How to complete breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is the most natural and natural process that can be imagined in a series of modern realities. A woman who is breastfeeding a baby not only gives her baby food, but also makes a special elusive contact with him. Many women admit that only with the first attachment of the baby to the breast they realized the true value of motherhood. But time passes, the baby grows and sooner or later it should be weaned. How to make it as painless as possible for the child and mother? In this article, you will learn about the timing of completion of breastfeeding, how to reduce lactation, as well as the psychological discomfort of the child in such a stressful situation as weaning.

When to wean a child from the breast

This question is so individual that there is no exact answer to it. Each mother decides for her child how long she wants to give him a breast. Doctors agree that up to six months the child should be fed exclusively with mother's milk or adapted milk formula. If you fed a child up to six months of age, you completed the minimum program. To feed a child up to one year is very good. But remember that at this time you should bring in the diet of the baby other products - vegetables, fruits, cereals, meat, kefir, cottage cheese. After all, the baby is growing and one breast milk is not enough for him.

There is an opinion that after a year, mother's milk becomes useless. In fact, it is not. Milk contains enough carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It’s just that the baby is growing, and this kind of food plays an ever-smaller role in the general diet. After a year, the psychological factor of intimacy with the mother is of greater importance. Feeding after a year is no longer considered as necessary as in the first year of life. But one thing is for sure - if mom and baby like feeding, they can continue for as long as possible.Only mother decides when to complete this long process.

As a rule, weaned after one year. By this time, the child eats almost all healthy foods and will be able to quickly fill the deficiency of vitamins, formed by weaning.

When weaning a baby is not worth it

Breast for a baby is not only food. This is a way to calm and privacy with the mother. That is why it is impossible to plan weaning during teething, during illness (and especially of rotovirus infection). They try not to wean from the chest in too cold or too hot a season. Also, do not create additional stress for the child if he has recently been vaccinated. It is impossible to combine weaning with other serious experiences in a child's life - the beginning of going to kindergarten, babysitting, pottery training, change of residence, etc.

How to complete breastfeeding

The most correct way to complete lactation is gradual weaning. It is close to the natural, and is considered humane both in relation to the child, and in relation to the female body. To wean a child from the breast, you must adhere to the following rules.

1. If you plan to move away from breastfeeding in the future, you need to think in advance about the course of action. Gradual weaning involves a long process that can last more than one month.
2. Gradually reduce the number of attachments. If the child is fed 4 times a day, limit to 3, then leave 2 times.
3. Eliminate the nightly application of the baby. If a pussy asks for a breast at night, shake it, give it water from a bottle, hold it close to you, stroke it, but you should not give a breast. The fact is that night feeds stimulate milk production.
4. Gradually, only 2 feedings should be left - morning and evening. After a week, leave only morning feeding.
5. Do not associate with feeding other spheres of life of the child. Do not soothe the baby breast, do not fall asleep with her. Look for alternative ways to calm and fall asleep - stroking, patting, rocking, etc.
6. What to do with the breast during weaning? If you wean a child gradually, then lactation decreases gradually. After half a year, mother's milk is produced according to the principle “There is a demand - there will be an offer”. The less you feed the baby, the less milk is produced.With such weaning, it is not necessary to drink medicines or drag a breast.
7. To reduce lactation, you can drink decoctions of herbs that inhibit milk production. This is mint, sage, parsley.
8. At one fine moment, when the number of feedings was reduced to one per day, you can completely abandon the attachment of the child to the breast.
9. If the breast swells, cabbage can be attached to it. Take the cabbage leaf and knead it with a rolling pin on the board. Attach to the chest and put on a bra.
10. Wear supporting clothes until complete weaning.

By following these simple rules, you can wean your baby from the chest without stress, and you will be able to gradually reduce lactation without harm to your body.

How to wean a baby quickly

There are cases when there is absolutely no time for gradual weaning. For example, if the mother requires treatment that is incompatible with breastfeeding. Some mothers prefer to wean from the breast immediately rather than gradually. They explain this by saying that it is easier for a child to survive stress once than to stretch this process for long weeks or even months.This opinion has the right to exist - every mother decides for herself how to complete breastfeeding. So, if you need to wean a child for a few days, follow these rules.

1. For the last time, breastfeed your baby and spread the mammary glands with camphor oil. There is the experience of our mothers and grandmothers in pulling breast tissue. Can I do this? Modern doctors do not recommend dragging the chest, as this can lead to mastitis and injury. However, you need to wear tight corrective underwear all the time, which prevents free filling of the breast with milk. If you still decide to overtighten the chest, do it not so much.
2. If weaning occurs abruptly, then, most likely, we cannot do without drugs that can hormonally suppress lactation. Most of them involve taking only one pill, after which the milk “burns out”. Remember, feeding a child after taking this pill is by no means possible - it can be dangerous. Some of these drugs cause side effects - nausea, headache, heart palpitations, loss of appetite.To take hormonal means to suppress lactation without consulting a gynecologist is strictly contraindicated!
3. Counseling on breastfeeding does not recommend leaving the baby on the first night after weaning with someone other than the mother. However, this method of weaning is the place to be. The fact is that the baby will experience more stress if left with his mother, but she will not give him the usual breast. The child simply can not understand why it was always possible, but now it is impossible? Moreover, my mother smells so delicious milk. If you leave the child with someone else (not a stranger, but, for example, a grandmother or dad), he will feel protected, but he will be less likely to remember his chest.
4. If you feel pain and fullness in the breast, strain the milk and drink antipyretic or analgesic. It will help you to experience discomfort.

By following these simple rules, you can complete breastfeeding in a week.

How to prepare a child for weaning

There is a popular way to complete breastfeeding - to smear the breast with something bitter or nasty. It is not worth doing this, otherwise you will provoke additional stress in the child, tearing away from the breast and from the mother.

What to do if the chest is swollen

If you complete breastfeeding gradually, the risk of breast swelling and overflow is minimal. If the chest is still swollen, it must be decanted.Do this as rarely as possible, but you can not do without decanting, otherwise you can bring the body to mastitis or lactostasis. Produced milk needs to go somewhere. When pumping milk every time there will be less and less, until one day you will no longer feel fullness in the mammary glands.

If you feel that a lump has formed in your chest, you need to act as follows. Steam your breasts under a hot shower, direct a powerful stream of hot water directly at this lump. After this, strain the “sore” breast on the side where the lump formed. Milk that will be drained may be gray or even yellow - this is normal. After complete emptying of the breast the lump will disappear. Then you need to express the chest a few more days, making it less and less. After each emptying it is necessary to lubricate the breast with camphor oil - it will soothe the skin and help suppress lactation. To get rid of the cones, you can use a compress from magnesia - it dissolves small seals. However, remember that big bumps need only be expressed. If the seal does not disappear, the temperature does not return to normal for more than a day - do not hesitate, consult a doctor.

Breastfeeding is a long, interesting and intimate process. This is the invisible connection that unites the mother and the child. But sooner or later, breastfeeding should be abandoned. And it depends only on the woman that this process will be sharp and painful or gradual and humane. Love yourself and your child, listen to your body. And then the completion of breastfeeding will be as natural as its beginning.

Video: how to wean a child from the chest