Tips on How to Quit Breastfeeding

Wow! That sounds painful. I weaned my son i.e cut out feeding times slowly. With less demand, I produced less supply. It was still uncomfortable at times but not painful.

you don't just quit, your doctor should have told you that. You remove one feeding a day (is what mine told me), but I would suggest removing one feeding every 2-3 days. Doing it this way will really help with not being uncomfortable. I don't see why you don't think you are producing because being the pain is telling you otherwise. Even if you don't have enough for him to be 100% breastmilk, you give him what you have. However, if you want to stop because it is a pain, I understand that. I'm not the die hard breastfeeder everyone else seems to be. I just completely stopped at 4 months. I was producing only 1 ounce at a pumping session by the time I finally quit. I just completely stopped and I never got even a little bit uncomfortable, that is how low my supply was. Yes, you can get it back up if you are willing to put the work into it, I just wasn't. I couldn't stand always taking time away from whatever we were doing as a family to go pump. I stopped after 4 months with my son so I knew that in fact, the child will live! He still rarely got sick and so far my baby girl is doing great and she started daycare 1 month ago. There is a breastfed baby there that just got out of the hopital with bronchitus, so it isn't a sure thing that doing it will keep them healthy. Of course it is best, but you don't love your son any less by stopping! My doctor also mentioned frozen cabbage leaves, but I can't stand that thought! If I was engorged I might think differently! Go ahead and relieve your pressure and 'wean' yoruself off, not cold turkey!

If you have enough mild that you are engorged and you really don't want to stop breastfeeding, why don't you just continue part time? You can nurse in evening and morning and supplement during the day when you are at work. You relieve milk build-up pressure, you son still gets the nutritional benefits of breast milk, and you still have the bonding time with him.
A.

Hi D., I am currently breastfeeding my twelve-month old. He only nurses twice a day now but also drinks expressed breast milk from his sippy cups. I am thinking of weaning soon/after flu season, so I wanted to check out your responses to help me later down the road. I am not one to push my beliefs on others so I am not trying to push you to continue breastfeeding if you want to stop ..but you wrote that you would love to continue so I ask why you don't continue and just supplement your low supply with formula? I went through a two month period (5 1/2 mos to 7 1/2 mos) when I was not producing enough to keep up with my son. So in addition to his nursings and 24 oz of expressed breast milk, he was drinking about 8-10 oz of formula per day. That way he continued to receive all of the benefits of breast milk and I could relax and not worry that he was starving :-) Around 7 1/2 months, he slowed down a bit and I was able to drop the formula completely. Also, I tried fenugreek a couple of times for about one week each and it seemed to help jump-start an increase in my supply that was maintained by regular pumping. If you really want to wean, I hear gradual is the way to go and I wish you luck. I just wanted to remind you that it does not have to be all or nothing.

If you would love to continue, you should! You could just nurse him 2 or 3x a day or so, and you would both reap the benefits. Now that he is 8 mos, and you are not his only source of nutrition, you don't need to nurse as often as you did at the beginning. He may go through growth spurts when he wants more, that is to be expected now and again. Talk to your local La Leche leader or a breastfeeding consultant at the hospital where he was born. They can tell you all about gradual weaning, so you can both finish breastfeeding when you are both ready. Good luck!!!

Hi there,

Abruptly quitting can be quite painful. There are ways to wean more slowly that are more comfortable for both you and your son:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

At 8 months you really don't have to have a "full supply" so to speak as he is likely getting lots of nutrition from other sources. There are also lots of foods and herbs you can tap into in order to boost your supply. Check out some of these:

http://breastfeeding.suite101.com/article.cfm/increase_br...

http://breastfeeding.suite101.com/article.cfm/herbal_gala...

If you do decide to quit entirely, I think engorgement subsides in a week or so. Be careful of plugged milk ducts and mastitis, though. If you get terribly feverish with chills, etc. and a hard, red spot on your breast you will want to see your doctor.

Good luck and congrats on 8 months of nursing your son! That's a wonderful accomplishment!

Hi. I know this sounds strange but put cool cabbage leaves in your bra when you are home. This will make you leak but it will dry up the milk. It works wonders. Just by a head of cabbage and put it in the fridge. Tear off the leaf and tuck it in your bra. You just do not want to stimulate milk. This helps with a slow release without stimulating the nipple. If you stimulate the nipple, you will continue to make more milk. Another way is to get some warm water in a bowl and lean over and dip your breast in the bowl of warm water. This will release the milk without stimulating the nipple. Good luck. Just remember...if you feel like you are feverish or like you are getting the flu, call the doctor. You don't want mastitis.

First of all I think you need to get a new doctor, why the @#?&! did he tell you to that!!! You just don't quit like that, I can imagine the pain your in!!! If you want to continue breastfeeding you need to be consistent with your feedings and/or pumpings and do them on the clock every so many hours. If you want to quit for whatever reason you may have you need to do less frequent feedings and/or pumpings throughout the day until you eventually stop. You could breastfeed or pump only when your breasts feel full and eventually you'll produce less and less until you finally produce no more. A tip to ease the pain for engorged breasts, when you take a shower have the hot water on them as hot as you can handle and massage them while you manually pump out some milk from the areas that hurt the most. Good luck!

