How to stop breastfeeding

[shuggie]

My baby J will be 6 months on the 24th, I am looking to go back to work very soon...and would like some advice on how to stop breastfeeding?

Do you want to ? I went back to work about a month ago with the intention of carrying on morning and night feed for a while but as DS wouldn't take much formula from a bottle on nursey days, I've ended up feeding whenever he wants on days off. It's unbelievable that your body does it but it does ( Massive thank you to TikTok if you're out there ! ) That said if you want to stop fully I think it depends how quick your supply reduces. I dropped a feed every couple of days with dd but I know some people have to do it much more slowly. I think the trick is to not express, take pain killers and wear a tightish well fitting bra. Think this is right but I'm sure the experts will be along soon

I worked full time and fed mornings and night times, going back to work is a very stressful time for mother and baby and it would be wonderful if you could keep feeding him/her to reassure him/her not everything has changed in their little world.

like others have said, i also carried on bfing when i went back to work when ds was 7 months. we both really enjoyed the fact that this one aspect hadn't changed. When i did stop, i just gradually knocked off a feed about one each fortnight. we kept the nighttime going until 13months. I think this like everything else with bf is a case of finding what works for you and baby.

This may not suit your situation, but my daughter went away for a couple of days unexpectedly and so I had to get my granddaughter on formula sharpish. She was hungry so she took it. At first she was taking small frequent feeds, we are now a week on and every day she is taking a little more and lasting longer. It may have helped that I dont smell of breastmilk so she wasnt looking for that with me. She has stopped turning her head towards the breast now and rooting. When her mum came back, she still had milk and was doing the night feeds for a few days, but decided to get her on the bottle completely, in case she had to leave her again. BTW our granddaughter is 19/20 weeks.

When I was breastfeeding my son (20+) years ago I was told to leave out one feed a day and replace it with the bottle, then two, then three etc... That worked too. Good luck with the return to work ... its a while since, but I went back after both of mine. It was the hardest thing I ever did and looking back I dont know how I did it ... getting up at 6 to childminder at 7.30 and then on the bus ... not home til 6 (yawn)!