New mothers go into breastfeeding with the best intentions. Unfortunately, many run into issues that make breastfeeding feel difficult or even impossible. By six months, fewer than one in three babies is still exclusively breastfed. Researchers across many countries have examined why mothers supplement with formula or wean before their baby’s first birthday, and the same themes come up again and again. This episode walks through the top five reasons moms stop breastfeeding early and, more importantly, what you can do to avoid these issues so you can reach your own breastfeeding goals.

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Benefits of Breastfeeding

The evidence in support of breastfeeding is overwhelming. Your milk contains every vitamin, mineral, and nutritional element your baby needs. Infant formulas have improved over the years, but none come close to mimicking all of breastmilk’s beneficial properties. There are decades of documentation on the positive effects of breastfeeding on immunity, health, and the connection between mother and baby.

Breastmilk benefits your baby in the short and long term. Your baby is born without natural immunity, and breastmilk helps build their immune system. Breastmilk contains living cells that inhibit the growth of bacteria and viruses. In addition, it has antimicrobial proteins and peptides, along with anti-inflammatory and antioxidative factors. The microbiome in your milk even shapes your baby’s intestinal microbiome. Because of all this, breastfed babies are at a lower risk for ear infections, intestinal upsets, respiratory problems, and dental problems. There is also evidence that breastfed infants are less likely to be overweight and have a lower risk of type II diabetes. Breastfeeding is also linked to modestly higher scores on intelligence tests. A meta-analysis of 17 studies found that breastfed children scored about 3.4 IQ points higher on average, and the effect held up, though smaller, even after accounting for the mother’s own IQ.

There are benefits for you, too. For example, exclusively breastfeeding can act as a form of birth control. If you are exclusively breastfeeding, including at least once at night, you most likely will not get your period for at least six months after your baby is born. However, this is not reliable enough to depend on by itself, so please talk to your care provider about the specifics before using it to prevent pregnancy. Breastfeeding also reduces your risk of breast and ovarian cancer. In addition, breastfeeding is associated with maternal responsiveness. The hormones released during breastfeeding, prolactin and oxytocin, help foster a connection to your baby and help you recover from birth.

I support the decisions you make about feeding for you and your baby. If you want to breastfeed, you need accurate information and support to be successful, and that is exactly what this episode is here to give you. See this page for all Pregnancy Podcast breastfeeding resources, episodes, and articles.

Recommendations for Breastfeeding

Major health organizations largely agree on how long you should breastfeed. The World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and pediatric associations around the world recommend exclusively breastfeeding your baby for about the first six months. At around six months, you introduce solid foods with continued breastfeeding for up to two years and beyond.

Two years may sound like a very long time, and it is worth saying clearly that any amount of time your baby gets breast milk benefits them. If you stop breastfeeding before your baby’s first birthday, you will need to supplement with infant formula.

Rates of Breastfeeding

Despite the recommendations, data shows that most mothers do not exclusively breastfeed. In the United States, 85.7% of babies are ever breastfed. That number decreases to 62.1% at six months, and 40.8% still receive breastmilk at twelve months. However, these numbers include mothers who also supplement with formula, so the rates for exclusive breastfeeding are lower. Only 47.6% of babies are exclusively breastfed through three months of age. By six months, that drops to 27.9%. There is no data on exclusive breastfeeding beyond six months, but based on the declining trend, we can expect it to keep falling.

Why Do Mothers Stop Breastfeeding?

Given the overwhelming evidence supporting breastmilk, mothers go into breastfeeding with the best intentions. To be clear, you always have the choice to supplement or stop breastfeeding, for any reason, at any time. That said, if your goal is to breastfeed, understanding the most common reasons moms stop early is the best way to avoid them, so you can keep nursing as long as it works for you and your baby.

When you look across the research, the same five reasons come up over and over. Most mothers who do not reach their breastfeeding goals stop because they do not think they are making enough milk, they run into a problem like pain or difficulty latching, they lack support, they return to work, or they become pregnant again. Let’s walk through each one, starting with the number one reason, and cover exactly what you can do about it.

