diff --git a/src/consumer.ts b/src/consumer.ts
index dc2df77..11e081c 100644
--- a/src/consumer.ts
+++ b/src/consumer.ts
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
   private authenticationErrorTimeout: number;
   private pollingWaitTimeMs: number;
   private heartbeatInterval: number;
+  private areMessagesInFlight: boolean;
   public abortController: AbortController;
 
   constructor(options: ConsumerOptions) {
@@ -142,7 +143,36 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
       this.emit('aborted');
     }
 
-    this.emit('stopped');
+    if (options?.waitForInFlightMessages) {
+      this.waitForInFlightMessagesToComplete(options?.waitTimeoutMs || 0).then(
+        () => {
+          this.emit('stopped');
+        }
+      );
+    } else {
+      this.emit('stopped');
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Wait for in flight messages to complete.
+   * @param {number} waitTimeoutMs
+   * @private
+   */
+  private async waitForInFlightMessagesToComplete(
+    waitTimeoutMs: number
+  ): Promise<void> {
+    const startedAt = Date.now();
+    while (this.areMessagesInFlight) {
+      if (waitTimeoutMs && Date.now() - startedAt > waitTimeoutMs) {
+        logger.debug(
+          'waiting_for_in_flight_messages_to_complete_wait_timeout_exceeded'
+        );
+        return;
+      }
+      logger.debug('waiting_for_in_flight_messages_to_complete');
+      await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
+    }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -270,6 +300,8 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
         });
       }, 1000);
 
+      this.areMessagesInFlight = true;
+
       if (this.handleMessageBatch) {
         await this.processMessageBatch(response.Messages);
       } else {
@@ -279,6 +311,7 @@ export class Consumer extends TypedEventEmitter {
       clearInterval(handlerProcessingDebugger);
 
       this.emit('response_processed');
+      this.areMessagesInFlight = false;
     } else if (response) {
       this.emit('empty');
     }
diff --git a/src/types.ts b/src/types.ts
index fd93c88..a73df34 100644
--- a/src/types.ts
+++ b/src/types.ts
@@ -141,6 +141,20 @@ export interface StopOptions {
    * @defaultvalue `false`
    */
   abort?: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Default to `false`, if you want the stop action to wait for in-flight messages
+   * to be processed before emitting 'stopped' set this to `true`.
+   * @defaultvalue `false`
+   */
+  waitForInFlightMessages?: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * if `waitForInFlightMessages` is set to `true`, this option will be used to
+   * determine how long to wait for in-flight messages to be processed before
+   * emitting 'stopped'.
+   */
+  waitTimeoutMs?: number;
 }
 
 export interface Events {
diff --git a/test/tests/consumer.test.ts b/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
index e69bb67..0865c23 100644
--- a/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
+++ b/test/tests/consumer.test.ts
@@ -1481,6 +1481,77 @@ describe('Consumer', () => {
       sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleAbort);
       sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleStop);
     });
+
+    it('waits for in-flight messages before emitting stopped (no timeout)', async () => {
+      const handleStop = sandbox.stub().returns(null);
+      const handleResponseProcessed = sandbox.stub().returns(null);
+
+      // A slow message handler
+      handleMessage = sandbox.stub().callsFake(async () => {
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
+      });
+
+      consumer = new Consumer({
+        queueUrl: QUEUE_URL,
+        region: REGION,
+        handleMessage,
+        sqs,
+        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT
+      });
+
+      consumer.on('stopped', handleStop);
+      consumer.on('response_processed', handleResponseProcessed);
+
+      consumer.start();
+      await clock.nextAsync();
+      consumer.stop({ waitForInFlightMessages: true });
+
+      await clock.runAllAsync();
+
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleStop);
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleResponseProcessed);
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleMessage);
+      assert.ok(handleMessage.calledBefore(handleStop));
+
+      // handleResponseProcessed is called after handleMessage, indicating
+      // messages were allowed to complete before 'stopped' was emitted
+      assert.ok(handleResponseProcessed.calledBefore(handleStop));
+    });
+
+    it('waits for in-flight messages before emitting stopped (timeout reached)', async () => {
+      const handleStop = sandbox.stub().returns(null);
+      const handleResponseProcessed = sandbox.stub().returns(null);
+
+      // A slow message handler
+      handleMessage = sandbox.stub().callsFake(async () => {
+        await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 5000));
+      });
+
+      consumer = new Consumer({
+        queueUrl: QUEUE_URL,
+        region: REGION,
+        handleMessage,
+        sqs,
+        authenticationErrorTimeout: AUTHENTICATION_ERROR_TIMEOUT
+      });
+
+      consumer.on('stopped', handleStop);
+      consumer.on('response_processed', handleResponseProcessed);
+
+      consumer.start();
+      await clock.nextAsync();
+      consumer.stop({ waitForInFlightMessages: true, waitTimeoutMs: 500 });
+
+      await clock.runAllAsync();
+
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleStop);
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleResponseProcessed);
+      sandbox.assert.calledOnce(handleMessage);
+      assert(handleMessage.calledBefore(handleStop));
+
+      // Stop was called before the message could be processed, because we reached timeout.
+      assert(handleStop.calledBefore(handleResponseProcessed));
+    });
   });
 
   describe('isRunning', async () => {