Stopping lactation

[SpringCrane]

My son has been on mostly formula but still getting one or two bottles of pumped milk and nursing when he wakes at night.

At the direction of the gastroenterologist, I'm supposed to stop giving him any breastmilk. She suggested I continue pumping and save the milk until a point at which it's possible to reintroduce, but honestly I hate pumping and life is so stressful I'm fine being done with it.

Is there any right or wrong way to stop producing milk? I just don't want to be dumb and get mastitis or anything.

My ebf first weaned himself at 18 months so it felt very natural. I'm guessing my already low production means it should be simple, but thought I'd check.

 

[staralfur]

I'd stick with the pumping for a bit if you're cutting out the nursing completely. Maybe after a week or two cut out one pumping session and then in another couple of weeks drop the other one. You definitely do risk mastitis if you cut out the nursing and pumping all at once.

 

[Eleonora]

I'd pump whenever you feel full. I only had to do it once when I stopped but my DS was 2.5.

 

[justmeinlove]

I'ddouble check why they say you should stop? Breastmilk is Super digestible, far moreso than formula?!

 

[SpringCrane]

I'ddouble check why they say you should stop? Breastmilk is Super digestible, far moreso than formula?!

They want to control his intake and remove all variables to determine allergies/sensitivities/etc while they try to determine the cause of his low weight gain.

Breastmilk is wonderful for most babies, but it's not the right source of food for my little guy at the moment unfortunately. It could possibly be if I followed a very strict elimination diet, but time is of the essence and we don't have the time to build my supply and wait for possible allergens to fully leave my system, as the next step is a feeding tube if he doesn't start gaining in the next week.

 

[justmeinlove]

Big hugs for dealing with this. I wonder if you can face it, it might be worth sticking with the pumping just to have something to fall back on if he turns out allergic to something you can't avoid in formula. You could eat lots of flapjacks to increase your supply and try to cheer yourself up about doing it

It's probably also a good reason for avoiding mastitis, which is hard to advise on from a distance; but staralfur gives great advice imo!

Best of luck with it. Probably also worth reading about adding other things to your sleep 'pie' so when nursing is removed you don't end up with a hysterical tiny. Things like singing, tummy rubbing etc. It's a thing on the internet

 

[SpringCrane]

Thank you for the kind words. I pumped once a day for a few days but didn't have to yesterday. I did this morning before going out as I was feeling "full" but I suspect that might be the last time I'll need to.

I thought about continuing to pump, but my 3 y/o is already feeling so neglected, we're better off just removing the stress from our lives. We're on a strict two hour schedule with the baby for feeding, so by the time he eats (can take an hour for a few ounces), a diaper change, washing bottles, putting him down for a nap, it's time to start over and big brother hasn't gotten a minute of attention.

I figure we'll treat it like our own in-house experiment. If big brother (BFed for 18 months) ends up with a higher IQ, fewer illnesses, etc than baby brother, I'll chalk it up to longer exposure to breastmilk. ;-)

 

[noon_child]

so by the time he eats (can take an hour for a few ounces)

I know you have had a few different consultations all saying his tongue tie shouldn't be causing feeding issues, but a 5month old who takes up to an hour to eat a few ounces from a bottle is, in my opinion, showing classic signs of tongue tie affecting feeding.

I'm not saying you should continue with breastfeeding, or stop looking for allergies, but TT can make bottle feeing a pain in the **** too and just as frustrating and time consuming as breast feeding. It seems odd to me that with a child who is struggling to gain weight, the simplest explanation (that he can't get enough milk) has been bypassed for a more complex explanation like allergies.

In regard to drying up your supply, I think it sounds like you are doing a good job. The important thing is your comfort, not the speed at which it dries up, so if you need to express to relieve engorgement then do it. Good luck with getting to the bottom of what is going on with your boy. I'm sure whatever it is, with such a patient and caring mum he'll do just fine.

 

[SpringCrane]

so by the time he eats (can take an hour for a few ounces)

I know you have had a few different consultations all saying his tongue tie shouldn't be causing feeding issues, but a 5month old who takes up to an hour to eat a few ounces from a bottle is, in my opinion, showing classic signs of tongue tie affecting feeding.

I'm not saying you should continue with breastfeeding, or stop looking for allergies, but TT can make bottle feeing a pain in the **** too and just as frustrating and time consuming as breast feeding. It seems odd to me that with a child who is struggling to gain weight, the simplest explanation (that he can't get enough milk) has been bypassed for a more complex explanation like allergies.

In regard to drying up your supply, I think it sounds like you are doing a good job. The important thing is your comfort, not the speed at which it dries up, so if you need to express to relieve engorgement then do it. Good luck with getting to the bottom of what is going on with your boy. I'm sure whatever it is, with such a patient and caring mum he'll do just fine.

He's now been checked for tongue tie by three people. His pediatrician, a pediatric dentist that diagnoses and releases tongue ties, and a feeding therapy specialist.

He's actually been doing much better. The long feeds now are only when he's not hungry but we are supposed to be feeding him. The therapist wanted us to try feeding him every two hours during the day among other prescribed tasks, to help reset his tummy's clock. I think we'll get permission to feed based on cues at our follow-up this week

We do have exercises to do with him to strengthen his oral skills, so things will hopefully get easier as he builds his tone up.

 

[Jitter]

We spent $250 on a pump and used it for 2 and a half weeks before I decided to stop because it was giving me depression. My daughter has an obvious lip tie that we're going to get corrected. I was told it's putting me at serious risk of postnatal depression. What I did was pump when my boobs felt full, and then waited again until they felt full again and pumped. My supply has dropped significantly in the past 3 weeks.. Even if I can't breastfeed afterwards, I'll still get her tie corrected to benefit her. I don't mind spending hundreds on her to get something that will fix so much in the long term. Like speech, teeth, the ability to eat properly etc. But yeah do the pump thing to prevent yourself getting mastitis. It seemed to work for me.