Reason 1: Not Making Enough Milk

The number one reason mothers do not meet their breastfeeding goals, or supplement with formula, is that they do not think they are making enough milk. In the scientific literature, researchers use the term perception of insufficient milk supply. If a mother believes she is not producing enough, she will supplement or switch to formula. The key word here is perception. Evidence shows that only about 5% of mothers experience actual milk insufficiency. Unfortunately, that number increases if mothers do not effectively establish breastfeeding in the first month.

A few basics protect your supply. Your body makes milk based on how much you remove, so the single most important thing you can do is feed your baby frequently, usually 8 to 12 or more times in 24 hours, especially in the first few weeks. You also cannot judge your supply by breast size, how full you feel, or the ounces you pump. Instead, the reliable signs are steady weight gain and diaper output.

Because milk supply is the single biggest reason mothers stop early, there is a whole episode devoted to it. If you are worried about your supply, want to know exactly how to gauge it, or need to increase it, listen to the episode on how to increase your milk supply and keep it up. It goes deep on establishing supply in the early weeks, telling real low supply apart from perceived low supply, and the evidence on foods, herbs, and medications.

Reason 2: Running Into Breastfeeding Problems

The second reason mothers stop early is running into a breastfeeding problem. Your newborn is hard-wired to breastfeed and is born with instincts to help them latch right after birth. Despite those instincts, breastfeeding does not always come naturally or go perfectly from the start. In reality, it can take practice and patience as you and your baby find your rhythm. Many issues can come up in the first few days and even months down the road. For example, problems can show up in your breasts, like leaking, sore nipples, pain, vasospasms, blebs, plugged ducts, mastitis, and engorgement. Others affect your baby, like jaundice, tongue-tie, yeast infection, thrush, food allergies or sensitivities, nursing strikes, and cluster feeding.

Any of these can make it hard to keep going. However, the good news is that there is a solution or remedy for nearly every problem that comes up. If there is a name for it, there is usually a way to fix it. The key is educating yourself ahead of time and having your resources lined up before you need them.

Educating Yourself

When you understand the common issues in advance, you can identify what is happening and know how to treat it instead of panicking in the moment. For instance, there is an episode of the Pregnancy Podcast dedicated to troubleshooting breastfeeding issues, which is a good starting place for common symptoms and tips to resolve them. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding is a valuable book that covers everything about breastfeeding and works well as a reference throughout your journey. In addition, the Kelly Mom blog is an excellent online resource with detailed articles on nearly every issue and question that can come up with nursing.

Professional Resources

No online resource or book is a substitute for the value you get from seeing a lactation consultant. Hiring one may sound expensive, but you can often find this help for free. For example, hospitals should have a lactation consultant on staff. You can request that they stop by to check your baby’s latch, show you alternative positions, and help you troubleshoot early signs of issues. Birth centers may have a lactation consultant or someone knowledgeable about breastfeeding, and midwives tend to be well educated and can help you establish breastfeeding after birth.

Once you are home with your baby, a breastfeeding support group can give you access to expertise and encouragement. Meeting other mothers going through the same challenges can boost your confidence and help you feel supported. La Leche League is a great starting point for finding a support group in your area. You can also check with your birth venue, doctor, or midwife for recommendations.

You can mitigate or correct nearly any issue if you want to resolve it and continue breastfeeding. The key is not trying to power through it alone. Instead, educating yourself, seeking professional advice, or attending a support group can fast-track a fix.

Reason 3: A Lack of Support

The third reason mothers stop early is a lack of support. From an evolutionary perspective, breastfeeding was critical for survival. Before infant formula existed, if a mother could not breastfeed, she needed to find another woman who could. Breastfeeding was not optional. It was the norm and a necessity.

Perhaps nothing has affected breastfeeding rates as much as a loss of support at the individual and community levels. As a result, it is far easier to maintain your breastfeeding relationship when the people around you support it.

Your partner, family, and friends are your first line of support. There are a lot of misconceptions about breastfeeding that shape people’s opinions. In my own breastfeeding journey, I heard everything from you should stop once your baby has teeth, to breastfeeding will wreck your body. Because I had educated myself, I was confident that none of this was true. That meant when someone offered poor advice, I could counter it with facts and let it go. Support from the people close to you looks like a few simple things. It is not pushing formula on you when you have not asked for it, and it is staying relaxed when you feed your baby in front of them rather than treating it as something that has to be hidden. When the people around you are comfortable with your breastfeeding, it is far easier for you to be comfortable too.

