Breastfeeding- Is It Okay to Quit Before Time?

 Breastfeeding is a beautiful experience and also a long commitment for the mother. Although there’s no alternative to breastfeed, we shouldn’t judge a mother who decides not to nurse her child or quit before the recommended time. Sometimes its easy to decide whether to nurse the baby, for how long and when to quit. But sometimes or for some mothers, things aren’t that streamlined or easy to sort, a lot of factors come into play before taking this major decision.

So, if you are a new mom or you know anyone who is struggling to make the right decision, don’t beat yourself down or judge her for deciding something that makes her happy or keeps her sane. Breastfeeding is a full-time job which requires taking lactation supplements, pumping, cancelling social commitments and doing various other things, so be kind to yourself and to the fellow mothers out there. But mostly people are insensitive, quick to pass judgements and construct opinions about mothers who decide to wean off the baby before time.

As a result, many mothers beat themselves down for thinking to quit before time and try hard to continue nursing. But I think this decision is very personal and shouldn’t be taken under the influence of others. The decision should be solely of the mother, as it's her body and her child. In this article, we will go through various stages of breastfeeding in detail and see if it's okay to quit at that particular stage.

What is the Recommended Time Frame for Breastfeeding?  

According to major health organizations like World Health Organization (WHO), Academy of American Paediatrics (APA), American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), breasting feeding exclusively for the first 6 months, then adding solid foods to the diet till 1-2 years is the ideal breastfeeding time frame. After that it depends on the mother-child bond whether they want to continue or not. We have to keep in mind in order to better understand these recommended times that breastfeeding holds so much value during these various time frames in a child's life, like the first 6-month, 12 month and 24 months.

Breastfeeding is alive and ever-changing with the needs of the baby- till the 6-month mark when the child is exclusively breastfeeding the breast milk provides 100% of the calories along with so many other things like immunity boosters. On the one-year mark, when the child is also taking solids along with the breastmilk, the mother’s milk still accounts for more than 70% of the calories and till the 2-year mark 50% of the nutrients are still coming from the breast milk. Mothers sometimes think that starting solid foods means that now the child is able to get vital nutrients from the food and doesn’t need her milk any more, which isn’t true. Nothing can substitute the goodness of mother’s milk but don’t feel pressurized or obliged to do so. If you feel right, comfortable and mentally stable while breastfeeding continues for as long as you want but if you don’t feel good start weaning off the baby, its okay!

Different Stages of Weaning Off

Before the 6-month Mark- if the mother decides to wean off the baby before the six months mark it would mean substituting breast milk with formula milk as no solid foods are introduced yet. If the mother has been exclusively nursing the child up until then, the chances are that the child has no idea about the bottle. The best way to wean off the baby would be substituting the afternoon feed with formula feed. Afternoon time is the time when the baby is most active and well aware of his/her surroundings.

The baby can get a better sense of their mother’s milk around so ask your partner, an older child or any other relative to help you with that feed. Gradually, increase the bottles and decrease the breastfeeds. This is a very important step, don’t step up the number of bottles in a couple of days, let the baby adjust to the new formula and then increase slowly. If the mother has been taking any lactation supplements to milk supply booster, she will also have to discontinue them for easy weaning off.

After the 6-month Mark- even after the 6-month mark, when the mother has introduced some solid diet to the child, she would still need to substitute breastfeed with formula milk. The child doesn’t eat a variety of foods from every food group, this means he/she won’t be getting all the vital nutrients so formula milk is still important and valuable for a healthy optimal growth.

After the One-year Mark- by this time, solid foods are a big chunk of the child’s diet and the time at breasts is decreasing automatically. If the mother decides to quit at this stage, she must make sure that the baby’s diet includes various food groups, has water and natural milk included in the diet so that she doesn’t have to make the effort of introducing formula milk. But after one year of breastfeeding, the child will be very much attached to your smell and that comfort which comes with nursing. The emotional attachment with the mother can make things a bit hard for the child but those can be compensated with other comforts and distractions.

Needing to Wean off Abruptly

All the above-mentioned ways are well planned and designed with a special time frame, but sometimes the mother needs to wean off the baby abruptly. This can be due to an unexpected pregnancy, going back to the job, an illness or something else. Although it’s not recommended to do that, sometimes there’s no other option. This can be more difficult for the mother as she would have to struggle with her baby as well as her body.

Takeaway Points

Whenever you as a mother decide it's time to quit nursing the child, be kind and gentle to yourself. It’s a big emotional, physical and hormonal transformation which needs understanding and support so trust your instincts as you know what’s best for your child.