How to Stop Breastfeeding & Teeth Brushing

Hi J..
My name is N.. There is a tooth paste out there for children and the name of it is Orajel it's a training toothpaste for cleaner teeth and it's safe to swallow Fluoride Free. They come in many flavors like for instants my daughter who is 2 is using Berry Blast and she loves to brush her teeth.For the breastfeeding question I dont really have a answer for that. I'm sorry I wish I could help you on that one.

J.,

I pumped with my son, and found if I pumped less throughout the day, it started to dry me up, because my body told me there was less demand for it. Had very little problems by doing it that way.

Also there is a toddler toothbrush and toothpaste out there to use. It does not have floride so if they accidently swallow some, there is no worry like there is with adult or older kids toothpaste.

Hope it helped.
T.

First off the teeth-brushing thing alarmed me...so I will start with that. Toothpaste off of the shelf contains lethal amounts of flouride that can make a child under the age of 6 very very sick. Even "kid" toothpaste has this same amount of flouride, just cooler flavors for young ones. However, these are not meant for early teeth-brushers, they are meant for older kids who can brush themselves and understand to never ever swallow any of the toothpaste. A 1-year old just won't understand this. So anyway, there is toothpaste out there for beginner brushers that contains no flouride. The stuff we use is Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste. It is safe if they swallow it if they happen to. I used it on my son until he was old enough to understand that we always spit the toothpaste, never swallow. And he was about 3 1/2 when we started that. So I hope that helps. Now about drying your breast milk....when my son was 12 months he had already pretty much weaned himself down to a morning feeding and that was it. So luckily I did not have that much breast mild to dry up. So for him I didn't need to do anything. Now as for my daughter, I had to abruptly stop nursing her around 5 1/2 months because of medical problems with me, so it was cold turkey stopping there. It was terrible! I was going from nursing her ever 3-4 hours to having to stop right away. So, the biggest thing that helped me was a very very tight bra and tight undershirts, and for the first couple of days vicodin. Not many docs will prescribe you pain meds for nursing, but I was having other issues so that is why I had it. Motrin worked really well too. The worst part about it was that we were out of town for a hockey tournament so I had no comforts of home, we were living in a hotel for 4 days. Another thing that helped me a ton was cabbage. Get a head of green cabbage and stuff a large leaf in your bra over your breast. Something about it helps, I can't tell you what exactly, but it was a miracle. I would love to know if any of this was a help! Take care, and good luck. You will do great!

Toothbrushing options for babies, all flouride-free:
Spiffees wipes http://www.spiffies.com/
Weleda Children's Tooth Gel http://usa.weleda.com/details/?id=9802
Toms of Maine Natural Flouride-Free Toothpaste http://www.tomsofmaine.com/toms/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=400

And as for the breastfeeding, a HUGE congratulations for making it 11-12 months. That's such an amazing gift to your child and to yourself - the health benefits are too many to even list here, but the short list included reduction of cancer risk for both you and your baby (the longer you nurse, the more you reduce your risk!), better oral development (breastfeeding uses different muscles in the mouth/tongue/jaw than bottle feeding, which can translate into more optimal tooth alignment and earlier, clearer speech), and significantly reduced risks of obesity and diabetes for your child as he continues to grow up. Not to mention all of the great immunity he's been getting all this time (breastmilk is dynamic and adapts to the germs in you & your baby's environment to provide antibodies needed most)!

Alright, so... you're ready to wean him and want to dry up your breastmilk. I love this quote: "weaning is a process, not an event." So true! Here's one of my favorite links on weaning, from the awesome Kellymom site:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html

Getting in touch with your needs & feelings about weaning is the first step, followed by weighing that against your son's needs. How ready are you to wean him - are you feeling resentful of him nursing? or are you happy with his nursing but are getting pressure to wean him quickly? or are you sick of pumping at work (assuming that you're doing this)? Nursing is a dance - a partnership. Mom's needs are important, as are baby's needs, and there's often a creative way to honor both peoples' needs. :)

From my own experience w/ my daughter's weaning and from talking to other mom friends, weaning is pleasant when it's done gently, gradually in most situations (not all - some people need to stop immediately because of a big health problem coming up, for example). Sometimes, a few simple alterations to current nursing patterns are more satisfying than quitting breastfeeding completely - setting up nursing boundaries, like cutting out one feeding that's really annoying you, or weaning off the pump at work, or placing some limits/boundaries on length of or type of nursing. Only you can know if you need to quit quickly or if a gradual transition would feel better.

