How Do I Quit Breastfeeding??

Why are you still night feeding? After the first month children no longer need night feedings, they only do it because we train them to, in fact my doctor told me there was no need for night feedings after the first 2 weeks of life. I would stop breast feeding altogether, that is the only way you will dry out. To ease the discomfort take a warm shower or use a warm compress to help you express a small amount to ease discomfort without having to draw it out (by sucking or pumping which will continue to stimulate production).

drink tons of sage leaftea & use cabbage leaves on your boobs if they still get engorged. (I don't know your reasons for stopping, but 1 yr. is still early to wean. ) God luck with everything.

What I did was cut the feedings one at a time. To slow the production yet remain marginally comfortable I went as long as possible before I manually pumped or hand expressed in the shower. Usually I just relieved pressure by expressing no more than an ounce. This will still leave you pretty full but your body will respond that demand is greatly reduced. Try to push these expressions as far apart as you can. Another thing that works (recommended by lactation and my sister who went 100% cold turkey) is cabbage leaves in you bra. This is recommended for engorgement and helps reduce production.
It's amazing how the body responds but it does. Congrats on nursing this long. My son didn't start really sleeping 8 hours in a row until I fully weaned him. Dropping the night feedings and resisting the urge to give in are tough since ir means less sleep for you. It may be a good time for daddy to respond to night wakings for a short time during this transition (if he isn't already). Good luck

I just weaned my son last month. I gradually reduced the feedings over a few weeks. By the time I dropped the last one, he could care less, but I still gave him a little "snack" to take the pressure off my breasts. It wasn't a full feeding, or at any particular scheduled time, just when I felt uncomfortable. Soon I could go days without him snacking, and eventually, over a couple weeks, I no longer made any milk. I also wanted to prepare you for the surge of hormones you will get after you stop nursing. Even though I did it gradually, I was still hit by what felt like the worst PMS ever! Good luck.

I weaned my daughter when she turned 2, but since age 18 months, she was only nursing once a day, right before bed. The way I did it was painless for both me and for her, and it is how I plan to wean my new baby (but hopefully sooner than 2 years! whew!). Let's say I would normally nurse her for 10 minutes. Every few days, I cut down the nursing time by a minute, until at the end, I just tickled her lips with my nipple just to keep the routine. After a few days of that, I stopped altogether. She asked for it for about 2 weeks, but by now she has completely forgotten.

Since you are only feeding at night I would cut cold turkey.

When this site was previously called mamasource, I read a response (years ago) to someone with a similar question and there was a recommendation to wrap your breasts tight (not extremely tight where it hurts or you can't breathe) with a gauze type bandage. It is apparently an old-wives tale or something they did "back in the day". Well, I did it for a couple days and it worked great!

I know people that would wrap their chest with ace bandage for a few days and it worked. Myself, I used a tight sports bra (I am not large busted so this worked for me). I took advil for the discomfort and would releave the pressure in the shower, I would let the hotwater run on my breasts and let them leak on their own.

Just stop. You will be uncomfortable for a few days. Don't drink so much water and take something for the pain. That is part of motherhood.

I pumped about 1/2 the volume out the first couple of days, and gradually reduced how much I was pumping over a period of 2-3 weeks. Just enough to take the pressure off. The last time I pumped was 3 days after the "second to last time" - i was surprised I needed to, but taking an ounce or ounce and a half from each side was what I needed. Good luck!

Buy a bag of frozen peas and some ziplock baggies. Fill the ziplock bag about half-way full with the frozen peas and then put them in your bra. (You could use any small frozen vegetable; basically you want something small so it can fit in the bra and surround the breast). It'll be really helpful.

Another thing you can do is hand express but only to comfort. If the breasts really start to hurt, gently express milk until the pain subsides. Keep in mind that lactation is a process of supply and demand, so if you express too much the brain will think "more milk is needed, so we'll make more".

It may be painful for a few days but it will subside. Good luck to you and congratulations on your new baby!

Short answer: Benadryl dried me up!

Story below for any who are interested. ;)

With my first two, it was gradual weaning, then leaking for a year or so. :(

With my 3rd, we had to stop cold turkey at 23 months due to medicine I was taking that she couldn't have. I had Pancreatitis (?) due to gallstone blocking the duct. Pancreatitis caused nausea, so I had to have anti- nausea med which baby couldn't have.
Pancreatitis also caused jaundice -- did you know that is very itchy? -- so I took Benadryl to help with the itching before we figured out why I was itching. Although Benadryl didn't help with the itching much because the itching wasn't allergy related, we noticed it did dry my milk up! I had been wondering how we were going to wean her ...

We were down to morning and bedtime nursing sessions when my daughter was 11 months old. She was really bored nursing and was already drinking milk from a sippy cup (per her doctor's advice) and I got tired of fighting her to nurse. I quit cold turkey one weekend. She was fine, never even phased her, but I did get engorged. It was painful and unpleasant for about 2 days, until I went into the shower, gritted my teeth and put pressure on my breasts until I had squeezed most of the milk out. After that, I was golden! I wouldn't suggest everyone try to tough it out like I did, but instead pump or manually express a little milk daily for the first few days until you feel comfortable enough to go without. Not a full nursing session, just enough to relieve some of the pressure. Good luck!

You have to stop feeding all together - it will be uncomfortable - so just grin and bear it. When I did it I dropped one feeding a day - then the 3rd day another - and within a week we were done - it was not comfortable - but I didn't express milk - because then my body would think it needs to make more. I did it at 6 months.

Good luck!

You eliminate the first feeding in the morning and like another person said, wait a few days, and then do the next feeding, repeating until you have replaced all the feedings, the night time being the last. If you are concerned about yourself, your obgyn is the one to ask. My ped told me to go cold turkey, luckily I asked my ob before I did that. You shouldn't be in to much pain doing it a feeding at a time, your milk adjusts to how much you need.

You are right - as long as you keep breastfeeding at all you will keep producing. I just had to pick a day and stop with my son and when I got too full or uncomfortable I just had to express a little out to make it bearable again. I also took lots of warm showers which helped with the pain. It is just a bit of a process. I think it took me about 1-2 weeks to feel like I wasn't actually producing any more milk and another few months before I couldn't actually get any milk out if I tried. Good luck!