If you have been considering about stopping breastfeeding or are busy weaning your baby, you should know that there are a few side effects of this. Some of the drawbacks of weaning can be psychological, whilst there are also a few physical consequences. Understanding some of the side effects of stopping breastfeeding may put you in a better position to identify the signs, or even completely side step the side effects all together.
Tender breasts are quite frequent after having stopped breastfeeding. This is due to the fact that your body will continue to produce quantities of breast milk for your child. This will often end in engorgement within the breast tissue. This will usually clear up after a couple days, but if it continues for over two weeks you should contact your midwife for advice or medication.
If you remain feeling really full, you can express to alleviate some of the pressure. You must however avoid pumping as much as possible at this stage as it will provoke your body to produce extra milk.
Another effect of stopping breastfeeding is depression. While this does not happen to all moms, it can be quite frequent. The main attributing causes to post weaning depression is the change in hormones, also the change in the relationship between little one and mother. These changes can be quite taxing on everyone in the family, and often does not display any signs.
A great way to avoid depression after weaning is to take it slow. If at all reasonable do not go cold turkey. Slowly weaning baby down to three feeds, then two and finally one feed per day, maybe in the afternoon, will lower the shock of the new routine. Your body will have time to adapt to the hormonal differences and your mind will have time to acclimatise to how the relationship between you and baby is changing.
Something that is not irregular in mums who are stopping breastfeeding is insomnia. Not being able to sleep properly could also be related to the changes in your hormones akin to how depression after weaning is caused. As with depression after you start weaning, taking the weaning process gradual will help with the hormonal changes and hopefully limit the chance of having insomnia.
If you're not forced to stop breastfeeding cold turkey due to medication or another reason, you should hold out until both yourself and baby are ready to stop breastfeeding. Moving onto bottle before baby is ready makes for one unhappy little one. Remember to talk about anything you are not sure of with your doctor or other health professional as they will be able to give you advice more suited to your current situation.
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