Contents
- Throw GW smoothly – the main rule
- Choose the right time
- Cancel one meal at a time
- Give your child enough time
- Pump
- Drink decoctions of herbs that reduce lactation
- Arouse your baby’s interest in complementary foods
- Offer complementary foods before breastfeeding
- Replace one meal with complementary foods
- Advice for moms – do not overtighten the breast
- Popular questions and answers
– There are no clear stages for weaning a baby from the breast. But a certain sequence is worth following. First, we give the baby an alternative to the breast and new skills without changing anything about breastfeeding. And only after the child has learned all this, we gradually remove the breast. So we can minimize stress, – says Elena Pisareva, pediatrician at the Gaide clinic in St. Petersburg.
Throw GW smoothly – the main rule
The main rule for weaning a baby from the breast is to do everything gradually. Weaning for a child is already stressful, and even when it happens abruptly. Moreover, a sharp cancellation is fraught with consequences for the mother – lactostasis or mastitis may appear. Do everything gradually, and everything will go smoothly.
Choose the right time
In no case do not refuse breastfeeding at a time when the child is teething, he is sick, he does not feel well. At such moments, it is better to postpone the rejection of GV.
Cancel one meal at a time
To begin with, give up one breastfeed a day – the one that the baby is the least enthusiastic about. Most likely, it will be an afternoon snack. Replace breastfeeding with a bottle of formula milk if your baby is under a year old, or solid food for an older baby.
When such a regime becomes habitual, and this can take from 3 to 7 days, then remove one more feeding. And so on, until the child completely switches to independent nutrition.
Give your child enough time
You can not deprive the child of attention when he is absent from GV. Spend more time with him, play, kiss, hug. This will help him get through the difficult period easier.
Pump
As every mother knows, the production of milk in the body occurs according to the law of supply and demand. The child eats – milk comes. The less he eats, the less he eats.
When the gradual rejection of HB begins, lactation slows down until it stops completely. If you feel that the breast is pouring, but you will not feed now, then express milk. But not completely – enough until the pain disappears.
Drink decoctions of herbs that reduce lactation
Decoctions of sage, peppermint, parsley and jasmine flowers reduce lactation. Take a couple of tablespoons of dry herbs, pour boiling water over them and let it brew. Then strain and drink throughout the day.
Arouse your baby’s interest in complementary foods
Invite him to try new foods, new tastes. Let it be cottage cheese, apple, zucchini or broccoli. After each daily feeding, offer a portion of a new and interesting food. Form your child’s food interest yourself.
Offer complementary foods before breastfeeding
If the child still asks for breasts – give, but do not offer yourself. Try not to miss the moment of interest in new food.
Replace one meal with complementary foods
Offer purees instead of breasts – it is better to make them yourself, because store-bought ones contain a large amount of sugar and preservatives. If the baby is not worried, not angry, then after a while, do the same trick with another feeding. Make sure that regular food and breast milk alternate throughout the day.
Advice for moms – do not overtighten the breast
Some mothers tighten their breasts so that less milk comes in. This can lead to mastitis and lactostasis. As for the pills to stop lactation, only a doctor should prescribe them to you. Do not buy drugs on the advice of friends or from the Internet.
Popular questions and answers
Pediatrician Elena Pisareva answered popular questions about weaning children from breastfeeding.
How do you know if a child is ready to wean?
• Food and drink;
• Sedation, relaxation, “hypnotic”;
• Contact with mother.
Once a baby has learned to satisfy these three needs without breastfeeding, it is ready for weaning. But we must understand that he will not learn on his own and it is our task to help him.
How to help the baby during the rejection of breastfeeding?
In order to meet the need for food and drink, we must introduce complementary foods on time, the child must have a sufficient variety of foods, the baby must be taught to drink water.
The second thing we can do is to teach the child to calm down and fall asleep without a breast, with the help of voice, strokes, hugs, songs and so on.
The child must be given contact with the mother, not only at the breast. Games, reading, massages, hugs, eye to eye contact, just mom and baby, not mom, phone and baby or mom, TV and baby.
Well, during weaning, we give the child a maximum of ourselves, attention, affection, patience.
Also, the temporary delegation of the child to dad and grandmother often works well, the key word is temporary, and not to exile for a week.