Breast Engorgement...How Long will this last??

Question

My son is going to daycare in two days.

I have been breastfeeding him since he was born.

I am going back to work in 2 days so I started to slowly wean him off the breast about 2 weeks ago.

I started off replacing 1 feeding 2 weeks ago. Then 2 feedings starting about a week ago. Yesterday, I started to replace 3 feedings. Ever since last week, my b*****s have been extremely engorged.When it got unbearable, I would feed the baby through the breast.

My son gets really confused with the breast and bottle. It takes about 5 minutes for him to latch on to the nipple. I decided to stop breastfeeding and put him on the bottle exclusively starting today so that he will not have a problem at daycare. (I figure that I have way more patience when it comes to my child than the people at daycare)

My b*****s have been extremely engorged all day. To the point where I can't bear at times. I have told myself that I will not breastfeed or pump to make sure that my milk dries up faster.

How long did it take for the engorged feeling to go away after you decided to stop breastfeeding??

HELP!!

Answer 1

Use a leaf of frozen cabbage over yourself to get some relief. It could last for a month I believe so express in the shower, pump, and relax with the cabbage!

Answer 2

I honestly don't know hun because i gave up breastfeeding after 3 days because of the pain, Its fab that you have been doing it for this long i hope to second time round so if u have any tips for perseverance pls let me know. Well done...  

Answer 3

It will take about 2 days for engorgement to settle down, but your b*****s will probably still be overfull and ache a while after. By the end of the week they should feel better. But it could take up to (and beyond) a couple of months for lactation to stop completely. Be sure that if you do have to pump a little for comfort to only get out what you need to stop the hurt, breast milk is a supply and demand, if the demand is there the milk production keeps happening.

Good luck it will get better very soon, and now you are not breastfeeding you can take ibuprofen to help with the pain a little.

Answer 4

The best thing I found after three children is bags of frozen peas.  Within 24 hours I felt soooo much better.  Ice is an option too but kind of uncomfortable.  Just buy 6 bags of frozen peas, place one over each breast for about 30 minutes and then take 90 minutes off and rotate like that.  It worked for me!  Good luck