Question
Can I stop breastfeeding at 3 months?
2 May 2017. Related: All topics, Children.
Can I stop breastfeeding at 3 months instead of 6 cause my family doesn’t know and I have to go back to work.
Answer
Thanks for getting in touch.
How long you breastfeed for is up to you. If you want to stop at 3 months then you can. If you’d like to continue to give your baby your milk, you could express it and give it to them in a bottle. Is this something that you’ve thought about?
If you do stop giving them your milk, its better that you don’t mix feed.
Hi Linkie,
First, many congratulations on the birth of your new baby girl.
It’s great that your viral load is undetectable at 50 copies, and good too that your baby is on HIV meds. It sounds like you’re doing all you can.
But please talk to your doctor about the best way to feed your baby. You can explain why you needed to use formula for two days. And you can ask for advice about feeding her over the next few months.
Am HIV + and breastfeed,we are both on meds.she is one week old I mixfeed her with formula for two days and went back to exclusive breastfeeding am stressed can’t sleep,will she become infected?mi viral load is 50.please help.still waiting for the birth results.
Hi Pretty,
First, congratulations on the birth of your baby girl.
You can talk to the doctor or nurse about the best way to feed your baby. They can give the best advice about this. Feeding your baby can depend on which country you live in and on what they recommend. Some countries say to only breastfeed only for six months. And then wean baby onto soft food. Mixed feeding with both breastmilk and formula at the same time is not recommended.
But, as you’re a working mother you can ask your doctor about the best way to continue to feed your baby.
It’s great that her results came back negative. But I’m not sure what LVD means. You could ask the doctor about this too.
What HIV meds are you taking? And what’s your viral load result? Please let us know.
I just gave birth and my baby is 2 weeks today, because I’m a working Mom I wanted to stop breastfeeding with I only managed to do for 48 hours. She wasn’t taking the formula and was restless, the cries were unbearable so I switched back today. She drank and slept. Her results came back negative and she’s currently on Ilvitrim suspection and my viral load says LVD. Will this be an issue now that she’s back on breast milk?
Hi Sthabile,
Please discuss this with your doctor. It’s not recommended to give babies soft food at 2 months. That’s because they are not ready to cope with this food yet.
But your doctor can give the the best advice on this. Switching to formula only feeding is fine. It’s not recommended to mix both breastfeeding and formula feeding.
Hey I’m hiv+ Nd my baby is on NVP
I want to know if I can give her formula Nd porridge she eats too much
Nd I wanna stop breastfeeding her next month she will be 3 months
Can you please help me with a solution to my problem Nd at home they don’t know
Hi Unknown,
Its OK to switch to formula, this won’t be an issue.
hey I’m hiv positive I have want to stop breastfeeding my baby is 6 months and 1 day
Hi Dee,
First, congratulations on news of your new baby girl.
It sounds like you’re doing all you can. I guess that you’re taking HIV meds and that your viral load is undetectable.
You can switch to formula only feeding whenever you want to. But it’s not recommended to mix breastfeeding and formula feeding during the same time.
Here in the UK, positive mums are recommended to feed with formula only. But other countries recommend exclusive breastfeeding only for six months. And then wean baby onto soft food.
But please talk to the clinic about the best way to feed your baby. They should be able to give you all the advice you need.
Please I am positive mum breastfeeding but want to stop the breastfeeding when the baby is eleven months….please i want to know if it be problem if i give my baby formula if i stop breastfeeding at 11 months…asking because i have stopped breastfeeding her before when she was 3 months for a day and gave her formula instead but i couldn’t stand her cries so i switched back to breastfeeding the same day and want to stop for good again at her 11 months and go back to formula and i am scared her chances of being positive will be high if i do that