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My baby is three weeks old. Due to problems with birth, I am feeding my baby breastmilk by pumping full time. I would like to stop. Any suggestions? I am pumping quit a bit of milk. I am attempting to slow down on the amount and length of time between pumping. Now I am experiencing engorged breasts which is very painful.
You can store excess milk in freezer. Medela breast milk storage bags are available. Since the baby is too small, you have excess milk. Once it grows, your milk would not be sufficient for the baby. So at that time you can use the stored milk. Milk stored in freezer can be used within 6 months. I have 5 weeks old baby and I am storing excess breast milk from his 2nd week. You can also try.
I'm not sure exactly how to stop or slow down lactaction except for going cold turkey. Regular birth control pills tend to decrease lactation. When I started estrogen containing contraceptive, my milk dried right up. If you want to stop pumping you might try that. Chilled cabbage leaves can help relieve engorgement pain. I know it sounds odd, but studies have shown it really works. I wish I had more advice. Perhaps someone else has some ideas.
You might also call your OB or Lactation consultant. I'm sure they will have some ideas for you.
When my daughter decided to stop nursing I had this problem as well. What worked for me was to only pump when they started to feel full (not to the point of pain mind you just really full) and only long enough to take the edge off, not a full pumping. At frist it meant I was actually pumping more often, though for much shorter periods, but it didn't take long for my body to adjust to my production to decrease. When it reached the point that I no longer produced enough to actually cause pain I stopped pumping altogether and allowed production to just fall off entirely.