How to wean a child from the breast: recommendations mom

Breast milk is a nutritious and healthy product that fully satisfies a child’s need for minerals and vitamins, supports his immunity and promotes rapid growth and weight gain. Each mother independently decides when to transfer the baby to artificial mixtures or “adult” food. And in order for the weaning process to take place painlessly and with minimal stress, a few things should be considered.

Optimal time

Some lactating women try to wait up to two years, when the child grows up and will get stronger, and his digestive system will be ready for the transition to cereals and vegetable puree. Other mothers begin to wean the baby in a year and a half. Approximately from 8–9 months the introduction of complementary foods begins, therefore milk becomes a useful, but not obligatory addition.

Experts sitting in the WHO, advised to move to an adult menu no earlier than 1.6 or 2 years. Experienced mothers and doctors who are concerned about the physical and emotional health of women recommend not to force themselves if breastfeeding squeezes out all the forces and does not bring pleasure. It is more beneficial for the child to eat mixtures and vegetables and to see the parent happy. Love and a healthy atmosphere in the family protect against diseases no worse than breast milk and vitamin supplements.

Psychological attitude

Moms are weaned no less painfully than children. They have a feeling that their own blood is losing something important. To facilitate the transition from breast milk to other foods, a woman should be morally tuned and convince herself that this step is necessary first of all for the baby. He should gradually become independent and less dependent on the mother and her breasts. Parents who are confident in the correctness of their own decisions, it is easier and easier to abandon feeding. They convey their mood to the child, so it is easier for him to accept and adapt to new conditions.

Emergency measures

Relatives will have to make maximum efforts to feed the little guest, put to bed and calm down another tantrum. They will be ready to give up and will offer to postpone the weaning, but the mother must be implacable. After 3-4 days, the child will calm down and become unaccustomed to milk, and after a week the parent will be able to return to the beloved child with a calm soul. The main thing is not to give in to the desire to console or to lull the baby with the breast, because in the first month it is very easy to break loose.

Important: Previously, to stop lactation, the mammary glands were tied up with a sheet or bandages. Similar experiments often ended in inflammation or mastitis.Modern women do not need to risk it, because there are special drugs that make the body stops producing milk.

Gradual changes

Not all mothers are able to get rid of guilt and give their beloved child to the care of a father or grandmother. And relatives are not always ready to support a woman and leave the baby for such a long time. You have to be patient and move towards the goal gradually. Some get to stop breastfeeding in 1.5-2 weeks, others stretch pleasure for a month or a little more.

Balanced diet
The child needs energy and a lot of vitamins to maintain immunity in working condition. It should experimentally find products that the baby likes and does not cause him allergies, and gradually increase the portions of adult food, reducing the amount of mother's milk. You can give more juice or stewed fruit, make sure that your child has enough liquid. Maternal milk is replaced with cow or goat milk, or special mixes are bought. There is nothing wrong with artificial powders, they, on the contrary, strengthen the immune system and promote normal development.

While the child moves smoothly to puree and soup, mother is also recommended to stick to a diet. Exclude at the time of meals and products that enhance lactation. Try to drink a minimum of water and other liquids, use diuretics or herbs. Some women reduce the amount of milk with laxative pills or drops, but the benefits of this method are questionable and the harm is obvious.

Diversion
The child must learn to fall asleep first during the day and then at night without her mother's breast. A woman is advised to go to bed with the baby on the same bed so that she feels her presence and support. But if he starts to act up and demand "food", you need to gently reassure him and offer a hug. Only a child’s back should cuddle up to her mother’s belly so as not to tempt a child to dine at bedtime. You can offer a bottle of water or cow's milk instead of the usual breast, but some children then form a dependence on the nipples.

During the day, a woman should wear T-shirts or sweaters without a cutout, which will prevent access to the mammary glands. You can wear sports tops that keep their breasts in shape and protect from persistent children's hands.You can not dress with a child and swim with him in the same bath. In the afternoon, when the baby begins to act up and beg for his chest, it is recommended to distract him with games, cartoons, go for a walk or meet his father at the door. You can offer to look through the peephole, independently open the lock and even go to the landing to check if there is a second parent.

Recommendations mom

The child eventually learns to eat mashed potatoes and porridge, and in a few months will forget about the existence of mother's milk. One week is enough for one child to stop feeding. First, they learn to fall asleep on their own and not to get up in the middle of the night in order to “eat” mom. Then they get used to having mashed potatoes and steam cutlets for lunch, not drinking everything with milk. During this period, it is advised to give full portions of food so that the child does not feel hungry.

Tip: If the baby refuses cereal, demanding the breast, do not shove lunch at him or immediately get the mammary gland. Let him be hungry for some time, for a few hours nothing terrible will happen.But then he will happily swallow everything his parents will offer him.

To lull the baby, mother is advised to softly sing or read fairy tales. Stroking on the back or head also has soothing properties. Women who refuse to be fed say that the child sleeps much longer during the day and at night, becoming less restless.

Some doctors recommend first to teach the baby to rest in his bed, and not in the parent, and then go on to an adult diet.

Women should go in for sports, because physical exertion and excessive sweating help stop lactation. The swollen chest is decanted, but slightly to get rid of discomfort. If you constantly empty the mammary glands, the body will produce "food" for the baby in the usual way. The breast in which the milk remains is a signal to the brain that the time has come to stop feeding.

Nontraditional methods

Capricious babies who do not want to part with their usual “food” are given nipples smeared with mustard or tincture of wormwood. A few feedings are enoughso my mother's mammary glands become tasteless and unattractive. The main thing - do not poison the baby with grass and do not burn his esophagus.

Sometimes helps option with garlic. Mom should eat a decent portion of seasoning so that the milk has a specific flavor. The kid, having tried such food one or several times, will independently refuse it and will switch to appetizing vegetables.

We should not take weaning as tragedy or treachery. Love and tenderness, which the baby received when feeding, can be repaid with the help of joint games, communication and reading books. The main thing is that both mother and child are ready for such a serious step, and then they will succeed.

Video: how to wean the baby properly