what is the proper way to stop breastfeeding?

Question

ive been breastfeeding religiously every 2-3 hours.. ive been spreading it out now to every 5-6 hours... just need some advice on what i need to do to stop my body from making milk? im ready to switch to formula.. please help

Answer 1

Good for you nursing your baby! You've certainly given her a wonderful start! Here is a great link that touches on the benefits you've given her based on how long you've nursed.

http://www.lightlink.com/hilinda/Diane/weanbaby.html

I'm assuming from what you said that she's under 12 months of age. (Would be good to know baby's age and if she also takes solids or drinks any formula, takes a bottle, etc. at this point.) If baby is under 12 mos, you'll need to gradually replace her nursing sessions with either pumped breastmilk or formula. (The AAP actually suggests that you breastfeed until at least 12 mos of age.) Cow's milk isn't recommended until 12 months of age.

It's best if you can go very slowly and gently. This is a very big transition for her. Remember that nursing isn't just about food, but also relaxation, comfort and being close to mom. And going slowly gives your body time to adjust and step down the milk supply so that you don't have to deal with severe engorgement.

If you want to take the lead in weaning, you could try eliminating one feeding every 3-7 days (avoid going faster than this). As I mentioned above, this will allow your milk supply to decrease slowly, so you don't have to deal with so much discomfort.

Think about your child's day and decide if there are certain nursing sessions that she is less attached to. Those are the ones you'll want to eliminate first. (Usually, the last one before bed and first one in the morning are the ones most babies are really attached to and are the last ones you'll want to eliminate.) When you've decided which session to cut first, you could try distraction/redirection. Try "heading her off at the pass" and offering her a snack or drink before she normally asks to nurse. Or you could try gradually shortening that nursing session until it becomes not worth her while to nurse. Changing your routines can help as well. Take advantage of the nice weather and get out of the house for a walk or a trip to the park during a time baby would normally ask to nurse.

Once you have eliminated that feeding and you are feeling comfortable (no feeling of fullness/engorgement) then you can move on to the next one you want to eliminate. Getting engorged would be a sign that you are going too quickly and should slow down a bit.

If you want to be a little more relaxed about it, you can take the "don't offer - don't refuse" approach. This way, you don't offer to nurse, but you don't refuse if baby asks to nurse. It takes longer than the mother-lead weaning approach above, but it is very gentle on both of you.

There is a great section on weaning at -
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/index.html

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

How To Stop Breastfeeding Quickly

Answer 3

You don't say how old your child is, but any child that still needs formula still needs human milk. Your body may not stop making milk for several weeks to several years. Not all babies need formula. If you have to go back to work, you'll save A LOT of money by buying a pump. An infant of any age needs to nurse, or bottle nurse way more than every 6 hours. No infant stomach can hold that much solid food and it is signifigantly lower in calories and nutrients anyway.

Answer 4

Breast milk production is a supply and demand thing. The more you feed, the more milk is produced. Your baby is lucky that you are so dedicated. As a baby grows, they are able to have longer periods between feeds because their tummies are capable of holding more milk. So rather than concentrating on extending the times between feeds, maybe work on emptying each breast during every feed and I think that you will find the length between feeds automatically becomes longer. If you aren't emptying each breast then the baby is only receiving the fore-milk and not the richer fatty stuff that fills him/her up - therefore their demand to be fed is more frequent! Good luck and perservere with it, you'll be glad you did.

Answer 5

Gradually, but I wonder why you want to stop so soon. You've already gotten through the hard part! This is the easy part; I couldn't stand the idea of washing bottles. Anyway, you have to replace one feeding at a time with a bottle. You may find that you enjoy keeping up one or two nursing times per day. I always did.

Answer 6

Hi, it is unfortunate that you get loads of advice on how to start breastfeeding but then none on how to stop! Health visitors don;t seem to know about that one.
With all 3 of my children I just had to go 'cold turkey'. I couldn't find any other way to stop. They were 16, 17 and 20 months when I stopped. There was no other way I could wean them unfortunately as they were addicted!
However although baby usually forgets quite quickly it is you who will suffer from engorged breasts and leaking milk.
There is a product called 'breast nurse' which can be heated up and give some relief from this, also wear a very snug fitting bra to keep everything from expanding too much. try not to express as this will just continue your milk production.

Answer 7

Geez.. i comprehend, my cousin ought to stroll over to his mom, carry up her blouse & say "mommy I hungry". i ended breastfeeding my son at 4 months. I plan to breastfeed my daughter to 6 months. I say a million 3 hundred and sixty 5 days is the max women ought to pass... yet, ... that's all preferance... i've got heard you may breastfeed them til their like 8 years old. That your physique will proceed to offer milk till that's not mandatory anymore. It additionally relies upon on how healthful the milk is. surely. Cuz me & my sister-in-regulation had toddlers interior a week of eachother. whilst i ended breastfeeding at 4 months, the completed relatives gave me worry "why no longer purely save going? it is so stable for the toddler".. blah blah blah. meanwhile, she grow to be getting all this compliment "i'm so chuffed you're nevertheless breastfeeding, a minimum of you know the magnitude of it.." making it a factor that I had stopped. nicely, for some reason, my son grow to be plenty fit then hers. seems she grow to be employing meth & breastfeeding. Yea, that got here back in her face undesirable. Then all of them needed she hadn't even breastfeed before everything. actual relies upon on the guy. i could be very bugged by employing him only coming & elevating the blouse. appears like attachment subjects, no longer food. I surely wish he's getting supplemented with genuine nutrients- i think of to a definite factor it may actual start up delaying some milestones (spoon coordination, and so on). ~

Answer 8

when i was breastfeeding my oldest daughter, at a year i decided to count how many times a day i put her to my breast, it was about 36. (she used me as a pacifier) so i just slowly cut out one or two feedings a day. she took a sippy cup so i was able to give her milk. you need to go slow so u dont get an infection but just slowly start cutting back. cut out the least important tomes and u may need to introduce a sippy cup if u havent already. good luck. it took me 3 months to stop her totally.

Answer 9

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