Weaning occurs whenever you offer something to your baby other than your breast at times when you would normally breastfeed. Just as breastfeeding is a natural process, so should weaning from the breast occur naturally. A natural weaning will cause the least amount of physical pain for the mom.
Weaning should always be baby-led, except in medically required weaning. No matter how weaning happens, it is better for you physically if you wean slowly. Stopping abruptly will cause your breasts to become engorged, and you may develop a breast infection.
If you must wean quickly for medical reasons, it is important to manually express milk for your comfort until you begin to produce less naturally. Going all night without nursing can leave your breast feeling really heavy and full and even produce a backache. One way to relieve your breasts in this situation is to pump before going to bed. This will help your breasts to be less full throughout the night and helpfully relieve your physical discomfort when you awake. Only pump or manually express a small amount. If you pump too much, you will only make your body think that there is an increased demand and it will produce more milk!
Some women have found it helpful when weaning to wear cold green cabbage leaves in their bra during the day to ease the physical symptoms of weaning. If you want to try this, keep the leaves in place just until they begin to wilt, and then replace them with fresh, cold ones. Warning: cabbage leaves will stop milk production, so be careful to do this in cases of engorgement during weaning only. This is not the method to use if you only want to temporarily decrease milk production. Drinking Sage tea is also recommended. Drink two to three infusions a day of 1 tablespoon/1 cup hot water and you should see some results soon. Another comfort aid is to use an anti-inflammatory medication to reduce any swelling.
The key to comfort while weaning from the breast is to do it gradually. A good rule of thumb is to go from expressing 6 times a day to 5 or 4, then to 3 or 2, and then to once every 2 or 3 days, then to once a week until your child is completely weaned.
Avoid touching or stimulating your breasts and avoid hot showers. Binding your breasts may also help. You may try wearing pre-pregnancy sports bras. Wear the bra for a few days and the discomfort should decrease.
Icing your breasts with covered cold packs is not fun, but it does relieve any swelling and pain. Just be sure to not touch cold packs to bare skin. If you and your health care professional decide for you to use BCP (birth control pills) for family planning, they work wonders on reducing your milk production, too.
You can also use cold washcloths in place of the ice packs. To relieve pain and discomfort you can also take Tylenol as directed on the label.
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