My Breastmilk History:
I was able to produce breastmilk for both of my kids. Notice I didn’t say “nurse.” While I was able to provide breastmilk for my first, I was not able to get him to latch, so I pumped with him. And it might have also been that my body was trying to figure everything out with the first baby, so I didn’t produce as much. By six months I had gone through my frozen supply and we were using formula half the time. When he was 12 months I just stopped pumping, and that was it. I felt a little discomfort for a day, and then I was done.
With my second, it was very different. She latched an hour after she was born. Honestly, she taught me how to breastfeed. I think too by the second child my body understood more what to do. For the 12 months I nursed, my production didn’t decrease. So when I decided it was time to stop, it wasn’t as easy.
The Cabbage Leaf Remedy:
There are many home remedies that people swear by to dry up your supply, but the first I ever heard of was putting cabbage leaves on your breasts. From what I could find, there is no actual scientific explanation for this, but so many women swear by it. I decided to try it. Why not? It’s all natural and it wasn’t going to hurt me. I already had cabbage in my fridge. What was the worst that could happen.
My Cabbage Experience:
Can’t really say I did much research. I didn’t know if there was a set amount of time I was supposed to apply the leaves. Was I supposed to be using purple instead of green cabbage? I was just winging it and we would see what happened.
It was very odd putting produce in my bra. At first I felt a little like a sexy cabbage mermaid, but after a few hours I didn’t feel so sexy. It’s kind of gross peeling wilted cabbage leaves off of your chest.
I guess I should have also expected the smell. Maybe not when it’s cold, but cabbage has a very distinct smell when it’s warm. After a while, I smelled of sauerkraut all the time!
I even ended up sleeping with cabbage leaves in my bra, and still waking up very full.
The conclusion I came to was that, at least for me, all the cabbage leaves did was ease discomfort when they were cold, but other than that, it did nothing.
What I Ended Up Using Instead:
This No More Milk tea worked amazingly for me. I would just drink a cup of tea every night before bed. I almost instantly noticed a difference in my discomfort. I didn’t even have to finish the box before I was no longer producing.
Of course, everyone is different, and you should get your doctor’s opinion if you have any concerns. I would also not recommend this unless you are absolutely sure you are done breastfeeding and are ready to stop producing.
In the end, what I learned from my little experiment is there are other more effective natural ways to reduce your breastmilk supply that won’t leave you smelling like coleslaw.
If you liked what you’ve read, please leave a comment and share. For more parenting adventures be sure to follow me at sarahnemo.com, and look for Adventures in Creating Little Humans on Facebook and Twitter.
3 thoughts on “Cabbage Leaves and Breastmilk: My Little Experiment”
I think I heard somewhere that cabbage leaves helped soothe but I can’t remember where it was from and it was purely anecdotal so reading this was really interesting. I’m not a parent so have never had to try anything like this. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your comment. Like what you were saying nothing I found while I was researching this had much scientific basis. It did act like a cold compress and was a little soothing, but didn’t totally work for me. I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
A fascinating discussion is definitely worth comment. I think that you ought to write more on this issue, it may not be a taboo matter but typically people dont discuss these topics. To the next! All the best!!