Three ways to wean a baby from a pediatrician

When to wean?

The process of breastfeeding can drag on for years.

According to WHO, the recommended age for breastfeeding is 2 years. After all, after a year of life, the child develops immunity, and milk contributes to its better development.

Christina, 25 years old: “I think that the optimal age for stopping breastfeeding is somewhere around 1.5 years. My daughter had already started kindergarten at this age, so I decided. We managed it quite easily."

Of course, the ideal time to stop breastfeeding is when the baby refuses his treat on his own, but few mothers wait until this time.

Statistics say that in recent years only 50% of women are breastfeeding, and the majority feed for up to 1 year. Only a few retain this invaluable product in the second year.

Read the article about the benefits of breast milk for the proper development of a small child.

Useful advice from a pediatrician on how to use a breast pump to express breast milk.

Recommendations from an educational psychologist will help you figure out how to teach your child to use a bottle.

How to tell if your baby is ready to wean

If you are in no hurry and do not have a clear date for when you want to finish feeding, then you can take a closer look at the signs that your baby is ready:

• The baby is not interested in the breast or is fussy when you put him to the breast.
• He spends less time breastfeeding. For example, he himself gets off your lap without finishing.
• He pulls on the nipple or bites.
• The child puts his lips to the nipple, but does not suck.

If you notice these signs, you may already be halfway through a natural cessation of feeding (when your baby's need to suckle gradually subsides), or you can use this moment as a starting point for a smooth cessation of feeding.

If your baby is not yet ready to stop breastfeeding, it may be best to delay stopping until he shows signs of readiness. If circumstances do not allow you to wait, try to stop breastfeeding gradually. It may be helpful to consult with your pediatrician so that your doctor can give you advice on the best course of action for your specific situation.

How to properly and gradually wean a child from the breast?

1. If you have ruled out these four points, then you can safely prepare for weaning.
   You should start by refusing one feeding. It’s better for mom to choose which one. Distract your baby with games and walks in the fresh air. Include dad and grandma in the weaning process. The child should feel your care and love.
2. Observe your child for three days. As a rule, giving up one feeding is well tolerated by babies.
3. After three days, we switch to giving up two feedings.
4. And so, gradually, we remove all daytime feedings.
5. We’ll talk about avoiding feeding in the evening and at night below.

Do not replace breasts with bottles and nipples.
This way you will not get rid of the baby's desire to suck. Use cups and sippy cups. Take your baby in your arms more often. Don't undress in front of your child.

Natalya, 30 years old: “When I started weaning my baby, I tried to surround her with care. We walked longer, distracted ourselves by playing games.”

Of course, it is more difficult to wean when the child is already over a year old and he understands a lot. On the one hand, it’s difficult to explain that “you can’t have boobs,” but you can come to an agreement with some kids.

Some mothers smear the nipple with green paint. We can say that mom’s breasts are “sore” and should not be touched. Also, some women cover their nipples with a bandage. I would not recommend this method, since tearing it off is painful and traumatic for the delicate skin of the areola. Not everyone succeeds in weaning with these “cruel” methods.

In what cases should you or should you not stop breastfeeding?

For clarity, consider the table:

Please note: if a child is not ready for weaning, he may behave restlessly and be stubborn, not wanting to put up with the restrictions that have arisen. In such cases, it is better to wait some more time and then try to wean the baby again.

How to wean your baby at night?

Probably the worst thing for any nursing mother is the problem of how the child will fall asleep without a breast. After all, most children fall asleep while sucking, since this is a very energy-intensive process. How to wean a child from night feedings? Let's look at some tips:

1. Create rituals that will help your child fall asleep - a bedtime story, evening kefir, lights off. You can leave a night light that the baby will specifically choose for himself.
2. Children often love to fall asleep to their mother's lullaby.
3. Give your child a bath before bed. You can use soothing herbs - chamomile, valerian root.
4. You can replace the sucking process with rocking in your arms, pressing it to your chest.
5. Try to place the baby separately in your own crib. When your baby sleeps with you, he smells the milk and will be even more fussy.

If the child begins to eat poorly and throws strong tantrums, then wait a little before weaning. This means that the baby is not yet mature enough for this.

At night, 2 - 3 hours before bedtime, you can feed your baby porridge or give kefir. You sleep better on a full stomach. Weaning at night is a long process, be patient.

How to Prepare for the End of Breastfeeding

1. Get the information you need. How to wean? It's worth learning all about the process ahead of time and the different ways you can organize it, whether you plan to finish breastfeeding by a certain date or want to breastfeed for a long time. It is important to discuss this issue with your pediatrician in a timely manner. Remember that only through your own experience will you be able to understand which of these scenarios suits you and your baby best.

2. Prepare in advance. Weaning from breastfeeding will be easier if you are prepared. When your baby is familiar with a bottle or cup, happily eats complementary foods, falls asleep calmly in his own crib, and is not used to using the breast as the main means of soothing, we can assume that he is ready. Try to completely give up one feeding, replacing breast milk with baby purees, and watch how the baby behaves. If he does not show anxiety, persistence, anger, if he is happy and healthy, you can gradually reduce the number of feedings. However, you should not think that if your baby eats complementary foods, his body no longer needs breast milk. This is not true: it promotes the formation of beneficial bacteria in his intestines and other important processes.

3. Get a massage. Gentle breast massage - with soft circular movements, with a moisturizer or special oil - will help you avoid congestion. If the discomfort becomes severe, you can express a little milk, but this is a measure of last resort when breast swelling and a feeling of heaviness in it persists for several hours. If your breasts become “stony” even after pumping, if lumps form in them, you need to contact your doctor as soon as possible to avoid the occurrence of mastitis.

