While we totally support breastfeeding and the world is warming up for the breastfeeding week, a big issue lies in the road beyond breastfeeding. Weaning a kid off breastmilk is a task and for some kids and even moms it’s a connect with each other they don’t want to give up. A lot of mothers have this confusion as to when is the right time to wean your child off breastmilk. Every child is different and the weaning process is completely personal and totally up to you. However, doctors suggest breastfeeding your baby until 6 months and then giving it solids along with breastmilk. This should be continued until at least the baby is a two years old(as recommended by WHO).
Some quick facts about Breastfeeding;
(as shared by lactation and child nutritionist expert, Sonali Shivlani)
- As a breastfeeding mom, experts recommend that you should consume three cups of milk or milk products every day. In case you do, you need to take skimmed milk and not full-fat milk. This is not a must, but a recommendation.
- It is recommended that you do not use a bottle as it can cause nipple confusion as the teat is very different from the breast and a whole different set of jaw muscles is being used.
- Most babies if not used to a bottle will refuse one actively at six months. I would call them smart babies as they are ensuring optimum jaw development for themselves.
- You cannot stop breastfeeding for 15 days and then come back to breastfeeding as your milk will dry up unless you keep expressing actively
- The nutritional value of breast milk reduces post six months but is not zero. The benefit is that it changes its composition as per the needs of the baby.
- Breastmilk can be stored at room temperature for up to four hours. If refrigerated it has to be thawed and not heated directly
How to wean your baby?
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Find a replacement– Your baby spent over a year having nothing but breastmilk, so you need to be gentle while weaning him off it. So to start you will need to find a replacement. You can use organic milk or add some honey or sugar to sweeten it. However, for anything else as a replacement, it’s best you consult a Doctor. Once you find a replacement, make it seem interesting to your baby and let him have it along with the breastmilk.
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Take gradual steps– Weaning is a gradual process. You need to make small changes. Suppose if you nurse your baby 4 times a day, start by replacing one or two of those times with hot milk. Sometimes the weaning process can take several months or less. But whatever you do, take your time with it. Since you used to nurse your baby constantly for months, it will take some time to wean him off it.
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Put a clock on it– Now that we’ve established that it’s a gradual process, you will need to work towards it. Another thing that you could do is limit the baby’s nursing sessions. When you have already replaced some of the baby’s nursing sessions with hot milk, now you will have to limit his breast milk meals. You can play a small song and when the song is over, you should wean the child off breastmilk. Another time you can let the baby have it for one minute each. This will eventually make him realize that his time with unlimited nursing sessions is soon to be over.
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Involve others in the process– The weaning process requires the baby’s father or your in-laws to get involved. You can replace the baby’s nursing sessions with hot milk and if the baby protests you can ask the father to make the baby have it. Suppose you let the baby breastfeed before his nap time, you can instead ask his father to feed the baby with hot milk. This will create a distraction to the baby.
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The Final step– Probably the hardest step, once you’ve started to wean your child off breastmilk, there will be times when he will protest and ask for it. But if you’ve made the decision you need to stand by it. If your baby desires comfort, you can instead give him hot milk and comfort him with foot rubs, cuddling or reading stories to him.
So, follow these steps and gradually wean your baby off breastmilk.
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Thanks for this beautiful share. I didn’t do much except expressing actively and I continue to feed my 2 year old ( only at night now). Also, I used Philips Avent Natural and Medela bottles. These special bottles truly mimic the motion, flow and made the switch comfortable for my baby boy. I loved the anti-colic system — it is a twin valve that does not leak air into the feeding baby — only into the bottle. He was only 80 days when I resumed work. I tried feeding him through Palada but it didn’t work for us.
Hi, I’d like a clarification on why we need 3 cups of milk a day? And why it’s shudnt be full fat milk? My understanding is that a breast feeding mother needs to have calcium rich food to compensate for the calcium depleted by the body while producing milk. The source of calcium, however, need not only be milk.
Secondly, the nutritional value of breast milk does not diminish after 6 months.. Rather the nutritional and energy requirements of the baby increase and has to be supplemented with solids. However, milk.. Whether it is breast milk or formula.. Is the main source of nutrition till the baby turns 1. It is true that even post 6 months, 1 year and beyond, the breast milk changes its nutritional value according to the needs of the child.
Hi Niharika,
As per your query, this is the response from the Lactation expert Sonali Shivani;
Yes the mother needs calcium and the best source is dairy not plant products. Cow’s milk calcium is more bio available than plant products calcium. Plant foods contain many vitamins and minerals which are helpful for a balnaced diet and one of the minerals is calcium. However they have certain substances like oxalates and phytates which bind to calcium and form insoluble salt complexes thus decreasing calcium absorption. Since green leafy veggies have been mentioned – cooked spinach contains about 115 mg of calcium per serving but about 5% is absorbed. In contrastabsorption from milk is about 32%. Therefore one would have to consume 8 servings of spinach to obtain the same amount of calcium that would be found in 1 serving of milk.
People who are lactose intolerant should consult a nutritionist to understand how best they can get the calcium needs.
Its true breast milk changes as per the needs of the baby and the composition is dynamic. However when I mention that the nutrition value is less – it means that it is less as compared to the needs of the baby and hence complimentary foods are required to be introduced. Again not randomly but with the consult of the baby’s doctor or a nutritionist.
Finally in terms of fat content – our body needs about 70 grams of fat per day. There is about 8 grams fat in one glass of whole milk which means with three glasses it would be 24 grams. Over and above this new mothers are always loaded with ghee and other fatty foods. You would surely consume oils or butter in regular course of meals and finally, there is nuts and seeds. The fat requirement is easily taken care of with other fats like nuts seeds etc. These are polyunsaturated fats which do not raise the bad cholesterol in our body.
Hope this answers your query.
Great! Thanks! I love diary.. But I cannot have 3 glasses in a day 🙂 3 servings of milk products does make sense.. Paneer, yoghurt and milk will do nicely! My point again is that once you put too many rules about what a new mom HAS to do and HAS to eat, it may deter her from sticking to breastfeeding her newborn. Breastfeeding is always better when the mother is in a calm and happy frame of mind. A new mother has to understand that she has to replenish her calcium stores whether it be via diary, supplements or through 8 servings of spinach 🙂
I would agree with you on the nutritional needs of the baby once you need to introduce solids, but as a general statement, it would be nice if you could reword it to mean that solids needs to be supplemented. Too often we see mothers being told that post 6 months, breast milk has no nutritional value for the child. This blanket statement puts immense pressure on the mother to stop feeding her child altogether, even when the paeditrician advises that milk is the primary source of nutrition till the baby turns 1. Families even opt for formula when the mother can meet the needs of the baby. This is specially important when we consider that physical, mental and emotional growth of the infant is accelerated post 6 months and feeding at the mother’s breast provides emotional security, calm and comfort to the baby. An emotionally secure baby is free to explore, learn and grow.
With regards to the excess ghee and fat consumption, that is probably cultural and a personal choice. A balanced diet far outweighs one laden with fatty substances. Mothers and grandmothers these days are able to make informed choices as per their lifestyle and dietary requirements and restrictions. In my opinion, less processed and whole foods are always better. Along with a healthy diet, once your obstetrician gives you a thumbs up, moderate physical exercise will also help.
Thanks for checking back with the lactation consultant and the clarification.