What to Expect When Weaning From Breastfeeding
There are a multitude of reasons why you might want to wean your child from breastfeeding or bottle feeding from pumping and you really don’t have to justify that to anyone! Common reasons are: age, subsequent pregnancy, self-weaning, need for a medication that isn’t safe while breastfeeding/pumping, and the list goes on.
In this blog, we will cover A LOT of weaning topics like:
What to expect when you are weaning from breastfeeding
What happens after weaning breastfeeding
Can weaning from breastfeeding cause headaches (depression/anxiety/make you sick/acne)
How to start weaning from breastfeeding
How to start weaning from breastfeeding to formula
How long do breastfeeding weaning symptoms last
Weaning from breastfeeding to whole milk
Weaning from breastfeeding at night
Weaning from breastfeeding at 12 months
Weaning from breastfeeding to bottle
Weaning breastfeeding guilt
Gentle weaning from breastfeeding
What to expect when you are weaning from breastfeeding
This will obviously be different for every person and also when they are actually weaning from breastfeeding. If you’ve only breastfed for a few weeks/months, then the hormonal changes may be less significant than those who have been nursing for longer.
It may also be different if it’s a slow wean vs a more sudden wean.
The circumstances do matter to most parents when they’re weaning for what may happen during/after the weaning process, but some parents may breeze through (and others may have ALL the symptoms).
I’ve found it can vary from child to child too.
So in a nutshell…. Your favorite answer is: it depends!
What happens after weaning breastfeeding
Here are some possible things that can happen after weaning breastfeeding:
Emotional changes
Hormonal changes
Engorgement
Menstrual cycle returns if it hasn’t yet
Some babies have a more difficult time with the transition than others; be patient with your little one and yourself! Offer lots of snuggles/comfort if they’ve been used to soothing with nursing as you introduce other forms of soothing.
Can weaning from breastfeeding cause headaches (depression/anxiety/make you sick/acne)
Because of the hormonal changes that may occur when weaning breastfeeding (whether it’s suddenly or a slow wean), your body may experience headaches, weaning depression/anxiety, nausea, acne, insomnia, night sweats…. And really anything else involved with hormone changes.
If you feel like it’s excessive, it never hurts to get some blood work done, especially a thyroid panel as a check in!
How to start weaning from breastfeeding
You do want to be mindful of engorgement as the risk of mastitis from clogged ducts can go up if you drop feedings too suddenly.
Sometimes you have to stop breastfeeding suddenly because baby needs to be transitioned to formula for whatever reason– in those cases, it can be helpful to replace breastfeeding with pumping in order to slowly reduce feedings. That isn’t always an option either!
If it isn’t, hand expressing for relief can keep engorgement and mastitis/clogged ducts at bay.
A popular option for weaning from breastfeeding in a more gradual way is the “don’t offer, don’t refuse” option.
With that, you’d simply not offer breastfeeding consistently throughout the day and allow your child to cue you/ask for nursing.
If you’re not already offering meals and snacks (and they’re old enough for solids), once they’re over 12 months, you can replace nursing sessions with meals or snacks. Instead of nursing right when they get up, you can offer breakfast. And so forth.
How to start weaning from breastfeeding to formula
In some cases, you may need to supplement formula in addition to breastfeeding and/or you may need to wean completely to formula before your child is 12 months old.
It can be risky to add formula and breastmilk to the same bottle because breastmilk may be hard to come by and it would be a bummer if they refused the bottle from the mixture (and thus wasting formula AND breastmilk).
It usually works best to offer separate feedings either by breastfeeding from the source or giving a little breastmilk then a bottle. You can also slowly replace nursing with a formula bottle by alternating feedings until you’ve transitioned solely to formula bottles.
This is all about finding a system that feels sustainable and manageable to you.
How long do breastfeeding weaning symptoms last
The general consensus seems to be that weaning symptoms, if you’ll have them, lasts anywhere from a few days to a few weeks!
If it persists longer than that, it’s always good to check in with a doctor for some bloodwork.
Weaning from breastfeeding to whole milk
Whole milk isn’t a required/mandatory switch for most kids. I tried EVERY kind of milk with Noah after he turned one and there wasn’t a single kind of milk he would take more than a few sips of (if that). We wasted so.much.money. 🤪
I finally talked to my pediatrician because it was so frustrating and he was casually like, “oh, you don’t need to force regular milk on him.”
Great, cool, thanks.
As long as they’re getting the nutrition they may miss from whole milk (like calcium, vitamin D, protein, etc), then you’re good to not force it.
If your child actually likes milk (lol), then offering milk with foods in replacement of nursing sessions is a fine switch!
Generally, you’d replace one nursing session with a cup of milk. So if you’re nursing 3x a day at a year old, then you’d give milk with a meal instead of nursing.
Weaning from breastfeeding at night
While sleep training is not synonymous with night weaning, some sleep training is generally needed in order to night wean when you’re ready.
If you’re still nursing to sleep and that’s their preferred way to get back to sleep in the middle of the night, you can replace the earliest feeding with rocking back to sleep (or any other way to get them back to sleep without feeding).
You can send in a non-breastfeeding partner to do this as it can sometimes help if feeding isn’t even an option!
If you’re not feeding to sleep, and they fall asleep independently without any props, you can use a sleep training method to encourage them to go back to sleep without feeding.
Weaning from breastfeeding at 12 months
Lots of people make 12 months their goal of breastfeeding and then they are DONE. I totally get it. You certainly can continue nursing for as long as you’d like, or you can transition to whole milk/water with meals and full time solids after 12 months if that’s your desire as well.
This doesn’t have to be a quick switch- it can take as much time as you’d like to transition away from nursing.
Weaning from breastfeeding to bottle
If you’re weaning from breastfeeding before a year, where that is still their primary source of nutrition, then they’ll need to replace breastfeeding with formula before whole milk.
If you’re wanting to do that slowly, then replacing one feeding every few days with a bottle is an option.
You can also breastfeeding for shorter periods of time and add supplemental bottles after, increasing the amount as you decrease how long you’re breastfeeding for until you’re down to just a couple of minutes. When you’re there, you can just give a full bottle instead of offering to nurse.
Weaning breastfeeding guilt
It’s common to have different feelings when weaning. Because of the hormonal changes, that can affect emotions as well!
Some guilt may be felt if your journey didn’t look quite like you thought- in fact, research has found that there are negative impacts to mental health from breastfeeding when our experience doesn’t match our expectations.
Other guilt can come from not being able to soothe your child as easily if you’re used to using the breast for that. (Also why we suggest layering in a lot of other soothing options so that this feeling doesn’t creep in)!
Gentle weaning from breastfeeding
This is a process that can take YEARS to get through, if you choose to! You don't have to do anything suddenly if you don’t want to/have to. Breastfeeding through toddlerhood is common, especially in other countries.
The don’t offer, don’t refuse option would be considered gentle. Setting some boundaries around feeding/when you will feed is also gentle.
Reducing how many times you nurse throughout the night by replacing with rocking, etc is another gentle option.
Just remember than using gradual is more accurate than gentle because what is gentle for one child wouldn’t be considered gentle for another!
And if you’re struggling with weaning AND sleep, as a certified breastfeeding counselor, that’s something I help families with every day! Check out the 1:1 options for getting support.
