How to Stop Breastfeeding Without Pain

Breast milk is the healthiest form of milk, which can be given to babies. It should be avoided only, if the mother suffers from certain illnesses. There are many benefits of breastfeeding a child. The first of the benefits is, that breast milk promotes health. It helps to prevent diseases not only during infancy, but also when the child grows up. However, there comes a time, when the mother has to wean her child. It can be a difficult decision for the mother as well as for the child. Depending on the prevailing conditions a child can be breastfed up to one and a half years, although there are different views about when to stop breastfeeding. A child should be breastfed for a minimum period of six months. When you decide to wean your child, it is important to take the health of the baby into consideration. Weaning the child suddenly can pose health problems not only for the child, but also for the mother. Hence, it is important to know to stop breastfeeding, so that both the mother as well as the child do not suffer.

Tips on How to Stop Breastfeeding Without Pain

When you decide to stop breastfeeding a toddler or an infant, you can use any one of the three methods, namely abrupt weaning, gradual weaning and partial weaning. There is another way to stop breastfeeding. It is the natural way of weaning, also known as child led weaning. In this method, the child refuses to be breastfed. This condition can be both abrupt or gradual. We will however concentrate on the best way to stop breastfeeding.

The method to stop breastfeeding adopted from the olden days is to gradually wean the child. For this, you can decrease the number of nursing sessions. The best thing is to decrease one feed at a time. Give the child either formula milk or dairy milk or something to eat, when he is hungry, so that he does not become cranky. Decreasing the number of nursing sessions is also beneficial for the mother. It gives signal to the body not to produce milk in bigger quantities. Decrease in milk production will also not cause engorged breasts.

Many times, mothers change the area of feeding the child, when they want to stop breastfeeding. However, this can lead to the child feeling deserted. Hence, feed the baby in the same area as you were breastfeeding the child. This will make the child feel secure and the weaning will not be taken negatively by the child. Other than formula or dairy milk, solid food should also be a part of the child's diet. When the child consumes solid food, he will no longer be hungry and cranky and asked to be nursed. If the child needs to be weaned before he celebrates its first birthday, giving baby formula can be considered. It will give the required supplements to the baby's diet and the baby will not lack any nutrients.

When you want to stop breastfeeding at night, feed the child solid food so that it is not hungry at bedtime and falls off to sleep easily. In case the child does feel hungry, then give him milk. In some cases, the child may not necessarily be hungry, but it can be psychological. At such times, talking to the child will prove to be beneficial. You can tell the child that it is a grown up baby now and big children are not breastfed.

When you stop breastfeeding the child, it is natural for your breast to feel full. They may also feel hard or leak. At such times, you can express some milk, but do not pump hard, as it will not be of help for drying up breast milk. The aim of expressing milk is to make sure that there is no leak or the breasts are not engorged.

These were the tips on how to wean the child without pain, but a mother should remember that weaning a child is both a physical and psychological challenge. Weaning does have impact on the mother and child alike. If you are facing problems in weaning your child, talking to your health care professional may prove to be of help. Last, but certainly not the least is to remember, that weaning process is emotionally and physically trying. So stay strong.