How to stop breastfeeding?
Hi
I've been reading conflicting advice on the internet so probably means people here may well have different opinions, so I will ask my HV when I next see her in a couple of weeks. But I wanted to ask here if any of you know the best way to stop breastfeeding?
I'm already mix feeding, but when I come to stop (I feel it may be time soon), do I stop competely going cold turkey - I've heard there's a risk of mastitis doing that. Or do I wean her off gradually?
Any thoughts here?
xxx
I've been reading conflicting advice on the internet so probably means people here may well have different opinions, so I will ask my HV when I next see her in a couple of weeks. But I wanted to ask here if any of you know the best way to stop breastfeeding?
I'm already mix feeding, but when I come to stop (I feel it may be time soon), do I stop competely going cold turkey - I've heard there's a risk of mastitis doing that. Or do I wean her off gradually?
Any thoughts here?
xxx
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Replies
I feel similar to you MI. I'm not one for feeling pressurised into doing something because it's 'the done thing' or 'for the best'. Yet when it comes to BF I feel really bad about wanting to stop. I felt bad enough that baby girl wasn't gaining weight at the start on purely BF.
My reason for wanting to stop is that she's dropped a couple of centiles on the weight charts and she's feeding badly on me - always falls asleep during and then wakes up when I take her off for the bottle! HV said it's strange as most babies would create a fuss and be frustrated, but she just seems to be chilled out and enjoy the closeness of feeding a bit from me as she knows the bottle will come after. She's a strange one!
I've no idea if cutting out the BF would help with her weight gain though as she never empties a bottle and hasn't increased her volumes for weeks?
Hey ho, trying not to fret, HV, hubby, friends and family keep reassuring me she's fine but I have become SUCH a worrier since becoming a mum, it's ridiculous!
What are your reasons for thinking of stopping Miss Impatient?
xxx
Thanks very much for your advice.
xxx
When I started mixed feeding I was advised to drop a breastfeed every few days, to allow the supply to settle on its own - I had tingly boobs at what would have been feeding time for a couple of days, but nothing more than that. I kept up just the bedtime feed for a couple of months, and when I decided to stop that had no problems either, my supply had got used to just providing that feed, and I literally felt tingly at bedtime the next day, but after that it was fine. Doing it slowly is definitely better for you, you're supply will cope much better, and it shouldn't be confusing for the baby.
If I were you, yes start by dropping the breastmilk completely from one feed and just offer a bigger bottle.
Miss I, from reading some of your other posts, yes keep up the bedtime feed for as long as you want to, it's not selfish - I wish I'd kept it up a bit longer than I did, but thought I should drop it as I'd dropped the others
xxx