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I just found out that doctors no longer give mothers pills or injections to dry up their milk because of the side effects, but are instead recommending mothers allow their milk to dry up naturally. So would be interested in hearing from birth moms who nursed their babies in the hospital, or did not nurse at all, to see how long it took for their milk to dry up after their delivery. Since sore, leaky breasts will be inevitable even if I don't nurse at all, it firmed my decision to give our baby colostrum in the hospital. We'll be meeting with the PAP's tomorrow night to discuss the hospital plan. Perhaps in the coming weeks they will warm to the idea of letting me pump milk which would be a wonderful way for me to stay connected with my baby. But assuming that my milk will no longer be needed once I leave the hospital, was just curious what other birth moms experienced and how they eventually got their milk to dry up, especially those that nursed their babies prior to placement. I hope to avoid engorged breasts, or worse, mastitis, but so far the only recommendation I have found doing research on line is putting cabbage leaves in your bra which sounds old-wivish at best! lol But apparently doctors and lactation consultants are turning to old world remedies for lack of anything better to offer. Will welcome any suggestions or comments. Thanks!
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Engorgement is really a given - and should be expected. And yes I know the cabbage leaf thing SOUNDS crazy ... but it does actually work. I didn't believe it with my first baby, but did with #2 and that and a hot shower were the only things that seemed to work. No one told me before I gave birth to expect that your under arms can get engorged but seriously I think I produced enough milk for a small army not the 7lb baby I gave birth to :) From friends, I have heard that you can expect about 5-7 days of discomfort before your milk will dry up, with some leakage for a while after that.
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Jensboys
Engorgement is really a given - and should be expected. And yes I know the cabbage leaf thing SOUNDS crazy ... but it does actually work. I didn't believe it with my first baby, but did with #2 and that and a hot shower were the only things that seemed to work. No one told me before I gave birth to expect that your under arms can get engorged but seriously I think I produced enough milk for a small army not the 7lb baby I gave birth to :)
From friends, I have heard that you can expect about 5-7 days of discomfort before your milk will dry up, with some leakage for a while after that.
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My milk came in four-five days after he was born and my doctor told me to wear 1 or 2 really tight sports bras immediately following delivery. Which I did. My milk dried up within days after starting to leak and I never had any pain. I guess I was lucky. They never felt engorged nor did they seem to ever get any bigger. I didn't breastfeed him either. I never tried the cabbage thing or anything other than the really tight sports bras.
It took me several months to stop lactating. It was one of the hardest things to deal with after I signed the relinquishment papers. Every few hours for three months, I was reminded that my baby was out there somewhere, wanting to be fed...By the way, I did have the shot to dry up my milk, but it didn't work for some reason. I wish I had known about the cabbage-leaf thing....
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Wow, thanks for sharing your experiences, ladies. This really helps! I think I'd prefer to just let my milk dry up if the AP's don't want it, but I may feel differently after I have the baby, so I think I will look into seeing if I could donate to a milk bank, especially if my milk ends up taking several months to dry up anyway. I'm not due till July, but it is coming up fast. The PAP's have been wonderful so far, and have no problem with me nursing my baby while in the hospital.