AW I made it to 3 months! (and weaning tips, please)

CarolinaGirl2014 · April 2014

My daughter turned three months old yesterday and I am still pumping for her. I'm being a complete AW right now because it was not easy and honestly I'm proud of myself. I feel like I've done something great for her health and I know it will only help her one day as she navigates the emotions of being an adoptee.

Also, for those of you who EP'ed and weaned or weaned outside of baby's schedule, how long did it take? I have been trying to wean 1 1/2 weeks. I had such a tough time establishing my supply I thought I'd dry up as soon as I stopped all those measures. I've gone from 9 pumps a day to 4 and supply has dropped from ~30oz/day to 23/24. It seems to be stuck there and I don't know how to get below 4 sessions. I spaced them out more and more to get here but I've been here for 4 days now and supply isn't regulating. I'm still just as engorged all the time and I'm so engorged that shortening the sessions isn't an option. I can handle the pain, but I don't want mastitis again. I haven't tried cabbage leaves yet, but I guess I'm nervous about smell or mess because I'm also working like crazy right now. I start a new job part time next week and full time the week after so I really need to be down to 3 by Monday and 2 the week after. I'm open to any and all sugestions!

worleygirl · April 2014

You did an awesome thing for her! Wow! Try sudafed. Also cut your water consumption down. Shorten pumping times. Good luck!

sugarland726 · April 2014

Sudafed definitely helps dry you up. Binding the breasts is now considered as possibly leading to clogged ducts or mastitis, so I'd personally avoid that. When you pump, only pump enough to relieve the pressure, not to fully empty the breast. Every few days drop another pump. Good luck!

RedSaffron · April 2014

You did amazing! Your LO is so lucky that you did that for her

I don't have any weaning tips, but just wanted to compliment you.

housewifebecomesher · April 2014

Congrats to you! Awesome accomplishment!

eacarmstrong · April 2014

You sound like a remarkable person! I don't have any advice about the weaning..

blue_elle · April 2014

No advice either, but what a wonderful thing you've done! Congrats!

peanutmuse · April 2014

I am so incredibly impressed and in awe of you.

And @sugarland726 is wise.

Sgriff1 · April 2014

My LC swore that cabbage leaves really do help relieve engorgement. She said to stick one leaf per side in your bra and wear until wilted (and I guess it feels good because it's cool)....could you try it before bed? I have no advice myself and just wanted to add that you truly are an amazing selfless woman!

heather52904 · April 2014

Congrats! What a great thing to do for your LO!

precious72381 · April 2014

I also wanted to say how amazing you are!!! No advice but hope they dry up quickly!

Babychuu · April 2014

I don't have any personal experience so I can't provide advice, but have you read Kellymom? If not, here's a link!

https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/weaning-from-pump/

bethughknee · April 2014

You have given her a WONDERFUL gift and you are such an amazing woman! I second the Sudafed and only pumping to relieve pressure and not until empty. I would also suggest alcohol that is not beer if you're so inclined. I've noticed that on days where I have a couple glasses of wine and don't up my water, I yield a little less.

@mrsjenni has weaned several times with her flock of babies so she might have a thing or two to add.

I hope you're able to wean without any plugged ducts! And another round of applause for your selflessness!

CopperT0p · April 2014

The cabbage leaves do work and they don't end up smelling or messy if you're worried about that. My SIL didn't want to nurse her DS2 so when her milk came in she put cabbage leaves in her bra and her milk dried up after a few days.

That is a great gift you have given your child and her family!

sugarland726 · April 2014

bethughknee said:

You have given her a WONDERFUL gift and you are such an amazing woman! I second the Sudafed and only pumping to relieve pressure and not until empty. I would also suggest alcohol that is not beer if you're so inclined. I've noticed that on days where I have a couple glasses of wine and don't up my water, I yield a little less.

@mrsjenni has weaned several times with her flock of babies so she might have a thing or two to add.

I hope you're able to wean without any plugged ducts! And another round of applause for your selflessness!

LOL at flock of babies.

valigrl21 · April 2014

Congrats, you did a wonderful thing for your daughter!