Hi D., You've gotton some good advice already. Im a CLC if you would like some help either weaning or continuing I would be happy to help. I offer my services free for phone consulting (which I think would be all you would need) so feel free to call me. ###-###-####

Now that you are engorged, if you try to nurse it is going to be difficult for the baby. Try to manually express milk in the shower, just to get your breasts down to a normal size and then the next time your body starts to produce milk, than you want to offer him the breast again. The more you nurse the more your body will produce. It is OK to supplement if you do not have enough, but supply and demand, the more your body experiences your son nursing, the more your body will produce.

On another note. My oldest daughter experienced nipple confusion when I went back to school at 8 weeks. It was very hard for her to nurse, and I was very young and not motivated to continue. My ob/gyn gave me much better advice than the ped. I quit norsung cold turkey, not something I would recomend to anyone, with my second child I weaned 1 feeding every couple of days, much easier. My OB said to take and old bra, preferably one that was tight, and cut small wholes where the nipples would be, and allow them to leak. She told me not to take hot showers, express milk, or do anything to stimulate the nipples, because then your body will think it needs to continue to produce more milk. One thing I did that really helped with the pain was to lay on the sofa, with just a bra and no shirt, and ice.

Good Luck

Personally I would continue to feed him with what I have and them supplement with formula to fill him. Actually he should be on food by now and that should help. But if you choose not to just leave your breasts alone, don't take hot showers or massage them. They will dry up in no time at all.

Hi D.,
I have breast fed all three of my children and the last one for two years!! What I did that helped ease the pain afterwards was to take a warm shower and express some milk while your in there, not a lot but enough that your breast are not so engorged and painful. Also, if you have a breast pump do that as well if a shower is not possible at the time. Not alot but just enough for your breasts to not be engorged or painful. The more you breast feed, the more milk you will produce. So, if you only pump or express a small amount at one time then the milk will eventually dry up. You just have to remember to NOT express or pump alot at one time, just enough to take the engorgement and pain away. I promise you will be pain free within a week.

My advice would be to taper SLOWLY. When my son was 18 months I was down to twice/day & I had to quit cold turkey... I used cabbage leaves, a snug sports bra (& a release when I thought I'd die). I also let them release a little it the shower. I also took ibuprophen & 2 old tramadol. I wish I had gone from 2x' day to once/day, then every other day, then maybe every 2... Cold turkey is awful (unleass medically necessary)

If you still are producing milk I would give it to your baby. Breastmilk is a better option than the alternatives, and if you have it available why not offer it? If you want to continue to nurse I would do so! Even part time is better than nothing and more than likely your supply will build back up the more you nurse....supply and demand. The AAP recommends breastfeeding until age 1 and the WHO (World Health Organization) until age 2....which is NOT to say that 8 months hasn't been an amazing benefit to your baby...it just means that if you want to it would be extremely beneficial to both you and your son to continue. It sounds as if you have the supply and if you seek advice of a lactation consultant they can help you with suggestions and remedies to increase your supply to meet your baby's needs. Fenugreek, red raspberry leaf tea, cocnut milk, pumping between nursing sessions all can help meet his nutritional needs if you are interested in continuing. Keep it up, you can do it :-) Best wishes for you and your baby boy!

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Please don't stop breastfeeding. I thought I wasn't making enough breast milk at one time. The lactation consultant told me the more you nurse, the more milk you will make. It is obvious that you are still making milk because you got engorged. I breastfed my daughter until 13 months. And I must say she hardly ever gets sick, never had an ear infection. And if she does get sick, it's very minor. If the only reason you want to quit is because you think you're not producing enough milk, please keep breastfeeding. Sorry if I sound harsh, but I feel strongly for breastfeeding.

Also, I was working and I used the Medela double electric pump to use during my lunch break. That will also help you produce more milk. I pumped 12 ounces in ten minutes. It's the best pump out there.

My daughter quit cold turkey at 10 months and i was so engorged. A lactation consultant told me to stuff my super tight sports bra with cabbage leaves. Also, buy fresh sage and add it to tea ( i used raspberry so it was drinkable) to help stop the lactation process. These worked for me within 48 hours i was much better!
Good Luck!
~stephanie

I just want to encourage you. These other mommas have given you great advise. If you want to nurse a little longer You should try. Your body is still ready to . At 8 months you don't have to be the sole source of food. You can do formula or start introducing some food supplementally. Each baby is different. My 6 month old is still strictly breastfeeding but he is really wanting to eat with us. So I am going to start adding a little baby food when we sit for dinner. Not a full meal and after I nurse. My first child went almost 12 months strictly breastfed(Now as a mommy of 3 I can't believe I went that long) And my second 8 months.
Again I would look into some websites that give you an idea of when to introduce food and weanning.