How do you wean a baby from the breast?

About 15 years ago, doctors recommended that mothers wean their children at 11 months. This was in line with the medical standards adopted in our country. Today, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a baby should be weaned between one and a half and two years. Other sources claim that a child should be weaned between 9 months and 3.5 years. In fact, everything depends on the physiological characteristics of the baby and the period during which he is deprived of breastfeeding. Young mothers should know that there are periods during which it is optimal to wean a child from the breast, and times when this is absolutely forbidden.

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What is the correct way to wean a child from the mother's breast?

First of all, do not listen to those who advise stressful situations for weaning a baby from the breast. For example, the mother leaving for a week, smearing the nipples with mustard or brilliant green, or abrupt forced cessation of feeding. All this is a huge stress for the baby, the consequences of which can be irreversible.

It is very important to follow a gradual process when weaning a child. And for the mother to remain calm. A very good way is to replace one daytime feeding with artificial. If the child does not want to take a bottle from the mother's hands (which is quite normal), but reaches for the breast, you need to give him a bottle of milk from the hands of a grandmother or father. Over the course of a week, you need to replace the daytime or morning feeding with artificial, then you can also replace the evening feeding with artificial. This will not be as stressful for the child. As if the mother suddenly abandoned him or left or suddenly stopped giving breast milk.

A mother should know that the breast is not just a source of nutrition for the child. It is a symbol of calm, satiety, well-being, it is a ritual in which the child feels protected and content with life. Therefore, deprivation of this ritual can cause irreparable harm to the child's psyche.

There is another important thing in weaning a child. To deprive him of something good, you need to give him something in return. This replacement can be 50 grams of milk formula without preservatives (up to 8 months, then the dose increases to 80-150 grams). This replacement can be vegetable juices, baby kefir (after 8 months). Or cow's milk, diluted 2 times (it is too fatty).

Another method for weaning a child from the breast is to disrupt the feeding ritual. If you are used to feeding the baby in one place, now change it. The new environment will not become stressful and will destroy the usual feeding circumstances. Then the child will more easily tolerate a bottle instead of feeding.

It is important for a young mother to know not only how to wean a child from the breast, but also when it is best to do this.

When is the best time to wean a baby from breastfeeding?

To ensure that weaning your baby from the breast is painless and stress-free, and does not cause health problems for the mother, it is worth learning more about the lactation periods and their features. The lactation period can be divided into three stages.

The first stage of lactation

It is called the period of formation. Lactation is formed even before the baby is born - several months before. The mother's body produces special hormones that trigger the production of breast milk. The main one among them is the hormone prolactin. Within 2-3 months after the birth of the baby, the mother's body produces as much milk as the baby needs to be full. An indicator of the mother's readiness to feed her baby is the swelling of the mammary glands and the production of milk. You should not be afraid of this and transfer the baby to formula within 2-3 months after pregnancy - it is during this period that milk production is finally established.

Second stage of lactation

This period is called the stage of maturity. In the 3rd-4th month after the birth of the baby, the mother's painful sensations in the chest disappear - her body adapts to the feeding process. Up to one and a half to two years, the mother produces the optimal amount of milk for feeding - no more and no less than the child needs. True, this process can be disrupted by stress, colds or an incorrect feeding regime. But if everything goes well, during the mature stage of lactation - from 3 months to one and a half years - the mother can calmly and fearlessly breastfeed the child, without fear that she has too little or too much milk.

And you don't have to buy formula if you don't want to wean your baby off the breast. In addition, mother's milk saturates the child's body with all the substances it needs for strong immunity. A child who feeds on mother's milk as much as his body needs is much less likely to get sick throughout his conscious life.

The third stage of lactation

This is a very important stage for weaning a child. It is called the period of lactation involution. At this time - from 1.5 to 2 years after birth - milk production in the mother's body decreases. This is the most suitable time to start weaning the child, because both the mother's and the child's body are physiologically ready for this. Milk at this stage changes its composition: it becomes more like colostrum. Of course, the child can no longer get enough of it as before. In addition, its biochemical composition is now not as useful for the baby, this means that he has already taken all the necessary hormones from the mother and it is no longer worth breastfeeding the child.

How to determine the stage of involution?

Firstly, by time: this period can begin after one and a half years after birth. In addition, the baby sucks more actively during this period, because his need for saturation increases. Therefore, he applies to the breast more often and more actively.

The stage of involution can also be determined by the mother's condition. She has increased sleepiness, fatigue, and her nipples hurt more. The woman may feel dizzy or have a headache, sleep becomes more restless, and she may faint. During this period, you need to protect yourself from stressful situations and eat well.

To check whether you have entered the involution phase, you need to leave the baby for half a day or a day, entrusting him to someone reliable. If within 12 hours the breast fills with milk to the point of painful sensations, then it is not yet time to wean the baby from natural feeding. You need to wait until the weaning is painless for the mother herself.

In no case should you practice abrupt weaning when the mother still has plenty of milk. Advice to bandage the breast is harmful, it can lead to inflammation and mastitis, or even worse - the development of tumors. Be guided by the natural processes that occur in your body, and weaning your baby from the breast will not be stressful for you and for him.

When should you not wean your baby?

There are cases when weaning a child from the breast is absolutely forbidden, because it will cause irreparable harm to both the mother and the baby.

• The period of early spring or deep winter, when the child's immunity is weakened and he can often get colds. Mother's milk helps the baby to protect against colds, because it contains many antibodies and immunoglobulins.
• Heat (in summer), which increases the risk of infections, especially intestinal ones.
• A child has a high temperature, which often occurs during colds or teething. During this period, the baby's immunity is weakened, and it is impossible to expose him to additional physiological and psychological risk by depriving him of mother's milk.
• You should not stop breastfeeding your baby if less than 30 days have passed since the end of his illness.

The baby is not weaned even if he has experienced stress, cries and is capricious for unknown reasons. At this time, the mother's breast is a powerful sedative that will help the baby cope with a difficult period.