Stop Breast Feeding
You may need to stop breastfeeding because you are returning to work after maternity leave, for a medical reason or simply because you are ready to wean your baby. Stopping suddenly can result in breast pain and engorgement, and may confuse the baby. Learn how to wean your baby gradually by following these steps.
Contents
Steps
Having a Plan in Place
- Decide on a breastfeeding replacement. When you're ready to stop breast feeding, you need a suitable substitute that is nutritious enough to meet the baby's needs. Seek guidance from your pediatrician about foods that will ease the baby's transition from breastfeeding to eating from a bottle or cup. These options are among those available to mothers who choose to stop breastfeeding:
- Continue feeding breast milk that has been pumped. Just because you no longer want to breast feed doesn't mean you have to stop feeding the baby breast milk. This is a good option for mothers who are unavailable to breastfeed the baby but aren't yet ready to stop feeding the baby breast milk.
- Replace the breast milk with formula. Ask your doctor about which fortified formula might be right for your baby.
- Replace the breast milk with solid food and cow's milk. If the baby is 4 to 6 months old, he or she may be ready to take solid food along with breast milk or formula. Babies over 1 year old may also have cow's milk.
- Decide whether to wean the baby from the bottle. In some cases, ending breast feeding is also a good time to wean the baby from the bottle and have him her or use a cup instead. Take the following factors into consideration:
- Babies need liquid nutrition in the form of breast milk or formula throughout their first year, but they can start drinking from a cup as early as 4 months.
- Babies who drink from the bottle after age 1 may develop tooth decay and other dental issues.
Making the Transition
- Replace a daytime feeding. To wean the baby gradually choose a feeding that happens during a busy time of the day and replace it with your chosen substitute. Place either pumped breast milk or formula in a bottle or cup to feed the baby.
- Do the feeding in a new room in the house. Weaning a baby is both a physical and psychological transition. Doing it in a new room can help the baby ease away from associating a particular atmosphere with food.
- Give the baby extra comfort and hugs during the feeding to help the transition go more smoothly.
- Replace another feeding every few days. As the baby grows used to the new style of eating, keep replacing another feeding every two or three days. Don't rush the process too much, or the baby may grow confused and the weaning plan could backfire.
- Offer the baby milk or formula in a cup or bottle before every feeding, even those you don't plan to fully replace. Getting the baby used to these alternative feeding instruments is an essential transition step.
- Shorten the breastfeeding sessions you still have.
- Continue replacing and shortening feedings over the course of a few weeks until the baby has switched almost entirely to drinking from a bottle or cup, depending on which one you have chosen to provide.
- Help the baby get used to doing activities without breastfeeding. For example, many babies breastfeed right before they go to sleep. Start putting the baby to bed without first breastfeeding so that he or she will be able to sleep without this activity.
- Replacing breastfeeding with another ritual can help. For example, consider reading a story, playing a game or rocking in the rocking chair before the baby goes to sleep.
- Don't replace breastfeeding with an object, like a stuffed animal or pacifier. These items will make the weaning process more difficult for the baby.
- Provide extra comfort to make up for stopping breastfeeding. Babies need the skin contact they get while breastfeeding almost as much as they need the nourishment. It's important to provide extra cuddles during the weaning process.
Addressing Complications
- Stick with it. Weaning is a different process for every baby. It may take a few months before the baby is able to take a cup or bottle without complaint. In the meantime, don't give up; stick to the routine you've set up, and continue gradually replacing feedings for as long as it takes.
- Know that your baby may need extra comfort when he or she is sick. It's fine to revert to breastfeeding during times like these.
- Having the baby spend extra time with a father, older sibling, or another relative can help. As the baby's relationships with other people grow, he or she won't be as reliant on breastfeeding with you to be the sole source of comfort.
- Know when to take the baby to a doctor. Sometimes the transition from breastfeeding can result in medical complications. If you're not sure whether weaning is the healthiest choice for your child, it's best to see a doctor right away. Look for the following issues that commonly crop up during weaning:
- The baby refuses to eat solid food even though he or she is over 6 or 8 months of age.
- The baby develops dental cavities.
- The baby focuses only on you and breastfeeding, and doesn't seem interested in other people or activities.
- Don't forget to ease your own body's transition. As the baby drinks less breast milk, your breasts will start producing less. However, there may be times when your breasts become uncomfortably engorged or inflamed. Try the following techniques to make yourself more comfortable:
- Express a very small amount of milk, either by pump or manually, during missed feedings. Do not empty your breasts, or that will signal your body to make more milk.
- Apply a cold compress to your breast 3 or 4 times per day, for about 15 to 20 minutes at a time, if you need some additional relief. This helps relieve inflammation and constricts the milk-producing membranes.
Tips
- If your baby will not take a bottle as a replacement, you can try giving formula in a sippy cup, a spoon or a syringe.
- Don't wear clothing that may smell of breast milk. If the baby smells it, this will increasingly make the weaning process difficult for the baby.
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