What's the best way to wean a baby off the breast? Someone I know said going cold turkey works best. Is this true?

For me, I will try not to use cold turkey as I find it too harsh on the baby as baby is very attached to my breasts. Imagine someone suddenly remove something that you like and you will be very upset too. However, it also depends on your baby's temperant, where some babies are quite easy-going and cold turkey is workable. I just weaned my 2 years old boy from direct latching. He still suckle my breasts although there is no milk and I feel that it is time for him to wean off. What I did is, I told him mummy has no more milk for him as the milk dried up. You can have 10 suckles each time for today and I gradually reduce the number of suckles that he can have. The difficult part is the night weaning where he will cry inconsolably. I took 2 weeks to wean him off my breasts totally. You need to be persistent and do not give in at all when your baby cries, just to reassure him/her it is okay and give him the substitute of your breasts e.g. milk bottle. It takes a lot of patience to deal with changing behaviour (due to upset) during the weaning too.

Cold turkey may be too abrupt a change for both you and your baby. You body needs to adjust and your baby needs time to adapt. The best way would probably be to gradually reduce the length and frequency of the breastfeeding sessions (starting with removing the mid-day feed and leaving the first and last feedings to the last two to eliminate). This will allow your milk supply to decrease gradually and minimize engorgement. Here is an article highlight the different types of weaning (Child-led weaning, Mother-led weaning, Sudden weaning or cold turkey, Gradual weaning, Partial weaning) that you can consider: http://kellymom.com/ages/weaning/considering-weaning/how_weaning_happens/

thanks