How to stop child from breast feeding

How to stop breastfeeding - NHS

It's up to you and your baby to decide when you want to finish breastfeeding.

How long to breastfeed

It's recommended that you breastfeed your baby exclusively (give them breast milk only) for the first 6 months of their life.

Breastfeeding still has lots of benefits for you and your baby after 6 months. It protects them from infections and there's some evidence that it helps with the digestion of your baby's first solid foods. It also continues to provide the balance of nutrients your baby needs.

The World Health Organization recommends that all babies are exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of their life, and from 6 months babies should start eating solid foods as well as being breastfed for up to 2 years or longer.

If you're not sure whether to continue with breastfeeding, you can contact the National Breastfeeding Helpline on 0300 100 0212 (every day, 9. 30am to 9.30pm).

Read more about the benefits of breastfeeding

Stopping breastfeeding gradually

There's no right or wrong way to stop breastfeeding. For lots of mothers and babies, stopping breastfeeding happens gradually as the child grows and eats more solid foods.

It's important that solid food should not simply replace breast milk. There's evidence that breast milk may play a part in helping a baby's digestive system to deal with their first solids.

Once they're eating solids, your baby will still need to have breast milk or formula as their main drink up to at least their 1st birthday.

Cows' milk is not suitable as a main drink for babies under 1 year old, although it can be added to foods, such as mashed potatoes.

Carrying on breastfeeding while giving your baby some formula can work very well.

Babies breastfeed for comfort as well as food. Phasing out breastfeeding gently will give you both time to get used to the idea. Stopping gradually will also help prevent problems like overfull, hard (engorged) breasts and mastitis.

You'll probably find it easiest to drop 1 feed at a time. It does not matter which feed you drop first, so it will usually be a case of how it fits in with your life. For example, some mothers may prefer to continue night feeds so their baby can still have the comfort at night.

If your baby is younger than 1 year, you'll need to replace the dropped breastfeed with a formula feed from a bottle or (if they're over 6 months) a cup or beaker, instead.

If your child is over 1 year and having a variety of foods and drinks, they will not need a replacement feed.

Once you and your baby are settled into a pattern of having 1 less breastfeed, you can then think about dropping another feed. Completely stopping breastfeeding can take anything from a few weeks to several months.

If you're trying to stop breastfeeding and having problems, you can get help and ideas from a health visitor or a breastfeeding specialist.

Read more about drinks and cups for babies

Combining breast milk and formula

Some women decide to combine breastfeeding and bottle feeding with formula milk rather than stopping breastfeeding completely.

If you want to do this, it's best to wait until your milk supply is fully established. This can take around 6 to 8 weeks.

You can start by replacing 1 of your baby's regular daily breastfeeds with a bottle (or, if your baby is over 6 months, a cup or beaker) of formula, instead.

Common reasons for stopping breastfeeding

Sore or painful breasts

Some women find breastfeeding uncomfortable, especially in the early days and weeks. Common problems include sore or cracked nipples and painful breasts.

These problems can often happen when your baby is not positioned or attached well at the breast. A midwife, health visitor or a breastfeeding specialist can help you with positioning your baby and getting them properly attached.

Not enough breast milk

Lots of women worry that their baby is not getting enough milk when in fact they have plenty to meet their baby's needs.

A midwife, health visitor or breastfeeding specialist can suggest ways to increase your milk supply if necessary. This could just mean making sure your baby is well attached to the breast and that you're feeding often enough.

Going back to work

Some women worry about breastfeeding and returning to work. Going back to work does not necessarily mean you have to stop breastfeeding.

If your breast milk supply is well established, going back to work does not have to affect your milk supply for your baby. You can either express at work and give your breast milk to your child's carer, or provide formula milk while you're away.

If your employer is not familiar with the rules around breastfeeding and expressing in the workplace, it's worth sharing the ACAS guidance on pregnancy and maternity with them, or contacting your union if you have one.

