How to wean your baby from breastfeeding

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The key to success is listening to yourself and your baby, not your neighbor's opinion.

When to wean a baby

According to WHO recommendations, it is better to feed babies up to six months exclusively with breast milk. Then complementary foods are gradually introduced.

Although with the appearance of teeth, the baby is already able to get along with solid food, breastfeeding should not be abandoned until two years old. After all, mother's milk protects against infections and helps to digest the rest of the food. Feeding itself is an important way of communication between mother and baby.

Anthropological studies show that it is natural to breastfeed babies for longer than the WHO advises. The final transition to adult food can occur closer to three or even four years. And this is quite normal.

At the same time, there are no hard and fast rules about the duration of breastfeeding.

After six months, the most important factor is the comfort of the mother and child. Feed up to three - if you feel like it. Or wean you a year or earlier - if you're tired or it's time for you to go to work. Focus on yourself and the child, and not on the opinion of relatives, neighbors and girlfriends.

How to wean your baby from breastfeeding painlessly

The main thing is to do everything gradually. Too abrupt withdrawal is fraught with milk stagnation (lactostasis) and inflammation of the mammary gland (mastitis) in the mother, digestive problems in the child, as well as psychological stress in both.

Choose the right time

You should not start the transition to "adulthood" when children are teething or not feeling well. It is better to postpone breastfeeding in extreme heat, as well as during an SARS epidemic.

Cancel one meal at a time

For starters, skip one breastfeed a day - the one your baby is least enthusiastic about. Most likely it will be an afternoon snack. Replace latching with a bottle of formula if the baby is not yet a year old. Or solid food (for an older child).

When this regimen becomes habitual - and this can take from 3 to 7 days - remove another feed. And so on, until the child completely switches to self-feeding.

Feed often during the day

The most difficult thing is to give up the night and the first morning feeding, because it is at night that the body produces shock doses of prolactin, a hormone responsible for the secretion of milk. The child is used to receiving a lot of nutrients at this time. Naturally, now he will be hungry and insistently demand the return of what he has lost. The way out is to feed more often and more densely during the day.

Leigh Ann O'Connor Certified Lactation Consultant

Offer your child more high-calorie foods throughout the day to replenish energy reserves that were not received at night.

Assign feeding to other family members

Dad, grandmother or grandfather are quite capable of feeding a child from a bottle or a spoon. Entrust them with this task, and you yourself retire to another room so that the child does not get nervous and is not distracted by the smell of mother's milk.

Give your child enough time

Weaning babies does not mean taking away their attention. When your baby is full and not so interested in getting milk, spend as much time with him as possible. Games, hugs and socializing will help him get through this difficult period more easily.

Express a little

Milk production in the body follows the law of supply and demand. With the gradual abandonment of breastfeeding, lactation also slows down - up to a complete cessation.

If you feel that the breast is pouring, pump the milk, but not completely, but until the painful sensations disappear. Otherwise, the body will perceive this as a signal that the bins are empty, and will begin to intensively replenish stocks.

Apply cabbage leaves to your chest

This old folk way is still relevant. Medical research does not deny that 20 minutes of applying cabbage leaves to the breast can relieve swelling and relieve milk stagnation. And although the effectiveness of the "compress from the garden" has not been fully proven, it certainly will not be worse.

Various sources advise you to apply cabbage either at room temperature, or chilled or frozen. What's the best? A few scientific experiments give the answer: whatever you like. The temperature of the leaf does not affect its action in any way.

Drink herbal teas

Some plants help to reduce lactation, namely:

• sage;
• peppermint;
• parsley;
• jasmine flowers.

Just pour a couple of tablespoons of dry herbs with 300-400 ml of boiling water and let it brew for a couple of hours, and then strain.

What not to do when weaning a baby

As much as you want to stop lactation as soon as possible, there are several tricks that you should refrain from.

Do not bandage your chest

Our grandmothers used to bandage their breasts tightly to stop lactation. Modern medicine calls for abandoning this practice, as it causes increased sensitivity and soreness of the breasts. Instead of dressing, wear a supportive bra that is tight but not too tight.

Don't take lactation medications

There are medications that suppress prolactin production. All of them have a hormonal basis and cause many side effects - from headaches and drowsiness to depression and exacerbation of various diseases. Under no circumstances should you take them without first consulting your doctor.

Don't Thirsty Yourself

It is believed that the less you drink, the less milk you will have. However, the relationship between the amount of fluid consumed and the intensity of lactation has not yet been proven. Therefore, it is better to drink enough to stay hydrated.

How long does it take to wean a baby from breastfeeding

It depends on many factors: the age of the child, his individual characteristics, the nuances of your body. Some babies painlessly give up breastfeeding in just a few days. Others will need 2-3 weeks or even a couple of months.

Also, when you stop breastfeeding completely, your body will produce milk for a while. If the period of breastfeeding has been long, then minor lactation can last from several weeks to several months.