How long until my milk dries up?

[annio84]

Hi ladies,

My LO is going to be two in 10 weeks so I've decided it's time to stop. It's going ok at the moment - i've only caved and fed her once. My question is how long will I still have milk for because I've started getting a tiny bit of leaking - nothing much more just the residue around my nipples. But as well I tell her when she asks that the boobies have no more milk left and then am proved a liar when she squeezes them!

 

[noon_child]

Maybe you could say they only have enough milk for one feed a day and she can chose when it is, but once she has it, it will be used up. This will reduce your supply more gently so you shouldn't leak as much/if at all.

Then after two or three weeks of that you can tell her it has all gone and it'll be much nearer the truth, and much less likely to squeeze out!

To be honest though, I know women who have had small bit of milk still hanging round for a couple of months after they stopped feeding.

 

[Rainstorm]

In my case it took about a week for it to go completely

 

[Rhiannon137]

Mine was taking forever when I stopped. My breasts had been engorged for 2-3 weeks after I stopped. I finally decided to try the "ridiculous" old wives tale of putting cabbage leaves in my bra, and they dried up within a few days. Amazing! I smelled like coleslaw for those days, but it was worth it .

 

[northern_me]

I also suggest the cabbage leaves.

 

[newlywedtzh]

I have read that women can produce small amounts of milk for a longgg time afterwards... even years. But small to the point of if you try to express, you may get a little.. that's all.

 

[staralfur]

It's been 5 weeks since I last fed my LO and I still get milk when I squeeze. I think it can take quite a while.

 

[bdb84]

It's different for everyone. I only nursed my first child for 3 months, and could STILL hand express a bit of milk from one breast when he was 3 *years* old!

I nursed my second child for 2.5 months and I dried up almost instantly.

 

[Kanichen34]

If I squeezed my nipples BEFORE I even got pregnant I produced colostrum and milk. I'm not expecting to ever dry up. Best answer would be don't let LO squeeze your nipples ;-) I just weaned my 19 month old and I just tell her there's no milk but she can have a cup of cows milk. We had whinging for the first 10 days but now she just says 'okay.'

 

[annio84]

Thanks ladies. They're not engorged or anything just leaking a tiny bit like when my colostrum came in when I was pregnant. I think I may be one of those women who take ages to stop producing milk, it's been months since she fed daily because I don't feed her on days when I'm working anyway. In the main she's taking stopping quite well. I can tend to distract her quite easily