Weaning Your Baby

Baby-Led Weaning:

As soon as you start giving the baby solid foods, you are starting to wean. As the baby eats more and more solid foods, he/she will gradually wean from the breast.

If the baby is allowed to wean him/herself (baby-led weaning) he/she will probably wean sometime during the second year. However, since all babies are different, they can wean at different times. Some babies wean themselves during the second year, and others wean at three years or later.

It is quite common and normal if your child wants to continue nursing for a long time. In fact, it is normal to nurse for 3, or even 4, years in most parts of the world. Older children still receive the benefit of immunities as long as they nurse.

Older children who nurse get their main nourishment from solid foods, but breast milk is still very important for them. It still provides protein, calories, fat, vitamins, minerals and antibodies. It helps keep them from getting sick, and satisfies emotional and sucking needs. Nursing is particularly helpful when your child is sick or hurt or afraid. Many toddlers, especially, benefit from nursing at nap-time and bedtime.

Studies have shown that nursing a toddler does not make him/her “too dependent” on the mother. In fact, satisfying his/her emotional needs by nursing for a long time, actually makes him/her more independent and self-reliant.

Mother-Led Weaning:

When you are the one who wants to begin weaning, you must plan to do so very gradually so the baby will not feel rejected. Weaning gradually is better for you too. If you wean too quickly, you might become engorged, and get plugged ducts, leading to mastitis. If the baby is under a year old, you might need to wean him/her to a bottle, because he/she will still have strong sucking needs. Some mothers wean directly to a cup, even at this age. Other mothers wait a little longer to wean to a cup.

Begin by doing away with one feeding every few days. Start with the feeding he/she least enjoys. You will have to substitute formula, (or juice or snack if he/she is older). Mid-afternoon or mid morning is probably a good feeding to begin with. Then after a few days, when he/she seems satisfied with the substitute, drop another feeding. Keep on like this until he/she is no longer breastfeeding. It will take several weeks to wean gently.

Your pediatrician or nutritionist can recommend which formula to feed the baby. But remember, as soon as you wean from the breast to formula, your child will begin missing out on the health benefits (and many other advantages) of breast milk. Most doctors do not recommend cow’s milk for babies under a year old because it is so hard to digest and may cause allergies.

During the time you are trying to wean your baby, give him/her a lot of extra cuddling and loving. It may be especially hard for him/her to give up nursing at bed-time.