How I Weaned My Baby and Stopped Breastfeeding

This might seem bizarre but hear me out. I used 2 things – red lipstick and a charcoal mask. After exclusively breastfeeding for 2 years and 3 months, I knew my nursing days were over and it was time for me to wean my baby. It was definitely an emotional phase for both baby and me. After a rocky start, we had, the struggles of getting my child to latch directly to reaching this stage of weaning him off completely.

Read more about - My Breastfeeding Struggles and How I Solved Them

My Breastfeeding Days Are Over

I knew it wasn’t going to be easy and my baby did put up a fight but eventually, mommy won. There were days when I did give up but then I noticed a shift in my giving. I started to resent the whole process. As my child was taking solid foods 4-5 times a day but was still depending on breastfeeding as we depend on drinking water. After consulting, our pediatrician, gynecologist, and another pediatrician, I was told to be strong and slowly but gradually to wean.

No proper steps just advice being slow but gradual when weaning your baby. I needed more directions like where do I start, what method do I use and when. I researched the internet and sure there was a lot of material out there.

Some very direct and plain harsh like leaving your child with grandparents to end the breastfeeding journey abruptly. Somehow, I couldn’t come to terms with this idea. I felt it would leave the child feeling emotionally deprived of his mother’s love and comfort. Also, I didn’t want to end up with a high fever and painful engorgement. I definitely didn’t want to choose this method, I wanted it to be a clean, mutually agreement.

Baby-led Weaning or Mom-led Weaning

I quickly understood that my child was not going to come to an agreeable term anytime soon. For he loved to breastfeed, which I am grateful to God for but I was losing sight as to how it is benefiting him now that he is 2 years old and eating well.

Even family members pitched in to help me wean the baby. We tried distracting him, talking to him, playing with him, going for walks, which seemed to work for a couple of hours but as soon as he spotted me, he would cry and demand to be picked up and fed.

Soon he started acting up and throwing solid food on the ground and not eating properly. So, I went backward and continued to exclusively breastfeed 24/7 because of the fear of my baby getting ill or losing or NOT gaining any weight.

I enjoyed breastfeeding my baby, no doubt about that, it felt good and we both loved the closeness. Watching him grow into this cute, plump, chubby baby that everyone around wanted to hold and carry was like a cherry on top of the cake. But it was getting uncomfortable and child-led weaning was seeming far-fetched. So, I had to resort to a ‘planned or mother-led’ weaning process.

According to me a child who has been eating solid foods 4-6 times a day, drinking lots of liquids and water, is normally active and physically-fit should be considered as clues as to when to start the weaning process. I feel the reason my child was hanging on was more on an emotional (satisfaction) level than for nourishment purposes. So, I had to assure him with loads of hugs, kisses, and playtime (that we called mamma-baby bonding time) to make him realize that my affections would not change even if our breastfeeding journey ended.

What Actually Worked?

This might seem bizarre but hear me out. I used 2 things – red lipstick and charcoal mask on the breasts. What? Really! Why? Because unless I did it he was not going to budge on stopping the breastfeeding journey.

I started by eliminating day-time feeds. I would feed him first thing in the morning, but after that, I would try to distract him. But if he pulled my t-shirt to feed, I would show him how I’d gotten hurt, make painful noises, and convinced him that I couldn’t feed him. Oh! He was definitely startled by the red lipstick circle marks around the breasts. He was so concerned that he ran to get his father to confirm if mamma was really hurt. Once dad confirmed that yes she is hurt and can’t feed, is when he dropped the daytime feeds. He tried again after 3 hours, we continued the whole routine again and again. The plan worked, I was able to cut morning and afternoon feeds completely. Hallelujah!

I was of the impression that this day would never come. Finally, what a relief! My body also started producing less milk. I breastfeed him now only at night to put him to sleep. After 2 months of eliminating the morning feeds completely from my child’s routine. It was time for me to eliminate the night-time feeds.

That’s where the charcoal face mask comes in picture. I applied the black mask on my breasts just before bedtime and showed it to him. His eyes popped. He looked so concerned, he started crying. Seeing him cry, made my heart melt. But I regained my composure and convinced him I’ll be okay once he stops night-time feeding.

He woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night. I picked him up, gave him water to drink. He kept tugging my t-shirt to feed. But I kept convincing him 'Mamma is hurt, see.' By now the mask started peeling off which I thought would ruin my plan but instead it convinced him that mamma is seriously hurt and he went back to sleep. I rocked him to sleep and repeated this routine for one whole month. Now my body has completely stopped producing milk, I had no engorgement issues, or high fever. Slowly and gradually I weaned my baby and the whole process took us around 3 months.

I summarize this post with some basic yet very important things to consider:

I would suggest the young mothers to exclusively breastfeed for the first whole year. Do it 24/7 for it is the best thing for your child both nourishment and comfort-wise. The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous and WHO – World Health Organization strongly recommends breastfeeding your child until the age of 2.

You can start the weaning process when your baby reaches 22 months of age .i.e. 1 year and 10 months old. Start by eliminating the day-time feeds but continue night-time feeds. Then the next month continue the same routine. The second birthday month or the month after that (you decide which) could be the time when you eliminate the night–time feeds completely. Try the process I suggested and let me know in the comments section below if the method worked for you.

The whole weaning process doesn’t need to be hard. Try to reason with your toddler if not give my method a try. You can also try putting a Band-Aid and use your red lipstick for special effects. Go creative, mommies. LOL! I didn’t try the Band-Aid trick because I knew my toddler would have easily flicked it, and gone back to feeding.

The time that you spent these past 1 or 2 years breastfeeding should now be replaced with something that feels emotionally equivalent like reading a book – make your child sit comfortably on your lap and then read, give lots of extra attention, snuggle, and play the peek-a-boo game or watch his favorite cartoon show together.

Sending positive vibes to all new mothers out there. Hope this post helps you figure out the importance of breastfeeding until 2 years of age and fun ways to wean your baby. Thank you for your time and wish you the best.

Do let me know in the comments section below, if you have any questions. Also don't forget to like and share it with your friends and family.

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