title: Minimal breastfeeding.
abstract: Current advice to breastfeeding mothers is that breasts must be emptied regularly and frequently to help maintain lactation. A method of maintaining lactation, minimal breastfeeding, in which mothers nurse once or twice a day without expressing the breast between breastfeedings was investigated. A convenience sample of 30 mothers using minimal breastfeeding was interviewed monthly until weaning. These mothers used minimal breastfeeding as a method of slow weaning, a way to combine breastfeeding and work, and a means of comfort-nursing older infants. In all cases, weaning occurred because the mother or the infant chose to wean, not because of insufficient milk. The authors conclude that for working mothers who cannot express between feeds, breastfeeding can still be maintained, and that minimal breastfeeding is an important alternative to weaning.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008722:Methods; D013997:Time Factors; D014886:Weaning