Home Remedies for Weaning Your Baby

Once you get through the initial discomfort of breast-feeding, nursing generally becomes easy and relatively painless, until, of course, that fateful day when you decide it is time to wean your baby off the breast. Weaning can be more than emotionally uncomfortable for you, it can also cause physical pain. That's because as you decrease feedings, it takes a little time for the body to catch on and produce less milk in response, so the engorgement of those early days often returns.

There is no consensus among doctors on the best way to wean a baby. Some recommend stopping all at once, while others advise mothers to adopt the more gradual approach. For Mom, it is a little more comfortable to do it slowly, but some babies decide to wean themselves and one day simply reject the breast for good.

If you choose to wean the baby gradually, start by eliminating one feeding every two days or so. Make the morning and evening feedings the last ones you drop, since most babies have an intense desire to nurse at these times. It is also important to never drop two feedings in a row. In other words, if you typically breast-feed your baby twice in the morning, twice in the afternoon, and twice in the evening, avoid dropping one morning feeding one day and another morning feeding two days later. Instead, try dropping one morning feeding, then an afternoon feeding, then an evening feeding.

As far as the pain of engorgement that can result, there are a few things you can do. Applying gentle pressure to the glands can limit the amount of milk they hold, so try wrapping an elastic bandage or towel around your chest. You can also reduce engorgement and swelling with ice packs, which will decrease circulation in the breasts. And with your doctor's approval, you can take an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication, such as aspirin or ibuprofen, to ease the pain of engorgement. For a list of precautions to take when trying an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory, click here.

Finally, try to avoid any extra stimulation to your breasts, which will cause them to produce more milk, which is the last thing you want during weaning.

Breast-feeding can be one of the strongest emotional bonds between a mother and a child. With some planning and the home remedies in this article, that experience can be relatively free of pain and stress.