How To Wean Your Baby Off The Breast

As a mother, it brings tears into your eyes to have to put your child to any trouble. Many mothers, who are at wits’ end whenever their baby cries, will know how difficult it is to guess what is going on in her little mind. Similarly, we never understand why it is so traumatic for a child when she/he needs to be weaned away from breast milk. The answer is in one simple (yet complex) word – Security. For a baby, being nursed is a way of feeling secure and comfortable. Being weaned away brings with it, feelings of insecurity and vulnerability. There are two keywords that you must remember – gradual and consistent. A mother who wishes to wean her baby from the breast must be gradual and consistent in her efforts. Here’s how to go about when it comes to weaning your baby from the breast.

 

Weaning Your Baby Off The Breast 

Slow And Steady
It pays to maintain a cool head when your baby protests the process of being weaned away from the breast. It may be extremely traumatic for her/him. The process has to be gradual and consistent or else emotions will run high on both sides – your baby will protest while you’ll be at wits end as to how to go about it. Also, it could cause uncomfortable engorgement and mastitis, an infection that brings with it flu-like symptoms along with redness, pain and hardness in your breasts. 

Alternative
Your baby must get a substitute for breast milk if she/he needs to be weaned away from breast milk. If she/he is less than a year old then you may have to consider the option of powdered substitute in the bottle to make sure that the nutrition she/he gets is not being compromised on. If she/he is more than a year old, she/he should be encouraged to drink from a small cup and eat a variety of foods like rice and potato mashed together. That way, she/he would not only be easily weaned from the bottle, but also get much better nutrition.

Affection
The reason for a baby’s trauma during the period when it is being weaned away is an increased feeling of vulnerability. She/he needs to know that you still love her and thus should be showered with extra affection during this time to make the journey less traumatic for her/him.

Distract
It is important to ensure that she/he thinks of nursing as less as possible and feels as less traumatized as possible. Take a walk with her/him, read to her/him, or sing to her/him so that she/he may forget the trauma of being weaned away for some time. 

Once In A While
The feeling of vulnerability in your baby will increase if she/he has just been scared or has had a fall. In such cases, it is generally acceptable to allow her to feed on you. Also, if repeated attempts to distract her/him with other foods and activities are failing, it is perfectly alright to nurse her/him. This may also be a sign for the fact that she/he may not be completely ready to be weaned away. However, as a mother, it is against the law for you to give up!