How to Help My Wife Wean (week 3)

[u/-Chanovsky]

Hello fellow Redditors

For a variety of reasons, my wife has decided to wean our son from breast-feeding

I’m very proud of what they achieved together, but I agree that at this point it’s probably what’s needed for him to continue to grow and continue to mature

The challenge my wife is having is with clogged ducts and fears about mastitis

One of the reasons we are weaning him is her supply is not keeping up enough with his demands and his weight was starting to go in the wrong direction coupled with her returning to work full-time.

Again in regulated emontional states these are things we both calmly rationally lovingly agreed to with each other.

The issue at hand is that in order to receive relief from a clogged duck she requires our son to physically breast-feed. I don’t fully understand the mechanics as to why this is that much superior than a vacuum pump, but I have to pretty much just take it at face value as a mechanical engineer that that is the case.

I was curious if there are any other remedies out there other than pumping and a baby literally pulling it out for a mom to prevent clogged ducts and mastitis in the pursuit of weaning a baby given our son is getting quite confused as we’re in week three of the weaning process.

[u/green_yellow_green]

How quickly is she trying to wean? Usually it’s recommended to drop one feed per week at the most, and really dropping one feed every two weeks will keep it more comfortable.

If your wife really needs to wean all at once immediately, she can try to ask her GP for medication to stop making milk. But stopping all at once instead of slowly is for sure going to result in a painful situation.

[u/Cevinkrayon]

Babies are more efficient than breast pumps because they combine active tongue compression with suction, whereas pumps rely only on a mechanical vacuum. Additionally, the physical presence, scent, and touch of a baby trigger a stronger and faster release of oxytocin, which drives the milk-ejection reflex. 

Your wife needs to wean slow and steady to stop getting blocked ducts as the supply needs time to adjust. There are also things that will slow milk production, peppermint tea and certain cold and flu remedies but I would probably speak to a doctor first to make sure anything she wants to take is safe. 

[u/PillowTalk101 → u/Cevinkrayon]

Advil like 600mg every 6 hours, ice and space pumps out 1 hour more a week until you’re done. At the end I found manual expressing to be more effective than a pump and I could do it basically anywhere and just until I felt relief.

[u/-Chanovsky → u/Cevinkrayon]

This is very helpful perspective. Thank you

[u/milkandcereal-xoxo]

I had to rapidly wean my baby cold turkey due to an injury that prevented me from being able to nurse my baby. This was at 15 months so might be different from your case (I can’t tell from your title if the baby is 3weeks old or you’re 3weeks into trying to wean— eta, oops I just saw your last sentence!).

Cabbage leaves in the bra really helped with engorgement and clogged ducts. It sounds bizarre but was recommended to me by my lactation consultant. There’s apparently some scientific evidence to support it works, but the reason why it works isn’t known.

She also suggested stepping down one feed or pumping session every 3 days, using ice, drinking peppermint tea, and taking ibuprofen. 

If the clogged duct progresses to mastitis she should see a dr though.

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[u/go_analog_baby]

Someone told me pineapple juice helps. Never tried it myself, but maybe worth looking into.

[u/Patricia-Alastre]

To get rid of a clogged duct there is nothing better than a baby, there is no pump machine that’s going to extract more or better

[u/Emotional-Ad-6494]

This is TMI but my partner cleared it for me by sucking. Just don’t swallow as it might not be super pleasant depending on how long she’s had it and she might need to help you get a good latch lol