Newborn And Infant Weaning
What is "weaning"?
Weaning is the process of transitioning a baby into a more solid-food diet. Weaning can happen whether you're breast-feeding or bottle-feeding; it's just the method whereby a baby goes from relying mostly on liquids to relying mostly on solids, like an adult.
If I'm breast feeding, how do I transition my baby to the bottle?
Transitioning can be a difficult process for a baby who's breast-fed. It's very different to breast feed than to bottle feed. The movement in the jaw, lips and teeth are different. So, you should expect a rocky period if you're trying to teach your baby to exclusively bottle feed. In general, it is always best to continue breast feeding, but if it's necessary, get someone else to help you. The baby's much more likely to learn the bottle feeding skill from someone who isn't their mother than someone who contains the breast they know how to use.
How do I wean a toddler from breastfeeding?
Weaning from breast feeding should happen very naturally. As the toddler becomes more independent and enjoys table food more, the toddler should lose interest in the breast and breast feeding. In some families, especially at times of heightened stress or if there's been a divorce or a change in family structure, some toddlers do have a very difficult time leaving breast feeding. At that point you want to do some kind of signal that lets the baby know when your breasts are available and when they are closed. Usually nice tight clothing and a good firm "No, I'm not breast feeding" will inform your toddler that it's time to give it up.
How do I wean a toddler from bottle feeding?
Bottle feeding, in many ways, is very difficult to wean your baby off of, much more so than breast feeding. While the process is very natural with breast feeding, with bottle feeding (because it is an inanimate object that the child can carry around) it often becomes an attachment issue. Breaking an attachment issue is very difficult for a small toddler. The best thing you can do is transition out of bottles to cups before one year of age. There's nothing wrong with giving formula in a sippy cup after six months of age. Train sippy cups early when the baby's memory is not developed, and it won't have attachment to the bottle, making weaning off bottle feeding easier. If, however, you have gone past one year of age, the very best thing you can do is to have a ceremony of throwing out your bottles. Get them all to the trash so there is no more bottle feeding option.
What is "abrupt weaning"?
Abrupt weaning happens when, for some reason, the mother immediately needs to change from breastfeeding to either bottle feeding or usually, just to solid food. Abrupt weaning can be very frightening to a small child and should be avoided. However, if abrupt weaning does have to happen, make sure you contact a lactation consultant to know the best way to go about it.
Is it ever appropriate to abruptly wean a child?
Abrupt weaning is very traumatic to a small child, especially if you've been breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is a part of the mother and baby dynamic, and so abrupt weaning should be avoided at all costs. If, however, something has happened in your medical status so that abrupt weaning must occur, make sure you contact a lactation consultant to discuss how to do it properly.
What do I do when weaning from the breast becomes a struggle?
If weaning from the breast is a struggle, most likely the baby has an attachment to the mother that's not being satisfied in other ways. Look to see if, when the baby is not breastfeeding, perhaps you're not giving it the same amount of attention. Give the baby lots more attention when you're not breastfeeding than when you are breastfeeding and the child will probably pretty quickly stop struggling to wean.
Are there times when I should not wean my baby off the breast?
There are definitely times when weaning a baby from the breast would be inappropriate. Those would be if you're under a lot of stress, or if anything about your family dynamic has changed. For example, if Grandma was there for a month-long visit and has just left, it's probably not a good time to introduce another change to a baby who will be slightly upset for a while. If, however, it has to happen, just make sure you call your pediatrician or lactation consultant to discuss why and how to do it appropriately.