So, if you are not in a situation where you need to wean abruptly, you can start by S-L-O-W-L-Y reducing the number and length of nursings over a 2-3 month period. Don't forget that your breastmilk supply is based on demand - the less your son nurses, the less breastmilk you make (and the reverse is true - more he nurses, more milk you make). By gradually decreasing the amount of nursing over a 6 or 8 week (or longer) period, your body has a chance to adapt without suffering engorgement, plugged ducts, possibly mastitis. And your son, too, has a chance to adapt gradually, which is also important! You guys are a nursing team - no one likes to be suddenly the only player on the team. ;) Also, if you go gradually, some moms find that they are happy with a once-a-day "just getting home from work" nursing to reconnect with your son instead of no nursing at all. Plus, if you go slowly, you can always speed up the weaning if you find that the gradual pace isn't working. If you just quit cold turkey, it's harder to resume breastfeeding if you find you are missing that connection with your son or if your son is really suffering from the weaning pace.

At any rate, I'm sure you will find what works best for you in terms of weaning approach, whether it be speedy or gradual. And once again, it's so wonderful and encouraging to hear a mother breastfeeding her son for the recommended 11-12 months or more -- I wish more babies and moms had the support to do this!

---

I can't help you with the breast feeding part I'm still nursing my 13 month old. I'm kind of interested in the responces you get as far as that is concerned, neither he or I are ready to quit yet but when I am I'd like to know how!!! As far as the teeth brushing yes you need to brush the teeth and just go to the toothbrush/paste isle and you will see brushes and paste for infants and kids that don't know how to spit yet!! The one I buy comes with a brush If you don't see it their look in the baby isle!!! Good Luck!!

To stop breastfeeding I started to cut dowm my sons feedings. I just nursed before nap and bed. I also went to just one breast. Eventually He stopped nursing before nap and then bed. I had no pain. I just made sure I gave Him extra snuggles!

I don't know any advice for a less painful way to stop breastfeeding. But as far as the toothpaste, I have always wiped my kids gums off since they were born before they had teeth once they got teeth I bought the childrens paste you can find it in the baby section of the stores usually. It comes with a toothbrush and gum massager(not sure on spelling). Kids can not spit and the floride in our tooth paste is bad to swollow. So good luck.

Honestly, when I stopped breastfeeding my lil lady it didn't take that long for the milk to dry up, nor was it very painfull. I remember someone telling me to put a slice of somethin in my bra but I can't remember what it was... I know not much help. As for teeth brushing, they have 1st step toothpaste for babies so it is not harmfull if they swallow it as well as 1st step toothbrushes so they are soft and small for your lil guy. You can find this at your local Wal Mart in the toothpaste isle.

J.,

I can help you with one of your questions. My daughter is 13 months old and I just stopped nursing her. Her/my last time to nurse was on her birthday. (I had to set a date or else I would have never stopped!) Anyway, over the couse of the last 4-6 weeks leading up to stopping I gradually weened her. Until the last 2 weeks I was only nursing her at bedtime, and when I stopped I had no pain or engorgment at all. And I am a wuss. I can't take much pain at all. So I know you can do it.

As for the teeth brushing I can't help too much, my daughter has her 2 upper and 2 lower. Her ped. said to just wipe them off with a wet rag a couple times a day. Not much help there - sorry.

I just bought my son a kit made by gerber for babies with toothpaste that doesnt have flouride in it, so it's safe to swallow. It works great.

Hi J.,

I wish I had some advice through experience with the breastmilk dillema, but I had no good way to deal with that one either! Sorry about that, but as far as brushing teeth, I have a 14 month old little girl and I got her a tooth brush from RiteAid that is a regular brush but it is made for ages like 6-12 months. It said it right on the brush package. It was there with all the other toothbrushes. I couldn't find any special toothpaste so we just put the littlest squirt of our on her brush. She just loves getting her teeth brushed. She lets us do it with little to no biting of the toothbrush then when we're done I let her hold the toothbrush and she tries to do it herself. Good luck!

For the breast pain, if you have cut out breastfeeding completely you can take over the counter pain meds. I recomend an Ibuprophen it helps with swelling. Wear tight fitting bras and you can even wrap yourself with and ace bandage or something like it, with of course nursing pads underneath. If you would like immediate relief. Buy a head of cabbage and stick it in the fridge. when it is nice and cold put a leaf on each breast and lay down and relax. The cold will help with the pain and whatnot. I don.t know if it actually helps dry you up, I never noticed. Some do say that it does help to dry you up. Well good luck, these are some of the things my grandmother told me to do, and you know if these old wise tales do anything they help to comfort us.

