Making the decision to stop breast feeding your baby is a very personal and difficult decision to make. For some, the process can be simple and natural as the baby simply looses interest and begins an interest in food. For others, however, even when a mother has made the decision to no longer nurse, the infant may not agree and refuse to stop nursing. Stopping all together is a traumatic experience for both the mother and the infant and should always be avoided if at all possible. It is far easier on both to begin with eliminating one feeding a day and replaces it either with expressed breast milk or formula. Whatever you choose will greatly depend on the age of your baby/infant. Continuing to eliminate additional day time nursing all together over a period of time seems to be what works best for most mothers.

It is very important to reassure the infant by not confusing them. An example is to not feed a baby a bottle in the same quiet nursing place in the same position as nursing. Additionally, many older children will crave the mommy time when the feedings are being eliminated. Ensure that the child does not feel cut off by replacing the nursing time with another activity.

Personally having nursed, the most difficult feeding to eliminate was the evening/night time feedings. Deciding, for me, to continue that feeding for some time after the day feedings had been were replaced with sippy cups was important to both my children and my emotional bonding.

Another issue that faces mothers who wish to stop nursing is the production of milk. If you are replacing nursing with a bottle, the easiest solution is keep comfortable is expressing milk during the normal feeding time. If however, you are in a place where you are becoming uncomfortable and are not expressing milk to save for bottles, taking a hot shower and massaging any hard ducts will express enough of the milk out to relieve any pain during the process of stopping nursing. It is important to keep the ducts flowing freely so that none get infected.

Notice that I called it a process. By the time I had my third child; I think I finally figured out the science of slowly transferring my son to the cup. Deciding what will work for you personally and for your child should also be discussed with you pediatrician. Just as every mother is different, so is every child/infant. They will have a different reaction to stopping nursing.

The most vital key to have a positive experience for both mother and child is to reassure your child that the bond will remain steady and as close as when you were nursing. One last tip: In easing my last child off nursing, I would give him a sippy cup of juice and curl up on the couch with his back against my chest (the opposite position of nursing) and read his favorite story books during the normal nursing time. This seemed to keep the special bond between us even now (and he is 12).

Learn more about this author, Reverend Ashira Goddard.
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