How do I go about training my breasts not to produce milk in the night? I want to breast feed only in the day.

Question

I have had mastitis the first night my baby skippes a feeding. I think it is great that he is making his way to sleeping through the night but I don't want to get mastitis again. Any suggestions would be great!

Answer 1

Sorry about the mastitis. That's not normal, for one night to be able to trigger that, and it's unlikely to happen again.

Breastfeeding is a nice natural process that works best when completely unfussed with. Nurse on demand, don't bother pumping if you don't need to, and things generally work pretty well.

You can't train your breasts per se, but they will eventually figure things out if your son keeps sleeping at night.

My daughter has occasionally slept through the night; I've woken up somewhat engorged, but never had a problem. Under normal circumstances, I don't think you need to fear mastitis or other problems so long as you're nursing on demand.

You can hand-express enough milk to make yourself comfortable if you need to, but if you pump any notable amount (as some have suggested), you'll just send a signal to your breasts that _more_ milk is needed...

Babies are rather unpredictable, too. Just as soon as you think baby is sleeping through the night, he might start waking 3x/night while teething the next week or something.

Some excellent reading:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/mastitis.html
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/milkproduction.html

Answer 2

When you stop feeding at a certain time this does not cause mastitis (which is sooo painful as you know) rather it is a clogged/plugged milk duct(s). So you actually can have your milk produce at the times you want them too. It may take them about a week to fully get into the swing of things but if you just stop feeding at night and feed all day long then in about a week you will notice that you aren't waking up engorged nearly as bad and yet you are still having all the milk you need during the day. Supply and demand is what it is.
But I would suggest that since your little one is still so young that you pump for now at night that way when he hits a growth spurt and starts waking at night to eat (which he will) then you have the milk available.

Answer 3

With my first baby I got mastitis.... My second pregnancy I had twins and I nursed them for nearly a year. When they started sleeping through the night I did not get any infections...

Just go with the flow, because you got mastitis once does not mean you will get it again if you skip a feeding.. It's caused by bacteria, not a skipped feeding.

Answer 4

Definately pump! i does not recommend the type you should purchase in aim- get a good one- and through "good" I mean one which will fee upwards of $2 hundred. yet comprehend that your son ought to get used to the bottle and refuse to take the breast decrease back. you realize how the formula in basic terms drips from the bottle nipples? properly, your boobies in basic terms are not the comparable. And in case you pump adequate to maintain your grant up, its gonna shop you extremely busy- i'm speaking approximately 10-15 min in line with component each 3-4 hours, even at night! The pump additionally can not reflect the psychological stimulation of having a little one at your breast, so once you get decrease back living house to little one, he ought to must be supplemented till your grant comes decrease back up! Will you pump and unload or sustain the milk? and the way will you keep it in case you're away? basically some issues to think of roughly.

Answer 5

I just recently weaned my son off the breast. the first step was stopping the night feedings. My son woke up atleast twice a night for a feeding. to prevent mastitis I stopped just one feeding at a time. the first night when my son woke up I offered him a bottle and sang to him. he didnt take the bottle (LOL) but the did fall asleep. gradually weaning is the best way to go.

Answer 6

Most of the time milk production is started when the baby cries! You cannot train your breasts to do a darned thing. You cannot train your baby not to cry either!

When you do get tight breasts from the baby not nursing, use ice packs to ease the tension and then use a breast pump to relieve the rest of the pressure.

As long as he doesn't cry, you won't have to worry too much.

Answer 7

I don't think there is any set way to stop it. But you can go out and buy a milker, so that you can bottle the milk and save it for later for your baby. I know my friend did that, and it helps a lot with time and all, i don't know if you only want to breast feed your child though, so its really up to you. Good luck =^^=

Answer 8

I don't think you can put your mammary glands on a schedule like this. Try pumping before you go to bed at night and as required to relieve the pressure at night. the milk can be refrigerated and used the next day or even frozen. good luck.

Answer 9

Unfortunately you can't... milk production is something that is constant, not at certain times...
Eventually your milk production will slow and become less as more and more feedings start getting missed, and you will slowly become more comfortable with feedings that are farther apart, but this is gradual.
Your body needs to adjust and as much as it sucks you just have to deal with it as you wait.
But production will slow.

Answer 10

Expressing the milk, rather than letting your little one nurse will help to keep the milk flowing and still allow your little one to sleep. Of course, you won't be able to, but that is another matter.