Only you and your baby know when it’s time to stop breast feeding. Once you get over the guilt of stopping breastfeeding before someone else thinks you should, it’s time to get to the business of stopping the actual feedings. There are several ways to accomplish this, some better than others. Depending on your personal circumstances, choose what works for you.

Only you and your baby know when it’s time to stop breast feeding. Once you get over the guilt of stopping breastfeeding before someone else thinks you should, it’s time to get to the business of stopping the actual feedings. There are several ways to accomplish this, some better than others. Depending on your personal circumstances, choose what works for you.

Absence Makes the Breast Grow Drier

Especially if you are a working mother with a busy travel schedule, being away from your baby may be the right option to stop breastfeeding. If you are away from your baby you can’t hear him or her cry and that decreases milk supply. Meanwhile your baby is at home happily sucking on a bottle. Oh sure, it’ll be hard at first, but when the child gets hungry, she will eat.

The big problem with this method is that, depending on the age of the baby, she can suffer from separation anxiety being away from the mother. Critics of this strategy warn that emotional harm done when a mother and child are separated can be life long. Not to mention the mother risks becoming engorged if milk isn’t emptied from the breasts routinely.

Yuck, That Boob Tastes Nasty!

Some mothers hope to turn their baby off the breast by putting a bad tasting liquid on the nipple. This one seems to me a bit tricky on the mother’s part and potentially could cause more headaches than it’s worth, but to each her own. Just remember that you risk making your baby really mad by offering a yucky tasting booby instead of the good stuff.

Gradual Wean

Some women try and just stop breastfeeding all at once. This is a bad idea. You and your baby are both going to be extremely uncomfortable if you try this. The better method is to gradually cut down on breast feedings. Starting with one or two feedings a week, cut out feedings gradually over time. This gives both mother and baby a chance to get used to things slowly, with as little disruption to the usual routine as possible. Plus, it’s a great excuse to get out of the house and let someone else feed the baby!

The benefit of gradual cessation of breast feeding is that your milk production decreases slowly so that you don't become engorged and the baby had time to adjust to the flavor and experience of bottle feeding. You may want to consider building up a stock of breast milk to mix with formula if your baby seems averse to the flavor of formula.

Image Credit: Joe Shlabotnik, Flickr