Mothers who are ready to wean their babies or to decrease the frequency of breast-feeding may wonder how to make the process easier.

Weaning takes fourth dimension, peculiarly when a babe has been breast-fed for an extended period.

The following strategies tin can help both a mother and her baby adapt to a new feeding routine and manage any stress or discomfort that this transition may crusade.

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Weaning can exist a long and challenging process, for both mother and child. It is important to have a strategy in identify in society to wean properly.

Women do not demand to end breast-feeding if they are not set, and do not need to continue breastfeeding if they have had enough.

Nevertheless, a few simple guidelines can assist mothers determine whether they desire to continue breast-feeding their baby.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that infants be exclusively breast-fed for the first vi months of their life. Solid foods may exist introduced around half-dozen months. After that, breast-feeding can continue for 1 yr, or as long as the mother and baby wish to go on.

Infants over a yr old primarily use breast milk as a supplemental food, a source of comfort, and to back up the immune system.

Women sometimes consider stopping breast-feeding because of hurting, breast engorgement, social pressure, or fright that the baby is not getting enough milk. Women who desire to continue breastfeeding, only who are concerned about these issues, should speak with their medico or a chest-feeding specialist.

Women weaning infants less than 1 year old must replace breast milk with infant formula or donor breast milk.

Babies older than half dozen months still need formula or donor breast milk, only can as well transition to age-appropriate solid foods. Children less than i year quondam should never exist given cow's milk, soya milk, or other similar products.

Infants who eat solid foods need adequate protein, iron, and other nutrients. If worried, parents tin consult a pediatrician nigh the correct balance of nutrients and platonic daily caloric intake.

Some babies may demand a multivitamin or other supplement, specially if they exercise not get enough iron or vitamin D.

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If a woman is unsure, a medical professional can offer advice on when it is appropriate to start weaning.

Some infants wean easily, while others protestation. Planning for a hard transition can assist make the weaning process easier. Going slowly can as well help prevent stress for the mother and the baby.

A woman can try to cull a fourth dimension when there are no other meaning stressors, such every bit a deadline at piece of work or a pending vacation.

If possible, information technology is helpful to spend extra time with the baby, as they are sometimes anxious or clingy during weaning.

Parents should program on the weaning process taking a few weeks. If the baby needs to be weaned past a particular appointment, information technology is a good idea to start the process early.

When they are between half dozen months and 1 yr sometime, most babies feed less oftentimes during the night. This process, known as night weaning, tin can assistance mothers get some much-needed rest.

It may as well mean that women can sustain breast-feeding for longer, as fewer nighttime feedings can help mothers nurse comfortably during the day.

It may exist tempting to quit breast-feeding in one get, but doing then tin can cause engorgement, nipple pain, and psychological distress to both the mother and infant.

An easier strategy is to reduce breast-feeding sessions slowly over several weeks.

Showtime with the session that seems least important to the baby or the 1 in which the baby eats the to the lowest degree. Give the baby a few days to adjust before stopping the next feeding session. Repeat the process to eliminate each feeding session, upward to the last.

The final remaining feeding session, usually an early morning or evening feed, is often the most difficult to requite up. Women should allow time for the baby and themselves to conform. Some women choose to keep this final feeding session going for several additional months.

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Using a breast pump can help to alleviate discomfort while weaning. It is best to pump only a modest amount, to avoid more milk existence produced.

Breast-feeding operates co-ordinate to supply and demand. When a infant drinks more milk, or a woman pumps regularly, her body will keep producing milk.

A women's supply of breast milk tends to taper off as the infant eats less. However, many women experience engorgement and generalized discomfort during this time.

One way to alleviate discomfort is by pumping a small quantity of breast milk. Avoid pumping lots of milk, as that can increment supply. Instead, try pumping for ii-3 minutes, or until any hurting has gone.

Women who are weaning their baby can give this pumped milk to the babe at a later feeding session. This pumped milk means that a adult female volition not have to breast-feed the babe at the after session, which will help the woman's milk supply shrink faster.

If pumping for a few minutes does non help, breast-feeding women can find other ways to manage discomfort.

Both pumping and breast-feeding tin increase the supply of breast milk, which may prolong discomfort and dull the weaning process.

Some strategies that may reduce discomfort include:

  • Applying cabbage leaves to the chest. Chilling the leaves may assist with swelling.
  • Taking a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for hurting.
  • Applying warm compresses to the breasts before feeding, or taking a hot bathroom.
  • Applying cold compresses (such as numberless of frozen peas) after feeding.
  • Discussing birth control pills with a doc. Some women observe that taking birth control reduces breast milk supply, which reduces the discomfort of weaning.
  • Massaging the breasts to reduce the take a chance of plugged ducts.
  • Wearing a supportive bra, equally the breasts may feel heavier. Tight clothing and binding can make pain worse and may fifty-fifty cause a breast infection.

Weaning can be stressful but is rarely dangerous. The two primary risks of weaning are a chest infection and malnourishment in the baby.

Some mothers develop depression or anxiety, and some infants struggle to soothe themselves without breast-feeding.

Contact a doctor if:

  • the mother develops a fever
  • the breasts are bloated, reddish, or hot
  • there is light-green or foul-smelling discharge from the breasts
  • the mother has symptoms of depression or anxiety
  • the mother no longer feels bonded to the infant
  • the babe has less frequent wet or soiled diapers
  • the baby experiences a significant change in sleep patterns that last longer than a calendar week or 2

Breast milk is more than a source of nutrition. Breast-feeding also offers babies comfort when they are stressed or agape. Many babies fall asleep while feeding.

Strategies for comforting an infant during weaning include:

  • holding baby in peel-to-skin contact
  • offering a pacifier
  • distracting a infant who wants to nurse by playing, singing songs, or going for a walk
  • rocking the infant
  • giving the baby a teething band chilled in the freezer if they are teething
  • establishing a new bedtime ritual that helps the baby fall comatose

Having another parent or caregiver comfort the baby tin also assistance. Infants in the process of weaning may aggressively endeavour to feed. Allowing someone else to comfort or feed the baby can significantly reduce stress for the mother and babe.

In one case your babe has been weaned off breast milk, yous volition want to stimulate the trunk to finish producing it, or "drying it up."

Firmly supporting the breasts and reducing the corporeality of milk expressed from them can help to gradually reduce milk secretion.

This tin can be a painful process, and milk tin dorsum upwardly and cause swelling and agonized.

Breast pads can be used in a bra to soak upwardly whatsoever leaking milk. Painkilling medication and cold or gel packs inserted into the bra can help to resolve discomfort or pain. Cold cabbage leaves also have a soothing effect on the breasts, but be sure to store them in a refrigerator and modify them when they go limp.

If yous experience hurting in the breasts while lying downwards, sleep with a pillow supporting the chest area. Those who slumber on their forepart can use a pillow nether the stomach and hips to back up the breasts.

Mothers should be patient with infants who practice not desire to wean. The baby may temporarily backslide to an before stage of development, be anxious or clingy, or weep more than frequently than usual. Subsequently several weeks, these bug will amend.