Going on holiday

As with work, going on holiday does not mean that you have to give up breastfeeding. In fact, breastfeeding can be more convenient while you're away.

If you breastfeed, you do not need to worry about boiling water and sterilising feeding equipment. Plus, if you're flying, there's no need to worry about restrictions on carrying bottles or cups of formula through airport security checks.

Breastfeeding also helps to equalise the pressure in your baby's ears on take-off or landing.

Getting pregnant again

If you get pregnant again while you're breastfeeding, it should not affect your baby or the pregnancy. However, you may feel tired, and changes in your appetite and emotions can make breastfeeding more challenging.

Occasionally, women are advised to stop breastfeeding before getting pregnant again, particularly if they've previously had a miscarriage or premature labour.

Do not be put off feeding an older baby and a newborn (tandem nursing). The more milk your babies take, the more your breasts produce, so it's possible to feed more than 1 baby.

Taking some medicines

Most medicines can be taken while you're breastfeeding without harming your baby.

But it's always best to tell a doctor, dentist or pharmacist if you're breastfeeding.

Read more about breastfeeding and medicines

Restarting breastfeeding after stopping

Stopping breastfeeding does not always have to be permanent, but starting again may take a lot of time and not everyone will produce enough to meet their baby's needs. It partly depends on how well-established your milk supply was already.

Stimulating your breasts by expressing breast milk and offering the breast to your baby regularly can encourage your body to start making milk again.

Skin-to-skin contact with your baby can promote lactation (milk production) too.

You can ask a midwife, health visitor or a breastfeeding specialist for help if you would like to restart breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding older children

There's no reason why you should not continue breastfeeding your child into their 2nd year and beyond. You and your toddler can continue to enjoy the benefits of breastfeeding for as long as you want to.

Your toddler may also find breastfeeding comforting when they're ill or upset.

Weaning: How To - La Leche League International

HOW DO I WEAN MY BABY?

Are you feeling ready to wean completely? Sometimes just cutting back on the amount of times you breastfeed will make you feel better, breastfeeding can sometimes be overwhelming. Breastfeeding is a two-way street. If you resent it when you sit down to breastfeed, your child will pick up on this. If your baby is under a year (or older, sometimes), you will have to substitute a bottle feeding for a missed breastfeeding. An older baby may accept a drink from a cup, a nutritious snack, or just a distraction in the form of a game, a toy, or change of scene. Remember, the first supplemental feed, from a bottle, or of solid food, is the beginning of weaning. Weaning does not need to be all or nothing.

If weaning is your decision, it’s best for you and your baby to do it gradually, and with love. If you wean “cold turkey,” your breasts will likely become painfully engorged, and you might develop a breast infection. Your baby will probably fight the switch from your warm, soft breast to a plastic substitute. He might mourn the loss of “his” breasts.

If you must wean suddenly, see our Weaning: For Medical Reasons article for more information and helpful ideas.

WEANING A BABY UNDER ONE YEAR

Try first to substitute his least favorite feeding first. If the baby won’t accept the bottle from you, (he knows the breast is right around here somewhere) see if a support person can succeed. It may also be helpful to have you not in the room/home so baby cannot smell you. Let the baby have a few days (or weeks, if possible) between each time you substitute a breastfeeding session with a bottle. Express a little milk from your breasts, to your own comfort, if you become engorged. Don’t express a whole feeding’s worth of milk; just enough to take the pressure off. Your body will get the signal to make less milk over time, slowly. For help with the weaning process contact a La Leche League Leader.

WEANING AN OLDER CHILD

To quote Dr. William Sears, “There is no set number of years you should nurse your baby.” If you and your child enjoy breastfeeding, there is no reason you need to stop. Both of you will continue to benefit from breastfeeding as long as you like. Many mothers choose to wean naturally, allowing the child to outgrow the need gradually, in his own time.

