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Home > Breastfeeding > Weaning

Comfort measures for mom during weaning

By Kelly Bonyata, IBCLC, Becky Flora, IBCLC and Paula Yount

Physical comfort|Sadness/depression|Additional information

Physical comfort during weaning

Do not bind your breasts to help your milk "dry up." This is an outdated practice that

can cause plugged ducts, breast infection, or breast abscess.

If your breasts feel full and uncomfortable when you don't nurse at a specific time,

then express just enough milk to relieve the fullness. You can do this by pumping for

a couple of minutes or hand expressing. The less milk you remove, the quicker your

body will realize it doesn't need to produce. Sometimes just taking a hot shower will

do the job - anything that relieves the fullness is fine. If you are comfortable without

expressing at all, that's okay too.

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Do express or pump if you get uncomfortably full. It's not good for your body to not

have any way of relieving the fullness. Pumping or hand expressing justenough

milk to relieve discomfort will not prevent your milk supply from decreasing.

What causesmilk productionto stay the same or increase is adequate milk removal.

If only a small amount of milk is removed from the breast, then milk production will

decrease. In addition, expressing a little milk will relieve your discomfort and make it

less likelythat you'll developplugged ducts, a breast infection, or an abcess.

These things are commonly used to increase mom's comfort during the weaning

process:

Ibuprofen or other pain relievers

Cabbage leaf compresses

These things are occasionally used to reduce milk supply during the weaning

process:

Herbs and other natural treatments for reducing milk supply

Birth control pills, especially those containing estrogen

Sudafed(pseudoephedrine), a decongestant

Sadness/depression when weaning

It's not unusual to feel tearful, sad or mildly depressed after weaning; some moms

also experience mood swings. These feelings are usually short-term and should goaway in a few weeks. This is caused, in part, by hormonal changes. One of the

changes that occurs with weaning is a drop in prolactin levels. Prolactin, the

hormone that stimulates milk production, also brings with it a feeling of well-being,

calmness and relaxation. The faster the weaning process the more abrupt the shift in

hormone levels, and the more likely that you will experience adverse effects. Moms

who are forced to wean before they are ready (or for reasons beyond their control)

and moms with a history of depression are also more likely to experience depression

after weaning. Thesetips for mild postpartum depressioncan also be helpful after

weaning.

Even for mothers who feel ready for weaning and wean gradually, there may still be

some sense of loss and sadness. Weaning marks the end of a physical oneness with

your child, the close of a very special period in your lives. Remember that your

child's strong need for your presence continues, even if it is now expressed in other

ways.

Page last modified: 10/18/2005

Written: 05/02/2001

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Additional information

Cabbage for relieving engorgement@

Too much milk: Sage and other herbs for decreasing milk supply@

Weaning: The Physical Part for Momby Becky Flora, IBCLC

Weaning as a Natural Processby Brylin Highton, from Leaven, Vol. 36 No. 6,

December 2000-January 2001, p. 112-114.

Depression and Weaningfrom the Berkeley Parents Network

Trad PV.The emergence of psychopathology in a previously adaptive mother-infant

dyad. Am J Psychother. 1990 Jan;44(1):95-106.

Susman VL, Katz JL.Weaning and depression: another postpartum complication.

Am J Psychiatry. 1988 Apr;145(4):498-501.

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