Stopping your milk supply (lactation suppression)

Once your body starts making milk, it will not suddenly dry up overnight. Whether you have breastfed a baby or not, you will need support to get you through this time.  

This article gives you some practical ways to wean or suppress your milk supply quickly. 

Whatever your reasons, you may need to find someone who can help support you through this. 

You may also need other physical or psychological support, depending on why you need to stop producing milk quickly. 

If you haven’t started breastfeeding, your milk supply may drop fairly quickly, but you may still need to deal with some discomfort while this happens. Here are some practical suggestions:

• Wear a firm bra both day and night to support your breasts and keep you comfortable. 

• Whenever your breasts feel too full, express a little milk until you feel more you comfortable.  

• Handle your breasts very gently as they can bruise easily. 

• Use breast pads to soak up any leaking milk. Change them as they become wet. 

• Relieve pain and swelling using cool compresses placed on your breasts or in your bra.  

• Mild painkiller medications may help relieve pain and inflammation. Your doctor or pharmacist will be able to advise you about this. 

• Drink when you are thirsty. Cutting down fluids will not help reduce your milk supply. 

• If your breasts are very full, you may find it uncomfortable to lie in bed. Try lying on your back or on one side with an extra pillow supporting your breasts. If you like to lie on your front, place a pillow under your hips and stomach to ease the pressure on your breasts. Place a soft towel or cloth nappy across your breasts to soak up any leaking milk. 

It will take longer for your milk supply to drop if you have a fully breastfed baby.  

The more breastmilk you remove from the breast (by breastfeeding or expressing), the more milk your body makes. To stop making milk you will need to stop or limit how much breastmilk you remove from your breasts.  

Reducing your supply gradually may be more comfortable and you are less likely to be affected by hormonal changes and breast inflammation.    

However, if you need to wean suddenly, you may have to manage overfull and painful breasts. As well as the suggestions already mentioned, you might need to express some breastmilk.

• Start by expressing at times when you would usually breastfeed your baby.  

• As you feel more comfortable, express smaller amounts and reduce the number of times you express. If your breasts start feeling sore and overfull again, you may need to express a little more for a time then cut down again.   

• You may find that you need to express once every few days towards the end. then simply stop expressing.   

Most prescribed drugs used to suppress lactation work by reducing prolactin, the hormone involved in making milk. For this reason, they only work in the early days or weeks after birth when prolactin levels are high. They don't work as well if used after weeks or months of breastfeeding.  

It is preferable to suppress lactation without medication. Talk over the use of lactation suppression drugs with your doctor before making a decision about whether they are right for you.