Breastfeeding an older toddler or child is different from breastfeeding an infant. Most mothers naturally begin to place some restrictions on nursing as their child grows. Sometimes, the mother of an older nursling may become frustrated by other parenting challenges, and think that breastfeeding is causing the difficulty. In fact, raising children is hard work, and the “problem” may be the result of the child’s developmental stage.

In that case, it’s very helpful to learn more about typical childhood behavior and needs. A good place to start is by attending La Leche League meetings. There you will meet mothers who have nursed their children including extended nursing mothers and are happy to share information and ideas with you. Find a group near you.

It is possible to wean during the day but only nurse at night as the nighttime feeding is usually the last to go. Or wean at night but still allow nursing during the day. It does not need to be all or nothing.

TIPS FOR DAYTIME WEANING

Generally, these strategies work best for daytime nursing.

Breastfeed the child when he asks, and don’t offer when he doesn’t. This simple technique known as “don’t offer, don’t refuse” may help accelerate the weaning process when used with other methods.
Change daily routines. Instead of heading home after picking him up from daycare, head to the grocery store or elsewhere instead. Try to avoid the “nursing chair” or other usual “nursing station” in your home as much as possible at the times when he usually would ask to nurse. Stand up as much as possible!
If possible, get help from other family and household members. If he usually nurses upon waking, try getting up before him and have your partner or someone else do all the morning routine.
Anticipate nursing sessions and offer substitutions and distractions. Try offering a snack or drink at that time. Take him to his favorite place at the usual nursing time. Other distractions: reading, bike rides, visits from friends, a new toy, walking/singing to the child.
Shorten the length of nursings or see if he accepts a postponed nursing. Telling him he will be done when you are finishing singing a certain song, or counting to 20 may help with the transition. If he doesn’t understand the concept of waiting or of time, this may not be helpful.

TIPS FOR SLEEP TIME WEANING

The nap and bedtime nursings are often the last to go and can be more difficult. La Leche League does not advocate for any sleep-training techniques that includes children being left to cry for long periods of time. Staying close to your little one to allow for quick attention before they are fully awake can also help with the overnight times.

If the child is sleeping with you, you might consider moving him into his own bed or into bed with an older sibling. However, if the child resists the move, he might increase breastfeeding in order to preserve his feeling of closeness with you.
Allowing another family members to help by taking over sleep-time routines.
Offering a drink of water or snack if the child seems hungry or thirsty.
Offering cuddles, hugs and music to replace nursing at night or for naptime.

If you decide to wean the nighttime feeding, make a bedtime routine not centered around breastfeeding. A good book or two will eventually become more important than a long session at the breast. Your child may agree to rest his head on your breast instead of feeding. Talk to your child about what’s going on ahead of time if you can as he may understand more than you expect.

WHEN A CHILD ISN’T READY TO WEAN

If weaning is going too quickly for the child, he’ll usually let you know by his behavior. Increased tantrums, regressive behaviors, anxiety, increase in night waking, new fear of separation, and clinginess are all possible signs that weaning is going too quickly for your child. Illness and teething can also interfere with weaning and it might be necessary to take a break.

Your child may be old enough for you to simply explain to him that you feel it is time to wean. Many children his age or older can understand the concept of stopping nursing. Some mothers let the child pick a date, or choose one themselves, and call that the “weaning day” after which he will no longer nurse. Some mothers will then give the child a “weaning party” with supportive family and understanding friends to help celebrate the milestone. Perhaps the child will receive a special “weaning present.”

Some mothers allow the child to choose a coveted toy and buy it after weaning, or buy it before weaning and wrap it up on to be put on a shelf for when the weaning day or weaning party comes.

Obviously, these techniques will not work if the child is extremely resistant to weaning, but many mothers have used them with success. Remember that he will have a continued, perhaps even deepened, need for closeness with you. You can anticipate the child’s need for closeness and spend as much of her day as possible having “special time” with the child.

Weaning can be a difficult time both for mother and child. Mother’s often have many feelings including sadness, anxiety and despair. A La Leche League Leader or group can help you to feel less alone as you go through this big step. To learn more about weaning you can attend a local group or reach out to leader.

