How to Wean Your Baby off the Breast

Weaning can be a difficult time for both mother and baby, but doing it gradually with lots of love can ease the transition.

Difficulty: Moderately challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Baby Bibs
• Baby Bottles
• Baby/infant Training Cups
• Baby Formulas
• Milk

1. Proceed slowly. Your baby may find abrupt weaning traumatic, and it can lead to uncomfortable engorgement and mastitis in your breasts. Mastitis is an infection that can cause fever and flulike symptoms, as well as pain, hardness, redness, or heat in your breast - usually just one breast, not both.

2. Eliminate one daily feeding session at a time over a period of weeks or even months, starting with the nursing session that seems the least important to your baby emotionally.

3. Offer your baby a substitute for the breast. If she is less than 1 year old, you may need to substitute formula in a bottle to make sure she gets the nutrition she needs. If she is past her first birthday, eating a variety of foods and drinking from a cup, you may be able to offer her food or distract her with a fun game or activity.

4. Give extra affection. Weaning can make babies feel vulnerable for a while, and your baby may need added reassurance that you still love her.

5. Keep your baby occupied by going to the park, taking a walk or playing in the garden.

6. If your baby clearly wants to nurse, and if your attempts to distract her with other snacks or activities aren't working, it's OK to nurse. This way, you can avoid a battle of wills.

7. Continue to nurse for comfort if necessary. Often, a more or less weaned baby will want to nurse after a fright or a fall. This is OK. It will take her a while to get used to the other forms of comfort you offer.

8. Contact your doctor, a lactation professional or your local La Leche League if you experience pain or engorgement while waiting for your milk to dry up. They can offer some solutions for a safe and pain-free transition.

9. If you wean your baby from breast to bottle, avoid putting her to bed with a bottle. It poses a choking hazard and promotes tooth decay. If she gets thirsty at night, keep a spillproof cup of water nearby and offer it to her when she wakes.

Tips & Warnings

• The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends breast-feeding excluesively for the first six months of your baby's life.
• After the first year, weaning often becomes easier, as you can offer your baby a wider variety of foods.
• Avoid feeling that you have to wean your child; many mothers nurse beyond the first year, and some nurse their babies well into toddlerhood. Eventually, all children lose interest in nursing, so follow your heart and do what feels right.
• When substituting other liquids for breast milk, avoid offering your baby large quantities of juice or sugary drinks; they will fill your baby up without providing adequate nutritional value, and can cause tooth decay.

[shugakay]

on 11/2/2009 Wow, I didn't know women nursed for over a year. Here I am ready to wean at 7 months! I just thought it was time. My baby still happily nurses but I was just going to stop.

[bfproblems]

on 10/9/2009 Why not wait for baby to wean himself when he is ready? Research shows that children will wean themselves between the ages of 2 and 3. The benefits are there right though breastfeeding.

[skylarzahara]

on 12/7/2008 I'm weaning my 14month and she cried a couple of nights, I put babeque sauce so everytime she comes and smells it she cries but refuses to suck so that helped me alot, now my breast are sore and full and dont know if there is medicine I can take and how long will this last.

[GreenMomma]

on 1/3/2008 ugh...the dreaded wean. I found it hurts me more than it hurts them. getting ready to wean number three... :(

[boysschimick]

on 8/8/2007 my son is 10 mnths old and has no interest in bottel or cup. he does not want juice or milk or formula. will not even take brest milk from cup or bottel. i am tierd of being a human bottel. please help!