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Just wondering if those of you who've breastfed ever went through a 'weird' stage after weaning?

My son finally weaned in February at 16 months - we were both very ready for this - but from that point I found myself getting more and more down.

I had self esteem issues, terrible skin breakouts (for the first time in my life) and a lot of crying, and generally just 'going through the motions' each day with little motivation for much at all really.

This was very out of character for me and I did wonder 'is this the start of depression'.

I contacted La Leche League here in Lakeland, who were (once again) so helpful and I have now come to understand that this can be a very common occurance after weaning.

I was pregnant and or nursing constantly for a period of four years, and then my son weaned. My body I guess had got used to all that baby fueled goodness and was having a hard time adjusting to no more lactating hormones (or certainly much lower levels).

I have been doing a lot more exercise (30 mins most days on the treadmill) and making a conscious effort to try and 'shake' the blues. It's kind of rough some days though.

I just wondered if anyone here had gone through this and if so, what did you find helped you get back to yourself?

Albee, I am afraid I can not give you the, “I have been there spill”. I wish I could have breastfed my children.

I do want to commend you in your recognition of your possible blues. It has been proven over and over that hormones can control our emotions. Hormones will adjust when your body is experiencing something new. Even when we mentally know that we are done having babies, (you may or may not be) our bodies physically can try to prepare for a new pregnancy. When you wean, your body can go into, “Next” mode.

It sounds like you are doing the right things, understanding the difference taking place in your body and taking care of yourself with exercise is so important, and reaching out looking to others for support / advice.

Give yourself pep talks. Tell yourself what a great job you are doing here on PolkMoms. You have given great information on here!

I hope another mom can give you advice on a leveling out time frame.

Good luck, I will be thinking of you.

I breastfed both of my boys and both times I could not produce enough and they would ween about 5 to 6 months old. I had terrible withdrawls. I cried all the time when I would have to give them their bottles and missed greatly just holding them against me as that is so different then holding them while you give them a bottle. The only bright side for me and I think this is what helped me was that after they weened my husband got to feed them for the first time as I did not pump. And, just seeing his face and knowing that now they were getting a special bond with him made it much better to handle. They are 4 and almost 3 now but I will never forget that and am just thankful that I was able to nurse them as long as I was. If you do notice a very consistence down try to find a bright side of your child no longer nursing but if this does not work just make sure you discuss options with your doctor. It took about 1 month for me to feel better about no longer nursing. Good luck and I Wish you the best with this as I know it is hard.

Albee, I hope you are doing better. I know it has been three months since your post. I am going through the same thing. My skin has little bumps all over and my chest and back are itchy. I am generally depressed and lack motivation. I have a very short fuse with everyone and I feel really down. I am still in the weaning stage. I have been breastfeeding for 13 months. I am now down to pumping only twice a day and nursing for a few minutes before putting my son to bed. I plan to phase out completely over the next two weeks. The symptoms set in almost immediately following my last period which while nursing I only got every 6 weeks a opposed to my regular 4 week cycle. I expect that with the lower production of milk my more frequent periods will return. I have actually had some cramping too...I wonder if that is part of it.

Let me know if you found any answers. I hope all is well.