Time to Stop Breastfeeding with Little to NO Fuss

  Ok, so I breastfed my daughter, who is child number 3, from the time she was born until she was 13 months. I wanted to stop a little sooner, but the bond that grew between us was so strong and I was scared to lose it. At 13 months, I felt like I was ready to stop and she seemed a little more ready because she wasn't eating as much. The morning I stopped, I fed her and then we went to the doctor where she got a set of shots she had due. I didn't feed her anymore since that day and after 4 days, we are done completely. I was so scared to do this because the articles online about this are horrible. I am here to assure any mother who is ready to stop breastfeeding that it CAN be done cold turkey and it does NOT have to be this long horrible drawn out process. Here are a few tips for success and things that worked for me personally:

1) I found that spending even more time with my daughter helped to keep her mind off of wanting to feed. We would play with her blocks more or her dolls. I tried to steer clear of things where she was close to me like reading for a few days. 

2) I kept a sippy cup filled with water and every time Gracie would make her usual feeding noises, I would hand her the sippy or make reference to it constantly.

3) Cabbage leaves will save your life! They are a natural anti-inflammatory and when kept in the fridge, they really help through the engorging and pain. I placed one big cold leaf over each breast until the leaf got warm and then I tossed it. NOTE* The smell from these are horrible so be sure to wear a sports bra to keep some of it in.

4) Gracie is used to bathing with me so for the first 3-4 days, I let her bathe alone so she wouldn't see my chest and be reminded that she wanted to feed. I also did not undress in front of her. Anything I could do to keep her mind away from the boobie.

5) Since Gracie is no longer going to bed with a boobie and milk, I found something else easy to put her to bed. She has a nightly routine of dinner, play, milk, brush teeth, and then get into bed where I gently rock her and sing to her and DONE!

These are tips that I followed that worked for ME, I don't know if they will work for anyone else, but hopefully this article will find a desperate mommy ready to ween her baby. I went through such a hard time just making the decision, but it's really not too bad. Hard work, consistency, and love helped my 13 month old to ween in 4 days and she's just as happy as she's ever been!