How to wean a child from breastfeeding

February 13, 2020LikbezAdvice

The key to success is to listen to yourself and the baby, and not to the opinion of a neighbor.

When to wean a baby

According to WHO recommendations, it is better to feed babies exclusively with breast milk until they are six months old. Then complementary foods are gradually introduced.

Although a baby can get by with solid food once teeth have appeared, breastfeeding should not be stopped until two years of age. After all, mother's milk protects against infections and helps to digest the rest of the food. And feeding itself is an important way of communication between mother and child.

Anthropological studies show that it is natural to breastfeed babies longer than recommended by WHO. The final transition to adult food can occur closer to three or even four years. And this is quite normal.

At the same time, there are no strict rules about the duration of breastfeeding.

After six months, the most important factor is the comfort of mother and child. Feed until three - if you feel like it. Or wean a year or earlier - if you are tired or you have to go to work. Focus on yourself and the child, and not on the opinion of relatives, neighbors and girlfriends.

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How to wean a child from breastfeeding painlessly

The main thing is to do everything gradually. Too abrupt cancellation is fraught with stagnation of milk (lactostasis) and inflammation of the mammary gland (mastitis) in the mother, digestive problems in the child, as well as psychological stress in both.

Pick the right time

Don't start the transition to "adulthood" when children are teething or not feeling well. It is better to postpone breastfeeding in extreme heat, as well as during the SARS epidemic.

Skip One Feed

Start by eliminating one breastfeed a day—the one your baby is least enthusiastic about. Most likely, it will be an afternoon snack. Replace breastfeeding with a bottle of milk formula if the baby is not yet a year old. Or solid food (for an older child).

When this routine becomes habitual - which can take 3 to 7 days - remove one more feeding. And so on, until the child completely switches to independent nutrition.

Feed more often during the day

The most difficult thing is to refuse night and first morning feeding, because it is at night that the body produces shock doses of prolactin, the hormone responsible for milk secretion. The child is used to getting a lot of nutrients at this time. Naturally, now he will feel hungry and insistently demand the return of what he has lost. The way out is to feed more often and more densely during the day.

Leigh Ann O'Connor

Certified Lactation Consultant

Offer your child more high-calorie foods throughout the day to replenish energy stores lost at night.

Leave feeding to other family members

A father, grandmother or grandfather is quite capable of feeding a child from a bottle or a spoon. Entrust them with this task, and retire yourself to another room so that the child is not nervous and is not distracted by the smell of mother's milk.

Give your child enough time

Weaning children does not mean depriving them of attention. When the baby is full and no longer interested in getting milk, spend as much time with him as possible. Games, hugs and communication will help him get through this difficult period easier.

Pump a little

Milk production in the body occurs according to the law of supply and demand. With the gradual refusal of breastfeeding, lactation also slows down - up to a complete cessation.

If you feel that your breasts are full, express milk, but not completely, but until the pain disappears. Otherwise, the body will perceive this as a signal that the bins are empty, and will begin to replenish reserves intensively.

Apply cabbage leaves to your chest

This old folk method is still relevant. Medical research does not deny that 20-minute application of cabbage leaves to the chest can relieve swelling and relieve milk stagnation. And although the effectiveness of the "compress from the garden" has not been fully proven, it definitely will not get worse.

Various sources advise applying cabbage either at room temperature, chilled or frozen. How is it better? A few scientific experiments give the answer: whatever. The temperature of the sheet does not affect its operation in any way.

Drink herbal decoctions

Some plants help to reduce lactation, namely:

sage;
peppermint;
parsley;
jasmine flowers.

Just pour a couple of tablespoons of dried herbs in 300-400 ml of boiling water and let it steep for a couple of hours, then strain.

What not to do when weaning your baby

No matter how much you want to stop lactation as soon as possible, there are a few tricks that are better to refrain from.

