Something You May Not Know About Breastfeeding: Depression After Weaning

I experienced the same things as Susan. My daughter will be one year on sunday and I wanted to make it to a year, which I have acheived. I was even able to donate 614 oz of milk to 4 different families to help their babies stay on breastmilk longer. My daughter has done quite well with breastfeeding and weaning. I noticed the depression when i cut back from 3 times a day to two. She was having expressed BM with whole milk for the 3rd. She has done quite well and only refused to drink the entire amount of milk given to her twice in nearly a month. I was most depressed during my first period which was quite heavy and lasted 11 days. I have felt a lot better the last few days, so I think it was related to the loss of connection. I would love to have another child, but certainly am not ready for it yet. It did take us more than 4 years to conceive my daughter and then it was using fertility treatments. So there is a very sad reality for me that we may not be able to conceive another child, so I may not experience breastfeeding again. I think a lot of it has to do with the change in hormones. We are just experiencing it a lot later than mothers who never breastfeed or stop very early.

Susan, thank you for this wonderful article. I am currently in the process of weaning my first child. The emotions change from day to day and it is comforting to know all that everything that I am feeling is justified, supported and understood by other mothers. Thank you again!

Hi, I am wondering how long your depression has carried on. I never wanted to really stop BFing at 20 months.(I supplemented though after 8 months) I still have little drops of milk after 2.5 yrs (my daughter is 4 now). I realize now that I have been quite attached to the milk. Almost every week I would sqeeze to see if those few drops are still there. In the back of my mind I thought as long as its still active, then in an emergency she can go back to nursing after days of sucking. NOW crap....I am having a hard time with losing that bond. I don't know why now. Maybe because I would love another child and it's too late. Maybe because I understand more about Bf now and wished I had gone on longer. I have decided to stimulate the milk production and pump at least one glass per day for her. It's healthy, she will stay weaned and I will fell like I'm doing all I can to nuture.

Thank you for this thoughtful article as this is a subject that needs to be talked about, and more women need to know that these feelings are a normal part of the emotional roller coaster of motherhood (e.g. I cried in the parking lot on my first child's first day of pre-school). Breastfeeding is an intense and wonderful bonding experience, and it is natural that we need to adjust emotionally when it ends, just like any other transition in life.

Hi I'm wondering how long you breastfeed your children for??? I believe there is a strong bond when breastfeeding, a surrendering of yourself for the babies sack, so there is a grieving for the lose of that bond. If that is too uncomfortable I suggest stopping was too early. Was your baby happy for it to end??? Us humans are mammals after all.