4. Transfer the baby to a separate crib. As long as your baby sleeps with you, he will most likely continue to feed at night, and you will continue to produce milk. It is easier to transfer your baby to a separate crib while you are still breastfeeding. And after he gets used to sleeping without you, you can try replacing evening and night breastfeeding with warm milk, if the baby’s age allows.

5. Take care of yourself. Now a lot depends on your immunity. A healthy, rested body quickly adapts to changes, including hormonal ones. Remember to maintain the same healthy diet that you followed while breastfeeding, try to drink more and be sure to do your usual exercise. Get more sleep and maintain a calm state of mind. Feelings at this stage can sometimes remind you of the states you plunged into after childbirth. Don’t worry or get upset - this is just the body’s reaction, soon the “hormonal storm” will subside.

6. Stay calm. Now both you and the baby are going through a serious test, and refusal to feed affects not only your physical condition, but also your psychological one. The baby may become more capricious and louder in its demands for attention. You'll probably notice that you felt much calmer while you were breastfeeding. These reactions are completely natural. To cope with them, try now to be more affectionate with the baby, come up with new games, come into physical contact with him more often (massage, comic fights, etc.) - in other words, look for new options for maintaining intimacy, but without breasts in as a mediator in this communication.

A “pill” against human milk or how to quickly wean a child off the breast?

If it is difficult for you to endure for a long time and prepare for gradual weaning, but you want to quickly discourage this habit from your baby, then on the modern market there are medications to suppress lactation in the shortest possible time.

A prominent representative of this group is the drug Dostinex.

Its action is based on reducing the production of the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for milk production. The drug has a selective effect and does not affect other hormones.

Its disadvantage is side effects, which occur in 70% of cases. These are rapid heartbeat, headaches, nausea, vomiting, deterioration in general well-being, and apathy.

This drug is taken ½ tablet at an interval of 12 hours for two days. Courses are used only for the treatment of disorders associated with excessive production of prolactin.

Elena, 25 years old: “I learned how to stop breastfeeding with the help of Dostinex from my gynecologist. 2 months after giving birth I needed to go back to work. One tablet solved my lactation issues. True, there was a very strong headache and weakness throughout the body, but it went away in just a couple of days. The milk has disappeared."

Another drug in this series is Bromocriptine. It also reduces the secretion of prolactin and suppresses physiological lactation. Unlike Dostinex, it must be taken in a course. Has more pronounced side effects.

If we compare these drugs from a price position, then Bromocriptine is two times cheaper than Dostinex.

Weaning by separation method

This is one of the less pleasant ways of weaning. It consists of sending the child to live with his grandmother or other relatives for a few days. During this time, the child not only loses his breast, but also does not see his beloved mother. This can cause severe psychological discomfort in the baby and, as a result, stress and hidden resentment towards the mother.

Komarovsky E. O.: “When weaning a child, you can send him to his grandmother for a couple of nights. Nothing wrong with that. This way the baby will learn to fall asleep without the breast. But keep in mind that here you need to look at the degree of attachment of the child to his mother. If you know that your child will not be able to get along with his grandmother and will cry, then it is better not to risk it.”

The main stages of gradual weaning from the breast

Planned and calm weaning involves following several steps:

1. The decision on how to wean a baby from the breast should be made directly by the nursing mother. Most often it is associated with the unnecessaryness of this process - the baby gets tired, he is bored, or he needs the mother’s mammary glands solely for comfort. At such moments, you can not rush things, everything should happen smoothly, but strictly according to the established schedule - the child gradually loses unnecessary night feedings and gets used to falling asleep without the breast.
2. After this, the stage begins for the baby to wean himself from latching before lunchtime nap (daytime feeding to quickly fall asleep) and after waking up. The morning meal should be the same as for adults; breakfast with mother's milk is excluded.
3. At the next stage, we wean the child from breastfeeding by increasing the number of meals. Getting used to regular portions of food like adults, the baby will stop noticing that mother's milk is leaving his diet. To simplify the child’s habituation process, you can diversify the menu - purees, soups, porridges, meat dishes with side dishes. If the baby is too demanding, you can use a trick and add a few drops of breast milk to his food - he will simply feel the familiar taste and, most likely, will stop asking for the breast.
4. Continuing the topic of how to properly wean a child from breastfeeding, it is necessary to outline the next stage - gradually teach the baby to fall asleep at night without milk before bed. To do this, it is recommended to feed the baby more for dinner. To prevent the baby from asking for the breast when he needs to sleep, it is recommended to distract him - rock him to sleep, sing a lullaby, tell a fairy tale, stroke his back. The baby must get used to feeling his mother's love through other methods, and over time he will stop asking for the breast.
5. The most difficult part is weaning off breastfeeding at night. It is not recommended to do this suddenly; it is important to gradually remove the baby.

The main condition at all stages is that care and love must appear in every action. At the same time, soft weaning involves, for some period, giving up not very important telephone and personal conversations, surfing the Internet and even watching TV. During this period, the baby needs increased tactile sensation and needs to be hugged more often than usual. Long walks in the air during the day and communication with children whose diet does not contain breast milk are recommended. It would be useful to learn from experienced mothers how to properly wean a child from the breast, or to get a “sleepy” toy. Having gone through all the stages, the mother will not have to wonder what to put on her breasts - mustard or brilliant green, so that the baby will wean himself from breastfeeding at 1 year. In this case, self-weaning will be painless for both parties. But if the mother has already anointed her mammary glands with any product, she should persistently distract the baby without returning to resumption of lactation.