drying up my milk...

ok as some of you know i have decided to stop bfing my almost 5 month old DD (after much guilt i have finally become ok with my decision, i am still upset but im moving on)
So its been over 2 days since her last BF, my left boob was always slow and its not engorged at all now (it was al little yesterday and the nigth before that) but its slowly geting better, my right however is engorged and quite sore, i dont want to express any coz i want my milk to dry up asap.
atm im just leaving it be sore.. im not really sure what else i can do?
and how long is it going to take roughly? i just would like to know how long ihave to endue this for.
TIA ladies xx

i know u dont want to pump but i would get in the shower and hand express that wat i did it took a few weeks to dry up and i had only been feeding for 5 days im not sure how it works later on HTH the shower will make it feel much better

alright, ill give that go next time im in the shower..
ive been gradually loosing my supply, so i was only really feeding once a day for the last 2 weeks of my feeding, if that makes any difference..

maybe call the breastfeeding hotline to get their advice? you dont want to end up with mastitis :hug:
pretty sure their number is 1800 mum 2 mum :)

:hug: Stevie-anne. It sounds like you've had a really tough time.

I can understand that you want the milk to be gone as soon as possible, but leaving your breast engorged is not really recommended as you can end up with mastitis. Expressing just enough for comfort won't significantly increase the time it takes for your milk to dry up totally. As long as the breast isn't being emptied, the messages to make more milk won't really kick in. If you feel able to do so, either use a pump, or hand express in the shower as a PP suggested, until you no longer feel uncomfortably full. If you already have lumps, it would be helpful to gently massage them towards the nipple while you express. I would recommend you do this as often as you need to for comfort, but each time only removing what you need to for comfort.

Hun, if your breast has red patches or feels warm, or you feel fluey, these are signs of mastitis so get yourself off to the doctor for abs.

All the best with it hun. I hope everything gets easier for you :hug:

SS, i just called the ABA nd they said not to leave it and to express :)

which is exactly what you said Mantaray :) I tried to hand express in the shower but it just wasnt happening, so i hoped out and grabbed my pump, i expressed 40 mls, i hope that wasnt too much, but my boob feels alot better (still full but better) the milk was an off greeny colour, i was going to feed it to Miss A but i havent fed her in over 2 days and im scared it will be off.

MR always knows what to do!! :)

Dont worry about your milk "going off" - your body re-circulates it (so to speak) every so often so its always fresh!

All the best with the weaning :hug:

i remember being told to express just enough off to feel comfortable again. gradually you will need to do it less and less. i found that it took my about 2ish (maybe slightly more) to be completely dried up after i went cold turkey.

the other thing is, i have been told there is a pill you can get to dry it up. my GP wouldnt give it to me though cause it is toxic... to bub i guess but if you are definately not going ot be feeding bub again then you can only ask your GP about it.

Good work hun. I am glad you are more comfortable now. BTW, the milk is fine to give her if you want to. The greeny colour is most likely because you were so full and the runnier milk can sometimes look that colour.