9 Tips To Help You Stop Breastfeeding (Chestfeeding)

Everyone who breastfeeds or chestfeeds has a unique journey, but at some point, you and your child’s breastfeeding time will end. The end of breastfeeding or chestfeeding is called weaning: the process of replacing it with other sources of comfort and nutrition.

Reasons to wean might include an upcoming prolonged separation between you and your baby, the desire for more independence, or a gut feeling that it’s the right time. There’s no one right reason to wean.

You might take one of several approaches to weaning, but experts agree that it’s best to wean gradually if possible. This helps decrease the risk of engorgement and breast infections. It also allows you and your child to adjust to the changes that occur with weaning—including emotional, physical, and nutritional changes.

Experts recommend gradual weaning whenever possible to avoid breast engorgement (painful fullness in your breasts), which can lead to mastitis (breast infection). It also allows your baby time to get used to alternative food and beverage sources. Finally, it gives both you and your child time to emotionally adjust to the end of the breastfeeding relationship.

Weaning tends to look different in a younger versus an older baby or child. For instance, with a baby under 6 months, you will need to replace each breastfeeding session with an alternative type of milk.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends replacing breastmilk feeds with formula for babies under 12 months. With an older child, you may be able to replace breastfeeding sessions with foods, snacks, or other milks.

Here are some empowering tips to consider as you begin the weaning process:

• Make a plan: It may help to make a weaning timetable that works for you and your child.
• Drop breastfeeding sessions: It’s typical to drop one session every 1-5 days.
• Decrease time spent: You can slowly decrease your child’s time at your breast or increase the time between breastfeeding sessions.
• Familiarize the substitutes: Acquaint your child with the food or milk substitute you plan to use. This may include teaching your child to drink from a bottle or cup.
• Use distractions: During the time you’d usually be breastfeeding, provide another activity or outing to distract your child from what’s not happening.
• Check how it’s going: As you drop breastfeeding sessions or make other changes, assess how you and your child are doing. It’s okay to scale back if needed.
• Replace the bonding experience: This may look like extra cuddling or doing a fun activity together.
• Wean partially: Maybe you don’t want to stop breastfeeding completely yet. Partial weaning may involve nursing your baby for only a few sessions per day or only right before bed or in the morning.
• Have professional support: Stay in touch with your healthcare providers or lactation professionals to guide you if you have questions or concerns along the way.

Deciding to stop breastfeeding is a very personal decision. You may make that decision based on your life circumstances, physical and emotional needs, and your child’s needs. Some breastfeeding parents choose to wean after a few months, while some breastfeed for several years.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises that babies breastfeed exclusively for their first six months. After six months, the AAP recommends that babies start eating solid foods while breastfeeding until at least 12 months. It supports breastfeeding for two years or more if both the breastfeeding parent and child desire it.

The World Health Organization also advises exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life. After this, they recommend that breastfeeding (with complementary solid foods) continue for two years or more. Breastfeeding doesn’t lose its benefits after a certain age.

Factors you may consider include:

• Upcoming separation from your child for longer periods of time (such as going to work)
• A new pregnancy
• Wanting more autonomy or flexibility in life
• Feeling uncomfortable or unhappy with continuing to breastfeed
• Your child shows less interest in breastfeeding or less willingness to breastfeed
• Not wanting to be responsible for a large portion of your child’s nutritional needs
• A health condition or medication that’s not safe for breastfeeding
• A health condition your child has that prohibits breastfeeding

Rarely, a medical condition (either for you or your baby) would make weaning necessary. It’s also not common for a medication you take to require weaning. Finally, becoming pregnant doesn’t typically require that you wean your baby.

You can bring up any questions about these topics with your OB-GYN, your child’s pediatrician, or a board-certified lactation consultant.

It’s important to replace breastfeeding with other choices.

If your child is under 6 months, you can replace each breastfeeding session you drop with infant formula or expressed or pumped breastmilk. If your baby is over 6 months, you can replace some breastfeeding sessions with solid foods. However, your baby will still need to consume either pumped breastmilk or infant formula and solid foods for their first 12 months.

After the first 12 months, you can replace breastfeeding sessions with healthy snacks or alternative milks such as cow milk or non-dairy milk.

Breastmilk is an important source of nutrition for babies and young children, but it’s more than simply food. Many parents bond with their babies through breastfeeding, and it’s an activity and daily ritual that they may become accustomed to.

Breastfeeding may also positively affect the emotional health of breastfeeding parents, decreasing stress and anxiety. Some of this benefit is due to the hormones released during breastfeeding, including oxytocin, which can improve mood.

During weaning, your breasts don’t just stop making milk overnight. It’s a process, and even when it’s done slowly and gradually, some breastfeeding parents experience engorgement and discomfort.

Here are some tips to help manage the physical and emotional changes during weaning.

Emotional Adjustments

It’s okay to experience a wide range of emotions, from sadness to anxiety to guilt to relief. Give yourself grace. It may help you feel less sad or guilty—if that’s a reaction you have—to find other ways to spend loving, nurturing time with your baby.

If you feel like you’re having trouble managing your emotions, reach out to your support network or talk to a licensed mental health professional.

Helping Your Child Adjust

Make time to focus on your child as they physically and emotionally adjust to the end of breastfeeding, too. This may look like more cuddling, more activities together, or getting out of the house for a change of scenery.

Managing Engorgement

Engorgement is a painful fullness in your breasts. If you’re getting engorged, even while weaning slowly, take measures to decrease the engorgement to help prevent a breast infection. This might look like expressing a small amount of milk to soften the breast. Don’t completely drain your breast milk, as emptying the breast encourages continued milk production.

Some people recommend home relief remedies like teas to ease pain or decrease milk production. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether these options may be safe and appropriate for you.

Staying Flexible

Try to stay flexible during the weaning process, especially if you or your child have trouble adjusting. Taking longer to wean or adjusting your weaning timetable can sometimes be the best choice for your family.

Many people find weaning from breastfeeding challenging. They often have questions about when to do it, how to do it best, and how to manage some of the difficulties.

There are many reasons why someone may want to wean, including time constraints, health concerns, and the desire to move on. While there isn’t one correct way to do it, it’s usually best to wean your child gradually. This can help you and your baby adjust emotionally, and it allows your body time to adjust to the physical changes. Make sure your child continues to receive adequate nutrition after you stop breastfeeding.

Pediatricians or board-certified lactation consultants can be excellent resources if you have further questions or concerns about weaning.