How do you wean baby from breast and get your b*****s to stop producing milk?

Question

I am new at this, daughter is just 3 weeks old. I'm planning on breast feeding for a year but I am curious, when I do want to wean her, how do I go about it? Won't my b***s get engorged? How do other mothers usually go about it?

Answer 1

By the time your daughter is a year old, she will probably only be nursing a couple of times a day.  The more you nurse your baby the more milk you will produce.  So the less often you nurse, the less milk you will produce.  I breastfed my son until he was 14 months old.  The last month or so he was mostly nursing first thing in the morning and at bedtime.  He really self weaned.  The older he got the less interested he was in nursing.  We just eventually stopped nursing.  I don't really remember any significant engorgement I think you really only have to worry about engorgement when you wean at an early age.

Answer 2

Breastmilk is made on a supply/demand basis.  The  more you nurse, the more milk you make.  By the same process, the LESS you nurse, the less milk you make.

So, when you decide to wean (or baby opts to self wean), you nurse less (cutting out feedings and/or nursing less at each feeding), and your body responds by making less milk. Eventually, once you're down to 1-2 brief feeds a day or less, you just stop.  At that point you may be slightly engorged for a few days, but it clears up pretty quickly.

Answer 3

they will be engorged whether you breast feed for a year or 1 day. It will go away when you stop breastfeeding, wear tight fitting bras and you can put cold compresses on them. It usually takes about a week or 2 to go completely away.  

Answer 4

I breast fed both my children, when to stop breast feeding is a personal decision.  I only breastfed until I went back to work, my sister-in-law breastfeeds till they can walk and so on.  

The doctor had told me not to take any medication for a cold that I had, she said if it dries up your nose, it will also dry up your breast milk.  So, when I decided to quit breastfeeding, I starting taking cold medicine.  I was only engorged bad for like a day- worked great for me.

Answer 5

I nursed my 1st daughter and now am nursing my 2nd. Your b*****s will get engorged. Yes, it hurt. The way that I helped it go faster was to slowly put on smaller bras until I was back to my normal size. Do not express the milk in any way because it will just produce more. I had a hard time getting her to take a sippy because she never took a bottle but I found that the sippys with the silicon straw worked wonders and were the only thing she would take. Once she had that we started giving her a normal sippy and she got the hang of it!

Answer 6

You usually don't do it all at once.  If you wean naturally, you allow the baby to dictate how many feedings.  As she gets older and begins to eat solid foods, and as she is able to hold more fold at each feeding, the number of feedings per day will gradually decrease.  Most moms say that the last feeding before bedtime + maybe the one at naptime are the hardest for them to give up.  You should try to get them used to bottle or at least a pacifier too as a supplement/alternative.  My daughter would not take a bottle or a pacifier & ended up finding her thumb, which was a great relief to me at the time, but a nasty habit for her to break later!

If, however, you need to wean all at once because of you going back to work or medical reason, etc., there is some medicine you can take to "dry you up".  I have also heard that if you are on birth control pills after childbirth, it decreases your milk supply.  You won't get engorged if you taper off gradually in this way, though you may go through a day or two of discomfort or leaking.

If you have specific issues as you go along, the La Leche League is an international non-profit organization with a wonderful website and voluteer lactation consultants in most areas to assist you.  You can probably also talk to your pediatric nurse.  

Answer 7

Well, I breastfed 2 of my 3 daughters. Each time I wanted to skip a meal of breast milk I would give her something else like baby food, or mash potatoes or something and a cup of real milk. And gradually when it was time for bed it was the only time that she got breastmilk, and then I'd change it up and give her milk in a cup at night and finally she just didn't want it anymore. Yes my b*****s would fill up, but after a few days they got use to it, and slowly stopped producing milk. I've been told there is a shot you can take to dry up the milk too.

Answer 8

ok well when you wean her just don't stop do it slowly or your bady could get s. like half breast milk half formula then just keep doing that till she is used to the formula then give her less and less breast milk each day but make sure she is used to the formula  then just use the formula

you b*****s will stop producing milk after u stop

i am only 15 but me and my wife have 2 kids both weaned and growing fast

Answer 9

With my daughter, she just kind of weaned herself at about nine months.  She started to crawl and couldn't take my boob with her I suppose.  Don't worry about it, your child will let you know when it is time.  No I don't believe in nursing them until they are in school and beyond like some mothers.  As far as your milk drying up, I never had a problem with that either.  She nursed less, so I produced less.  It worked out very well.  Best of luck to you!