Breastfeeding and Weaning
Breastfeeding and weaning are both personal decisions which you may make by looking at your needs, your child's needs and the needs of your family. Technically, from the moment you introduce something other than breast milk into your baby's diet you are weaning. And in most cases babies don't need anything other than breast milk for the first 6 months of life.
Once babies turn about 6 months old, many mums feel —or are told by well meaning relatives, we all have them— that they need to stop breastfeeding, but if you enjoy breastfeeding and weaning isn't what you want that's great, there may not be a need for you to stop now. In fact the World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding until 2 years old and beyond.
Natural Weaning
Sometimes when you're breastfeeding and weaning is the furthest from your mind, it can seem to happen on its own. You may find that once your baby begins solids, or is crawling that they will just demand less breast milk as they are more interested in the world around them.
I guess at this point you can either decide to offer a breastfeed and try to discourage weaning, or to offer water from a sipper cup instead. Offering an alternative to breast milk may eventually see your baby naturally keeping feeds for bedtime only or dropping them altogether. This is a lovely, relaxed way to wean, one way I'd like to try with baby number 3 maybe.
Baby — led Weaning
Some babies will take complete control of the breastfeeding and weaning decisions and suddenly decide that they no longer want to be breastfed. Many mums find that this happens around the 12 month mark and sometimes it's a simple holiday, or change in routine that seems to trigger it.
It can be a sad and emotional thing for a mother especailly if you are enjoying your breastfeeding relationship, but it's also a lovely milestone in your baby's development and a sign of their independence. Lots of cuddles and closeness can make this stage easier to deal with.
Sometimes babies will refuse to breastfeed for a few days, but they may not necessarily be weaning. There can be a few ways to tell the difference and there's lots of things you can do to get past the phase of breast refusal.
If your baby does suddenly wean you may find that you become engorged and uncomfortable. Hand expressing just enough for comfort can help, but in some cases expressing full feeds may encourage your milk supply to remain the same. If you find that you have developed lumps expressing and massaging your breasts can help to clear these blocked milk ducts and prevent mastitis.
How to Wean
If you have to wean your baby, depending on how much of a hurry you are in you might like to try dropping one feed a day every few days or one feed a week. It can help to start with the feed that you think your baby will miss the least. Often mums will do this until they have cut out all the feeds completely.
The age of your baby may determine if you need to replace these feeds with other types of milk or water. The number of feeds you need to replace and how to replace them is something you may like to speak with your health professional about.
While weaning —especailly if you are doing it quickly— it may help if you express to clear any blockages that may form and express for comfort.
Remember to give your baby lots of cuddles to replace that special bonding time that breastfeeding provided. Sometimes, for some older babies a breastfeed is all about the cuddles more so than the milk. Distracting your baby by going out, offering healthy snacks or special activities can be helpful, your baby may just need to find new ways to interact with you.
An amazing thing about breastfeeding and weaning is that while you are weaning your body will actually go back to making colostrum just like it did with the very first feeds before your milk came in. It's like your body knows that your baby will need a final boost of the richest nutrients and antibodies available, amazing isn't it!
Please always remember to consult your health professional to find out information that is relevant to your specific situation.
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Return from Breastfeeding and Weaning to Weaning — An Overview
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