Hello! I can't help you with the breast feeding question but as far as brushing teeth... There are special little finger brushes. Its just a piece of rubber with short bristles... and it comes with the toothpaste.. You can try that or since he is around a year you can use the fluroide toothpaste just a small amount of it (no bigger than a pea). My little girl is 21 months old and has all of her teeth and my mother inlaw thinks I am nuts for brushing her teeth. Her favorite saying is, its your body chemistry that decides if you get cavities(shes a chemist so eveything is about chemistry lol)
However, my ped. told me that as soon as the first popped through at 3 months to start brushing and keep up with it. Plus the more you do it the more they will accept it once they get older. And to be honest, I know most kids have white teeth, but compared to all the kids my daughters age, her teeth are perfectly white. ( i have this tooth thing, thats the first thing I looka t when I am talking to someone)But anyway, hope I helped! Have a great day!

J.,
Hello!! My little guy has been going to the dentist since he was about 14 months old because I was not sure when he was supposed to go for cleanings since he already had teeth. Well I have a wonderful dentist and she reccommends the Stage 1 toothpaste till they are able to spit it out of their mouths and they also have a Stage 1 toothbrush. I also found at Drug-Mart a toothbrush that will fit on your finger and you can brush them softly but get the job done, my son had a problem at first with the toothbrush because it would gag him. I found the little one really easy just be careful and make sure he does not bite you. LOL My little one liked me brushing his teeth and I would let him try and brush my teeth and then we would switch, that way I know that he got his teeth brushed well. Hope this helps you in any way. If you need anything else just get ahold of me.
Take care,
Angie

J., I can't help too much with the breastfeeding (not a mom yet), but I do know that typically as you reduce your sons intake (from you) slowly then you will slowly dry up. I think the slower you do it the better. Like I said I only have that info from schooling and from talking with other moms.
I do have some advice on the toothbrushing though! They have four types of tooth brushes... one is a gum brusher that is mostly rubber with little balls on it to massage the gums and small teeth that aren't in all the way, next is an infant/toddler toothbrush that has slightly different/softer bristles, and then there is adult toothbrushes and electric toothbrushes. I would recommend getting the 2nd one. As far as toothpaste... just use water only or get the Gerber Baby Toothpaste. Then when your son is at least one years old use either the gerber toothpaste or get kids toothpaste. Do not use adult toothpaste for infants or young children because the floride ratio is not fit for kids. Most kids enjoy brushing their teeth so be warned that your son may want to brush 3 or 4 times a day!!

There are a plethora of infant/toddler toothbrushes and toothpastes out there! I started brushing my sons teeth when he first got them (about 6 months) and I started with a gerber infant finger brush. I just recently moved him up to a regular toddler toothbrush, because his mouth is bigger and he has more teeth. I think it's an oralb. The package said 4-24 months. It has real bristles which I like because he is eating table food now. The one thing I know it to make sure the toothpaste is flouride free and says "safe to swallow" on the label! Good luck!!!

Hi J.,

I dont know about the breast milk but I do know Gerber makes an infant toothpaste and also has a "brush" that goes on your finger. It looks like a prickly thimble but its rubber and you put it on your finger and brush the babies teeth with it. But if your son is close to one you could probably use a baby toothbrush. Good Luck with the breastmilk!
K.

Hi J.,
I am only responding to your questions about toothpaste. Actually my advice is for adults as well as children and it is to avoid flouride. Here's a quote and although it's referring to using flouridated water in formula, the message is the same.
"In a little-noticed but dramatic turnaround, the nation's leading fluoride advocate, The American Dental Association (ADA), issued an alert on November 9th urging parents to avoid fluoridated water when reconstituting infant formula, warning that "Infants less than one year old may be getting more than the optimal amount of fluoride if their primary source of nutrition is powdered or liquid infant formula mixed with water containing fluoride."

The dentists are worried that fluoride exposure at this age will permanently damage teeth, not protect them. A growing body of research also links fluoride to weakened bones, reduced thyroid activity, and possibly bone cancer in boys.

