How Long Does It Take to Dry up from Nursing.

Hi J.,

I assume because your son is 16 months old, this is how long you had nursed for. First, congradulations! What a wonderful gift for your child. You have so much to be proud of.
Having nursed your child for this duration means it may take a while to completely stop making milk. Some women it is 2 weeks, 2 months, and some are still making milk 1 year later. All of these would be considered normal. Though, I hope for your comfort, maybe 1-2 weeks. There is a proven method that dries your milk up quickly. It may sound real stupid but I hear it really works. I am a board certified lactation consultant, so I have offered this advice alot. Go to the produce department in your local grocer store. Pick out a good size head of green cabbage. Wash and dry and store in the frig. Once cold, peal off the leaves and place them in your bra until they wilt. Upon wilting, replace w/ new cabbage leaves. This process usually only takes 1-3 days to dry up the milk. What ever you do.....do not bind your breasts (this will only cause additional pain, and put you at risk of mastitus(breast infection). Do not limit your liquid intake. If you decrease what you had been normally drinking, during summer months ...you increase the risk of fluid retention and swelling. You may take some ibuprofen to reduce swelling and pain (if any). If you have any other questions feel free to write back.

H. B.
IBCLC

Dear J.,

You can go online at www.drgreene.com, he may have an idea or two about drying up from nursing.

C. N.

I know my case is very rare but I still had some leakage after 1 year. And everytime I ovulate I still get it. The doctor said that some women never completely get rid of it til they are thrugh their child baring age. I will wait and see.. But it is now 3 yrs later still have it.. The doctor is mysified.. It maybe hormones.. Don't worry is what they tell me.. ( FYI there i no swelling or pain with this prob.. Just very annoying..) Sorry if to much info .. Just wanted to share my info. According to my DR I am an odd case..LOL.. They use to have a pill to help dry you up but I guess they found it to be harmful.

Hi J.

What I am about to tell you may seem old fashion, as I thought it was too, but it works. First of all I have big breast DD. so I also really produced what I thought was too much milk. He feed very well, but I produced so much milk that I my breast leaked
to the point I could fill and fill after pumping, my doctor told me it was time to stop and bind. Yes bind. I could have 8 pads and soak them up within minutes. So binding. This is a little uncomfortable but it works. It is natural too. during the day wear your bra with your pads. But at night, take a material, like a sheet or a pillow case, depending on your size and wrap this around your breast as tight as possible, taking a deep breath and pull as tight as you can,(your husband may have to help you) and fasten, the deep breath is to make sure you are not restricting your breathing. You will notice each morning that the sheet or etc... has losen. This restricting of the breast is like or a better lack of words, putting a cork in it. continue this until you are dry. Mine took about a little less than a week. It really works and this is the way our moms and grandparents did it. They had no magic pill.

Good Luck

It can take a while fro the milk to stp coming in and depends on how often your child was nursing prior to weaning. The more often the longr it will take to dry up. After my last child I still had milk drops for four monthes. Hope this eases your mind. Just know it will eventually happen.

I stopped nursing my son about 5 months ago and once in a while I notice I am still producing milk. I don't know why that is. If it is bothersome, try using cold cabbage, you should dry up in a day or two. Just place is on your breasts before bed for a couple of hours or until it starts to smell (if it does it will smell like it is either cooking or starting to go bad).

You can also talk to your dr. about it as well and he/she should be able to give you more ideas or thoughts on the matter.

Good luck!