begin with the cabbage leaves. Make sure you crush the cabbage prior to wearing it. If you still feel really uncomfortable, you can try a decongestant like Sudafed. Just like how it decongest your nose it will decongest your breast. Hope this helps!