Don't bandage your breasts

Our grandmothers bandaged their breasts tightly to stop lactation. Modern medicine calls for abandoning this practice, as it causes increased sensitivity and soreness of the breast. Instead of bandaging, wear a tight, but not too tight, supportive bra.

Do not take lactation medications

There are medications that suppress prolactin production. All of them have a hormonal basis and cause many side effects - from headaches and drowsiness to depression and exacerbation of various diseases. Never take them without first consulting your doctor.

Don't be thirsty

There is an opinion that the less you drink, the less milk you will produce. However, the relationship between the amount of fluid consumed and the intensity of lactation has not yet been proven. Therefore, it is better to drink plenty to avoid dehydration.

How long does it take to wean a child from breastfeeding

It depends on many factors: the age of the child, his individual characteristics, the nuances of your body. Some children painlessly refuse breastfeeding in just a few days. Others will need 2-3 weeks or even a couple of months.

In addition, when you stop breastfeeding completely, your body will produce milk for a while. If the period of breastfeeding was long, then minor lactation can last from several weeks to several months.

With water and without mustard: how to wean a child from breastfeeding

According to Rosstat, the number of mothers in Russia who prefer breastfeeding rather than formula is growing. But sooner or later, nursing mothers are faced with the need to wean the child from breastfeeding. The pediatrician, head of the pediatric department of the hospital at the SM-Clinic in Maryina Roscha Alexandra Vasina told Gazeta.Ru how to do this as comfortably as possible for mother and child.

At what age should a child stop breastfeeding

According to WHO (World Health Organization) , breast milk is the ideal food for infants and has a beneficial effect on the health and development of the child. WHO and UNICEF experts recommend to practice exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of a child's life, if he has no contraindications to the use of breast milk, for example, individual intolerance.

Then introduce complementary foods, continuing to breastfeed until the child is two years of age or older. The age of 1-1.5 years is considered optimal for breastfeeding, when breast milk is no longer the main source of nutrients (nutrients - Gazeta.Ru). At this age, the child is completely transferred to the common table, and breastfeeding remains more of a psychological support for him.

But different situations happen in life: a mother can go to work or fall ill, in which case the question of whether it is worth weaning the child from breastfeeding, temporarily interrupting feeding or feeding the baby with expressed milk is taken together with the pediatrician.

There are situations in which it is recommended to postpone weaning:

• Baby is sick or not feeling well

• Teething

• Routine vaccinations

• Moving, long trip or other stressful situation

The psychological state of a breastfeeding mother is also important. If a woman is mentally unprepared or feels guilty about being forced to transfer her baby to mixtures, she may subconsciously look for an excuse to return to breastfeeding.

How to quickly wean a child from breastfeeding

If it is not a matter of force majeure, there is no need to rush. It will be much calmer for mom and baby if everything goes smoothly and gradually, abrupt cessation of breastfeeding can be stressful.

“That's why you shouldn't practice the 'grandmother's method' when a breastfeeding mother just leaves somewhere for a few days and leaves the baby with relatives. In this case, the stress of separation from mother will be added to the experiences from the abolition of breastfeeding, ”explained Alexandra Vasina.

Lubricating the breast with mustard or brilliant green is considered to be the same stressful method, so that the child understands that the milk is now tasteless, or was frightened and did not reach for the breast.

Weaning should ideally be done in stages.

1. The first stage is the reduction of the so-called soothing attachments, when the baby is breastfed not because he is hungry, but to calm him down. Try to replace this ritual with another: pat on the head, pat on the back, say some soothing words or distract with games, books.

2. The second stage is the completion of breastfeeding before daytime, and then before nighttime sleep. Depending on the age of the child, offer him formula milk (for children under one year old) or regular food, or any other drink.

3. The third stage is the abolition of feeding during nocturnal awakenings. If the child wakes up, talk to him, sing songs, rock him, but do not breastfeed.

It is important to set yourself up for success and take your time: the process can take up to four months. In case of any difficulties, you can consult a pediatrician or a lactation consultant.

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