Bottle Feeding

PickledPlums · August 2015

I'm not planning on breast feeding my son for very long- it's probably going to be a week or so.
If you've done the same, or exclusively bottle fed - what happened as your milk stopped? What did you do? Did you still have problems with clogged ducts and engorgement? Pain relief?

tlc11934 · August 2015

I stopped nursing after a short time with DD2. My breasts would swell during hot showers and I would get that letdown feeling when the baby cried, though no milk would come out. This lasted about 2 weeks. GL

sarahlinde · August 2015

I quit after 1 week with my youngest. It was absolutely horrible. I guess I got to where I had good milk supply and was really big and then quit cold turkey and the pain was so bad. I felt like I had the flu for the 2 worse days. I will not be doing that again. I dont have any suggestions and I know everyone is different but for me quitting after 1 week was miserable

KYmama9286 · August 2015

If you plan on bottle feeding your milk will still come in which generally brings some engorgement at first. Remember that breastfeeding is supply/demand so if a baby is not nursing regularly your body will begin to realize that it doesn't need the milk and your supply will dry up over time. How long this takes varies for every woman though there are some things you can do to help speed up the process such as taking decongestants which work to dry up bodily fluids (not just snot either, works the same on breastmilk lol). You may be tempted to pump to relieve the engorgement at first but be careful doing this because it signals to the body you need more milk. I would recommend hand expressing in the shower or into a rag if you need to relieve a bit of the pressure, put raw cabbage leaves in your bra (these work to help ease engorgement also), take some decongestants/antihistamines and wear nursing pads to catch any leaking. You most likely will leak a little but probably not a ton or for very long and plugged ducts or mastitis could occur but it just depends on your body. In general when I've quit nursing things are pretty dried up after 2 weeks or so, with only the occasional leak. Hth!

KYmama9286 · August 2015

I'll also add if you are going from nursing to bottle feeding do it gradually by replacing one nursing session at a time. When you try and dry up cold turkey so to speak you are much more likely to deal with plugged ducts, painful engorgement and possibly mastitis. Follow your body's lead- some women have great supplies immediately and it can take a while, others naturally don't produce as much and could dry up easily after a few days. It really just depends- each woman is different and each experience is different. I've had both oversupply and undersupply, I'm very prone to plugged ducts on the side which almost every time turn into mastitis but I think that's just how my milk ducts are and where they are located within my breast tissue.

rachelkawesome · August 2015

I have also seen teas that help stop milk production - I'm a FTM and planning on breastfeeding, so I can't tell you anything first hand, but the reviews on Amazon were good for the Earth Mama/Angel Baby No More Milk Tea. Just as a warning though, some of the moms writing reviews are like you and just want to stop milk production, but some have experienced a loss, and I found those reviews hard to read.

junebaby20 · September 2015

I *believe vitamin b12 is also good to help you dry up. When DD self weaned at 9mo I had to get rid of whatever milk I was still making. And I took that. Google and double check though. And there is a Facebook group called the fearless formula feeder or something to that effect. I'm sure there is a wealth of knowledge there.

Bottle Feeding

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