Wednesday, July 23, 2008

HELP!! I need some advice from mothers...

...who thought it would be a good idea to quit breast feeding cold turkey. I think I may die! I decided yesterday that I am not making enough milk for little Nixon sleep more than 2 hours at a time, so yesterday I fed him at 8:00 am, and called it quits. He refused to take a bottle until about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, only after I pumped and gave him breast milk from the bottle. He then didn't eat again until about 10:00 PM when he did drink formula (out of sheer starvation). Brock gave him a nice blessing to help his little body with the transition, and he has been drinking the bottle with no fussing ever since. He only woke up twice last night! Yahoo!
My problem, however, and what I need your advice about, is what do I do about this horrible pain I am in?!!! Even though Nixon and Jace slept well last night, I was up so many times thinking I may pass out, and that I may explode. I am afraid to breast feed again or even pump, because I want Nixon to get used to formula, but how long does this last, and is there some medication I can take that won't compromise my ability to raise two little boys? I called Nixon's pediatrician, and she said that going cold turkey was the best way to go. What do you think? Please help!

10 comments:

Amber said...

Oh Jennie! I'm sorry you are miserable. Back in the day, doctors would give you something to help stop milk from coming but they don't really do it anymore. Here are some tips...wear a tight tight sports bra. Or wrap your boobs tight with an ace bandage. Don't nurse or pump because that will just continue the cycle of being engorged. The idea with all of these things are to stop any stimulation that would lead to milk production. You can feel free to take Tylenol for pain. Call your hospital and ask to talk to a lactation specialist for more tips. Pay attention to how you are feeling. If you get a fever or notice any red, warm spots on your boobs, you probably have mastitis need to call your OB and get on antibiotics.

Stephanie said...

Okay, I don't want to weird you out, I really don't. This is Stephanie, Levi's wife. I pumped for 6 months 'cause Claire was premature so couldn't nurse because her mouth was too small. So how I stopped was I just pumped a little bit to get the swelling to go down. Like, literally just for a minute or two. And I kept doing that but kept waiting longer and longer between the times I pumped. I just waited to pump until it started hurting again and did it for another minute or two. Eventually it just stopped hurting and I was finished! I think stopping cold turkey is dangerous 'cause you can get something (I'm not sure what it's called, my sister had it) that REALLY hurts and you'll have to start nursing or pumping all over again... Every 3 hours! So that's my advice. Again, sorry if this weirded you out, I just saw your comment on Jenn's blog which got me curious to read this post. I'm not stalking you.

Veronica said...

Poor thing! I had to stop cold turkey with Hailey too at 6 weeks when I went on meds. It was really bad for about three days. I would wrap my boobs very tightly in an Ace banadage. Then suddenly, it was gone! I dried up pretty fast. If it is just too awful for you, try pumping a tiny bit just to relieve pressure. Your body will eventually stop producing it little by little. It will get better soon. Hang in there and use lots of ice packs!

The Bonham Family said...

Well I might have good advice but painful! I with Caden was told not to try to breast feed so I wrapped up and when my milk came in with a vengance I wrapped tighter and tighter it was hell but I did it and in about 3 solid days I was gone. I know they say to release some fo the milk but it was too painful to prolong it. So if you can handle a few really bad days I would wrap those suckers up! But the other part to that is mastits which you could get but I never did. Just a tip! Sports bra & ace bandages!!! GOod luck!

Katie said...

Jennie, this is your neighbor! My sister in law took cold medicine, you know, the kind that dries up your sinuses. Anyway, her milk stopped pretty soon after. The cold medicine dried up the milk too. In her case she didn't do it on purpose. She did have a cold and then took the medicine and then dried up. She was ready to be done anyway, but you could try it with the whole wrap yourself tightly thing. Good luck..sorry you hurt!

Jennifer Phillips said...

Okay, so try not to let warm water hit your breasts because that will start the milk producing again, I think quiting cold turkey is probably the best because it will go away alot quicker but it is probably more painful, I kept thinking about you these past couple of days and I remember how bad it sucks. I took my left over perkiset(sp?) for the pain because it hurt so bad. I wrapped too and that hurt REAL bad. Oh also I would ice them too, which helps with the pain and the production of milk

rccastleberryfamily said...

So sorry, hopefully you are feeling better by now! Sounds like you have great advice already, I would ditto the wrapping and stuff. I know what you're going through, I did cold turkey with all three of my kids. I never did this, but someone had said once that putting cabbage leaves on you, it's suppose to relieve the pain. Go figure. Good luck!!!!

The Goffs said...

My advice... go to just mornings for a while. I couldn't stand the pain so I slowed, then quit. I am doing just mornings & nights now. Even if you want Nixon to get used to formula, pump in the morning and mix 1/2 and 1/2 or something. BUT! Mastitis is the worst EVER! You could get a breast infection from being engorged for too long and it royally sucks. You feel like you have the flu AND your boob KILLS!!! hahha
Good luck
~Jenn

Jill and Paul said...

if you want a natural way, you can call my doctor that helped us get pregnant with maya. 801-434-9490. he's a genius and might have a home remedie (sp?) anyway, let me know if you want me to call for you. hes super nice!

Kurst said...

Your boys are adorable. I was blog surfing and I came across yours, very cute. I just wanted to say "Hi", hope everythings good.