Dealing with a lack of support in your community or workplace can be harder. If you are uncomfortable breastfeeding in public, you can find a private spot or use a cover or nursing clothing to feel more discreet. With your employer, the key is hashing out the details of pumping at work ahead of time, which we will get to next. In every case, the people in your life are more likely to support you once you make it clear this is important and a priority for you. On top of that, the more confident you are about breastfeeding, the easier this becomes.

Reason 4: Returning to Work

The fourth reason many mothers stop breastfeeding or start supplementing is returning to work and struggling to keep up with their baby’s demand while pumping. If you plan to pump, it helps to understand the pumping and breastfeeding relationship. The most efficient way to remove milk is to breastfeed. An electric or hospital-grade pump will not do as thorough a job as your baby. However, a pump can still do a solid job, and it is what makes feeding possible when you are apart.

When you remove milk from your breasts, you are essentially telling your body that this is a feeding, so keep producing this much milk at this time. For example, if your baby gets a bottle of pumped milk at noon on Tuesday, you want to pump around noon on Tuesday. It does not have to be exact, but keeping it close protects your supply. A common routine for a 9-to-5 day is to breastfeed in the morning before work, pump mid-morning, at lunch, and mid-afternoon, then breastfeed again once you are reunited. On your days off, you simply breastfeed as usual.

Preparation is what makes this work. Talk to your boss or HR department before your maternity leave ends to let them know you will need to pump during the day. This conversation can feel awkward, but it does not have to be. You can keep it simple and confident, something like: I will be providing breast milk for my baby when I return, and I will need to pump a few times a day. In addition, frame it as something that is happening rather than a request, and nail down the details so you have both the time and a private place to pump. In the United States, employers are required to provide reasonable break time and a private space that is not a bathroom for pumping, though they are not required to pay you for that time.

It is also a good idea to start building a small freezer stash a few weeks before you go back, so you have a reserve while you settle into the new routine. Because skipping sessions is the fastest way to lose your supply, protect that pumping time the way you would any other commitment. If you do not work a standard desk job, this takes a little more planning. In a service, retail, healthcare, or shift setting, you may need to arrange coverage so you can step away, and scope out a private space ahead of time. Whether your goal is to pump occasionally, pump at work, or build a freezer stash, see the episode on pumping milk and building a stash for everything you need to navigate it.

Reason 5: Getting Pregnant Again

The fifth reason mothers stop is becoming pregnant again. Some moms who conceive while nursing decide to wean, and others feel they have to stop because of the new pregnancy. You always have the option to stop if you do not wish to continue. However, in most cases, you can also keep nursing through a healthy pregnancy if that is your goal.

The most common concern is that nipple stimulation releases oxytocin, which can trigger contractions. A systematic review did not find a significant difference in premature births between mothers who breastfed during pregnancy and those who did not. As a result, for most healthy pregnancies, breastfeeding is considered safe to continue.

There are a few things to expect if you nurse while pregnant. Pregnancy hormones can cause your milk supply to dip, and they can change the taste of your milk, which sometimes leads an older baby to self-wean. In addition, your nipples may feel more sensitive, and you may need extra calories and hydration to support both your nursing child and your pregnancy. If you have a history of preterm labor, are carrying multiples, or you have any complications, this is a conversation to have with your care team. It also helps to work with a doctor or midwife who supports your choice to breastfeed during pregnancy. Kelly Mom has several helpful articles on breastfeeding while pregnant, including nursing all the way through to tandem feeding two children after the new baby arrives.

Finding the Right Solution for You

You always have the choice to supplement or stop breastfeeding at any time, for any reason. Any amount of time your baby gets breastmilk benefits them, and breastmilk and formula are not mutually exclusive. You can supplement with formula and still provide the benefits of breastmilk at other feedings. The goal is to find the solution that is right for you and your baby. Whatever that looks like, I hope the information in this episode helps you along the way. If and when you are ready to stop, see next week’s episode on weaning from breastfeeding for guidance and tips. You can also see this page for all breastfeeding resources, episodes, and articles.

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