The advice, however, has gone largely unheeded. Nursery Water, the nation's leading fluoridated water for babies still markets its product nationwide at Wal*Mart and other major retailers."
There are sweetners in toothpaste that can and should be avoided. You want ones like the one you can find at:
http://www.shaklee.net/changinglives/product/31779
Best of luck with all the good things you're trying to do. It will pay off in the long run.
S.

Hey J.,

In regards to the drying up of the breast milk I do not know of any painless ways. I just let it dry up and it did hurt but I did it. I wanted to let you know about the toothpaste for toodlers. They have beginner toothpaste that is safe for them to swallow and I use a childs toothbrush. You can get these products bascially at any store. Good luck!!

J.,
I wish I could help you about the toothpaste and toothbrush. I can help a little with drying up. I tried to dry up after 2 days of breastfeeding. I could not get enough milk out for some reason. Anyways, I was told to wear a very tight bra and put cabbage inside my bra. I don't know if it really helped but I know it felt good. I was also told to take ibuprofen regularly. It took me a week to dry up and unlike most of the women on here it was very painful. I hope your experience is not bad and I have heard of many people cutting out a feeding at a time and it not being painful.

Just wean him slowly, cutting out a few feedings at a time. Just curious though why you want to wean him this early. The World Health Organization recommends nursing a minimum of 2 years.

J.-
When my breastmilk dried up, I will agree with another mother who said this, it wasn't all that painful. And honestly, unless you have an overabundance of milk, I don't think it's anything some ibuprofin cannot take care of. If however, there is engorgement that you cannot remedy, Gerber's breastfeeding line offers some hot/cold breastpads. The warm compressions help with the engorgement. If you cannot afford them (they are somewhat expensive) you could always heat up a warm washcloth and it would probably help all the same.
My son is eight months old, and I have been brushing his teeth since before his teeth even appeared. Just generally cleaning his gums and what-not with a finger toothbrush and a flouride free children's paste. It is absolutely manditory though, to make sure that the paste is flouride free. So it is safe to swallow. There are a few brands on the market that I can think off of hand... Orajel, Gerber, and a few others. Just browse the store- that's always a good place to start.
Hope it helps,
K.

You can use the kids toothpaste. And as far as the toothbrushes goes, the characters usually work really well. They fit perfectly inside the childs' moouth and makes it easy to use. Just make sure to use a pea size amount of toothpaste. The flouride that the toothpaste contains kids need it at this age.

To stop breast feeding I slowed down. My mom told me to wrap myself and things like that but I just feed in the morning and maybe once during the day and the milk stopped and I had no pain. Also with the tooth thing. My son is two and is addicted to brushing his teeth. We have a dentist in the family and he told me to wipe his teeth as he was getting them just before bed and then to get his his own tooth brush and let him use ONLY water to clean them. Then around two to use a NON Floride tooth paste. My son picked his out from the grocery store and it has Little Bear on it. This way, when they swallow it, it will not hurt them. I know that they make this toothpaste is lots of flavors and colors just look for one with no floride and safe for swallowing. Then when he is big enough to uderstand the spitting factor we will look into "big Boy" toothpaste.

Hi J. my name is C.. I hve no tips on how to stop breastfeeding but i do on the teeth. Orajel has a toddler toothpaste. It is specifically called Orajel Toddler Training Toothpaste and you can get it at any grocery. It doesn't have flouride in it so that way if they swallow it they won't get sick. My daughter used to love to brush her teeth just so she could have the toothpaste. Now that she is bigger and has to use a real toothpaste I get more of a fight. They also have toothbrushes designed for their little mouths. Hope this helps:)

When I stopped breastfeeding I cut out one of the feedings per week ending with the nighttime one last. I continued the nighttime one for about 2 weeks, and just made it shorter and shorter till we just stopped. It kept my breasts from sagging and made it easier on her too. I also didn't have any engorgement either.
I use Oragel training toothpaste. It's great, and doesn't have any floride (which is toxic if injested in babies). I recomend taking turns. You brush first (so they get cleaned) then give him a turn so he can start to get the hang of it.

J.,

When you stop breastfeeding your little boy - peppermint is one of the natural things that helps dry up your milk (do an online search there are other natural foods that will help) - also talk to you OB/GYN if you want they can put you on birth control that also helps dry up your milk. You may however have to express if you get engorged a few times as the milk is drying up. Also I think it was Motherhood Maternity's website (http://www.destinationmaternity.com/Product.asp?Product_I...) where I found these warm/cold compresses that fit into your bra to help elevate the pain involved with engorgement.

I hope this helps,
Happy Holidays and God Bless
Mel