Tips on Quitting Breastfeeding

There is no doubt that breastfeeding is healthier for your baby. Not only is breast milk the most natural food he can receive, it also provides a special time for the two of you. This bond can make weaning your child from breastfeeding difficult. It's not always the transition from breast milk to solid food that's hard, but rather the loss of shared time. However, you can ease this transition.

Make It Your Decision

Quitting breastfeeding should be your choice alone. Do not be influenced by others who feel your child is too old to be nursing or who think you are now breastfeeding because you are too emotionally attached to stop. You know your child best, and you know what is best for her. When the time is right to stop breastfeeding her, you will know this too.

The Natural Way

The natural way of quitting is to allow your child to decide when he is ready to stop nursing. This can occur abruptly or gradually. This doesn't mean you relinquish complete control to your child. You can still coax him away from your breast during a nursing session to stop him from nursing out of habit rather than nutritional necessity.

Stopping Abruptly

Before taking this option, discuss it with your doctor. Switching abruptly from breastfeeding to giving your child other foods can create problems. For you it can mean painful breasts as they continue to produce milk. For your child it can cause both emotional and physical problems.

Weaning Gradually

This is perhaps the best option to stop breastfeeding, for mother and child. It can ease the emotional difficulty both of you may experience, as well as breast pain you may feel from the reduced feedings. You can start by reducing one feeding a day, and substituting that feeding with other nourishment. Begin doing this every other day until your child has adapted to it, and then begin doing it daily. Continue to decrease feedings by one once your child has adapted until she is weaned.

Nutritional Substitutions

As you begin to weaning, use sippy cups to ease the process. You can also express your milk from the feeding he would have had and place it in his cup, giving him incentive to drink from it. Other foods to give him include fruit, cereal, vegetables and chopped or pureed meats.

Relieveing Breast Discomfort

Even if you wean your child gradually, you may still experience breast pain. One remedy is to express your milk using a breast pump. Another is using cabbage leaves when your breasts become engorged. Wrap the cabbage leaf around your breast and leave it on for 20 minutes or until the leaf has wilted. Do this twice a day, or after each nursing session.