There comes a point in every breastfeeding woman's life when, for whatever reason, she wants to stop breastfeeding. The question of how to properly stop lactation becomes relevant and very exciting for any mom. This is a very difficult psychological moment for both a woman and a child, so it deserves due attention. How to stop lactation naturally will be written in this article.
Timing for the end of breastfeeding
The duration of breastfeeding is not an arbitrary decision of the mother, but certain physiological criteria that follow each other and are intertwined. In other words, the duration of breastfeeding should be determined by the natural needs of the baby, which fade over time, giving way to new ones.
It is generally accepted that breastfeeding should last at least six months, and then it is allowed to replace it with formula and the introduction of new products. Six months is too short a timecessation of lactation, since the sucking reflex in a child fades only by two years, and in some children by three. All this suggests that breastfeeding should continue for at least two years.
Reasons for stopping breastfeeding
There are many reasons why a breastfeeding woman wants to stop breastfeeding, for example:
- Child over two years old.
- Need to go to work.
- New pregnancy.
- Breastfeeding fatigue.
- Mother's illness requiring medical treatment incompatible with lactation.
There may be thousands more reasons pushing a woman to take this important step, but she must be aware that stopping lactation means depriving a child of breast milk forever. Therefore, if mommy feels doubts and insecurities, then it is better to postpone this moment for a later date.
Basic rules
In order not to harm either yourself or your baby, you need to know how to stop lactation in a natural way correctly. There are several basic rules for stopping breastfeeding. Observing them, a woman painlessly moves on to a new stage of feeding a child.
If your baby is older than one year old and is already eating adult foods, the best option is to gradually replace breastfeeding with other fluids. You can offer your baby children's juices, compotes, children's teas or plain water. In that situationwhen a baby refuses to take anything other than mother's breast, give him a bottle of formula.
After replacing all daytime feeds with another liquid intake, the nighttime feeds remain. In a few weeks, you can wean the child from nightly attachments, replacing the breast with a nipple or a bottle.
Such a gradual decrease in lactation will save the child from psychological trauma, and the mother from mastitis and other problems with the mammary glands.
Products that reduce lactation
Another way to answer the question of how to stop lactating naturally is to eat foods that help reduce the production of women's milk. The most popular are sage, mint tea, lingonberry and parsley infusions. Some advise to eat more smoked and canned foods, but they will be harmful to the baby who receives them with breast milk. They may be able to reduce lactation, but they should not be consumed even by a non-nursing woman.
When deciding to take various herbal infusions, follow some rules. For example, when wondering how to stop lactation with sage, you should take the prepared decoction little by little. This is done in order not to harm the child. After drinking a few sips of sage infusion in the morning, mom should carefully monitor the reaction of the baby: if he has an allergy, if his state of he alth has changed, or if other unusual symptoms have arisen.
Folk methods for stopping lactation
Before, women stopped breastfeeding following the advice of their mothers and grandmothers, as medicine did not pay much attention to breastfeeding. Therefore, nursing mothers, in order to reduce the amount of milk, drank less liquid or, instead of drinking normally, drank infusions of herbs that reduce lactation.
The most common method that has come down to our time is the tug of the chest. It is believed that milk does not enter the transferred breast, and thus lactation stops. However, lactation consultants do not advise using this option due to the occurrence of frequent mastitis and inflammation of the mammary glands.
Some moms just give their baby to grandma for a week and don't show up to him all the time. This method is not correct and does not answer the question of how to stop lactation naturally, as it has a very negative effect on the child's psyche.
Medicated methods
If it is urgent to stop breastfeeding (for example, for he alth reasons of the mother), and there is no time for gradual weaning, then drugs can be resorted to. Today, pharmacy chains offer many drugs to stop milk production. However, only a doctor should prescribe pills to stop lactation. The price for them may be high, but it is better to buy a higher quality drug. It is important to remember that medical cessation of lactation has contraindications andside effects.
Consequences of stopping lactation
If a breastfeeding woman decides to stop breastfeeding ahead of time, then she should know the consequences of her decision.
For women, abrupt cessation of breastfeeding can result in mastitis. Sometimes, in advanced cases, doctors resort to surgery.
Another unpleasant consequence may be depression in the mother. It occurs due to a sharp change in hormonal levels. Women often report that after weaning, it seemed to them that the child was taken away. This is due to the fact that the body reacts to the cessation of milk production and the attachment of the child as to its loss. In this regard, there is a massive release of the stress hormone, and the woman falls into a deep depression. For two or three months, she may be accompanied by tearfulness and longing.
For a child, untimely weaning also carries a number of negative consequences. It can be both psychological trauma and inadequate development of the immune and digestive systems.
Helpful tips
Which option is better to choose and how to stop milk lactation with the least consequences for mom and baby? First of all, you need to approach this process with confidence and inner peace. When a mother is calm and consistent in her actions, the child feels it. Conversely, the baby will always feel mom's concern and respond in kind.
A woman should dress intight-fitting clothes without deep cuts in the chest area, so that it is difficult for the child to reach them.
Of course, younger babies are much easier to wean by replacing it with a bottle. Even if at first the child refuses it, then when he is hungry, he will eat the mixture. Children older than a year can already explain what they want, and will seek their mother's breasts in all possible ways. Therefore, every time a child tries to get to the desired mother, she must explain to him that the milk is over and offer a bottle.
Weaning is advised during involution. It comes when the baby is one and a half to two years old. Involution can be recognized by such signs as a woman's irritability when feeding, sudden fatigue if a woman has not fed for a long time, and a small amount of milk.
If you wean a child for two to three months, then the milk will decrease little by little, there will be no compaction of the mammary glands, the hormonal background will gradually change, and the mother and baby will easily endure this important period in the lives of both.