As far as weening, I think @sugarland726 gave you great advice. Also, maybe try cutting back on the amount of water you drink for a few days. I know increasing water intake, helps produce more milk, so I assume cutting back would have the opposite effect. But I haven't purposely weaned, so I don't know for sure.

sarahmarie2 · April 2014

What you did for your daughter is incredible! I have no weaning tips, but wanted to say that I'm in awe of you.

BEAUNAL · April 2014

You are amazing as the rest of the ladies have said. Bravo Mama.

gina0485 · April 2014

What a beautiful gift to give your daughter. You have every right to feel proud. I echo what sugar land says -- don't do the tight bra! That's a fast track to mastitis. I hear sage can also dry out milk as well as Sudafed.

RedSaffron · April 2014

@bethughknee‌ I spit up my diet coke when I read "flock of babies" I love those choice words.

CarolinaGirl2014 · April 2014

Thanks ladies! J14 has been the most amazing support group. I started shorteing pumping time yesterday and pumped just a few minutes when I was super engorged. Think I'll try cabbage leaves today. And I realized I hadn't read everything on kellymom about weaning, which helped as well.

CarolinaGirl2014 · April 2014

Also, @Bethugknee your wording always cracks me up

Stephorse · April 2014

I just finished doing this. What I did was lessen the amount of time I pumped ( going gradually from 25 min to 20 to 15 etc) at each time I pumped. Then I also gradually increased the amount of time from 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours to 3 and 1/2. I also used cold packs on the boobs too. Finally the last week I just had to go cold turkey as I was down to two pumps a day and nothing was working so just hand expressing just enough to not feel too in pain and the cold packs really helped that last week, but it took a month for me to dry up.

ChuggingWater · April 2014

@bethughknee‌ flock. El oh el

Carolina, you're simply amazing

mrsjenni · April 2014

Everything @sugarland726 said! I weaned from DS2 cold turkey... literally just stopped (due to his awful reflux issues) and dealt with the pain. It was awful for 3-4 days, so I just pumped for relief when I absolutely needed too. It was fine! Advil and wine helped

This time, I started weaning Emerson slowly. I dropped every other feeding first for a week or so, then dropped all daytime sessions next. Dropping the daytime sessions were a little painful the first day or two, but not terrible. I never had to pump or anything and it really helped that she was still nursing at night. Now I'm down to just nursing her first thing in the morning (around 6am) and just before bed (around 8pm). This has been working beautifully for us, so we'll continue to do this until one (or both) of us are ready to stop.

Good luck!

CarolinaGirl2014 · April 2014

Stephorse Thanks for sharing. I've had such a hard time today I might try your method. If I pump just enough to ease the pain I'm engorged again an hour later. Also, this is encouraging b/c I can keep pumping if I only have to do it twice a day. I miss the dairy but at that point she'd be getting so little of it in her bottles I think she'd be fine. I like the idea of having my life back but still having that connection to her. How much were you producing at twice a day?

@mrsjenni you are one tough cookie to have been able to stand cold turkey. Thanks for sharing- makes me think tomorrow will be easier.

versed · April 2014

Congrats - that's an amazing gift.

Sudafed is a good recommendation, but Junior Mints are an additional option. The mint in them helps decrease supply. Good luck!

xanadu94 · April 2014

NextVerseUnknown said:

Congrats - that's an amazing gift.

Sudafed is a good recommendation, but Junior Mints are an additional option. The mint in them helps decrease supply. Good luck!

I'm not trying to make light of it but I can't wait for the day when I can tell my husband that I HAVE to eat more junior mints to help wean. I loooooove them!

last14real · April 2014

I made it to 8 weeks breastfeeding with this one and then stopped cold turkey. Did not even pump to relieve pressure. I had 3-4 days of rock hard boobs but then it got better, I didn't use all my ibuprofen 800 after dd was born so I took those and it helped. With your history of mastitis this may not be the way to go for you. I would definitely try the shorter pumping sessions and every few days cut one out. Also when you take a shower try to keep your boobs out of the warm water bc even though it feels great those suckers will start flowing and that will just set you back. Good luck mama you can do it!!

Siblynika · April 2014

No tips here but congratulations for making it so long! I can't imagine the issues you and many of the other ladies on here have had and still managed to stick with it.

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AW I made it to 3 months! (and weaning tips, please)

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