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Stopping Breastfeeding

apostle85apostle85 member
in Breastfeeding
I hope I came to the right place for some help with this issue.  My daughter is almost 3 months old and I've decided to stop breastfeeding.  Long story short, she didn't get back to her birth weight in a timely manner and I've been supplementing with formula since she was about 3 weeks old.  I have had supply issues since the beginning and have met with both my midwife and a lactation consultant but nothing seems to help.  I did a taper of Reglan but it made me terribly anxious and unable to stay awake.  I've tried the tea, drinking tons of water, lactation cookies and the whole mess of things to no avail.  I feel like I've given it a good run.

My question is, how do I stop with the pumping?  I've been pumping and giving her bottles since before I went back to work about 3 weeks ago.  I was pumping every 3 hours before and I'm trying to stretch it out.  How long will it take for me to dry up or do you really ever dry up?  She hasn't had an interest in nursing for a while.  My mom said when she attempted breastfeeding years ago she was given medicine to help her dry up. 

Thanks in advance for any advice! 
Met DH: 2.5.2008
Engaged: 4.9.11
Married: 9.22.12
Baby Girl J Born: 1.23.2014 via c section - Due with Baby #2: 5.27.2016
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Re: Stopping Breastfeeding

  • seawaterseawater member
    I don't have any personal experience but have heard you want to go about it very slowly.  It might be tempting to just quit all at once, but I've heard that can lead to serious issues (pain, clogged ducts, mastitis).  Sorry I can't be of more help.   
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  • MyaflowersMyaflowers member
    I've heard cabbage leaves and Sudafed (pseudoephedrine, the kind they keep behind the pharmacy counter) help. I think I also read something about sage tea helping. My OB told me they no longer give you the medicine to dry you up because it can cause a stroke. She told me to use cabbage leaves when I'm ready to wean. I agree that you should taper off the pump slowly. You can gradually increase the time between pumping sessions and when you are down to the last session, gradually decrease the time. Be sure to look out for signs of infection (redness, pain, swelling, fever, flu like body aches) and call your OB right away if you suspect an infection. Good luck and good job on sticking with it this long! I struggled with supply too, and it's hard.
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  • apostle922apostle922 member
    Thank you everyone!
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  • CNYBride05CNYBride05 member
    Mint tea should help too
    Natural m/c Oct. 2005

    Dx: balanced translocation and LPD

    TTC since Oct 2011

    BPF 02/19/12, EDD 10/31/12, natural m/c 02/28/12 (4w6d)

    IVF (BCPs starting 10/30/12, ER 11/18/12, 5dt of 1 beautiful, healthy embryo 11/23/12)
    BFP 12/02/12, u/s @ 6w,5d showed 2 HBs! Identical twins!!
    Bed rest from 21w-35w due to short cervix, hospital bed rest from 23w-32w due to PTL
    Our rainbows were born 07/19/13 (36w, 5d)

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