What You Should Know About Breastfeeding and Weaning?

If you are a new mother, there are chances that you might be thinking a lot about breastfeeding and weaning. Breastfeeding your newborn is one of the most special and memorable moments of your life. You can watch your little one very close and your breast is the most soothing part for your baby. Deciding to breastfeed your child will be one of your best decisions.

However, breastfeeding also has its challenges. Your newborn might find it difficult to latch onto your nipple. Your nipples may suffer from cracking and bleeding. And your body may also find it hard to produce sufficient milk for your baby. Additionally, there are other challenges like cluster feeding, tiredness, sleeplessness, etc. To make your feeding easier, read here the breastfeeding tips for first-time mums.

Learning everything about breastfeeding will give your motherhood journey a good start. You can continue feeding your baby for as long as you want, and when your baby is ready to wean, you can stop breastfeeding.

For a happy breastfeeding journey, you should not hesitate to take help from your family and friends, especially your partner. After the delivery, you will also have to recover from your health, and you should also take rest to provide a full supply of your milk to your baby.

The essential points to know about breastfeeding

Once you chose to breastfeed your child, there are a few points you need to know so that your feeding journey becomes easier.

• You should breastfeed your child for the first six months without giving any supplements and solid foods provided that you are producing enough milk.
• It’s better to offer to breastfeed until your child reaches the age of 1. WHO recommends breastfeeding your child until 2 years of age. However, if you want to wean your child, you can do it once the child completes 1 year.
• Always check your child’s urine and bowel output to know whether your milk supply is sufficient for your baby or not.
• Be mindful of what you are eating so that your milk is not having any bad effect on your child.
• Once your child completes 6 months, you can start offering solid food along with breastfeeding your child. Talk to your paediatrician about whether your child is ready or not to start solid foods.

Bonus Read: Benefits of breastfeeding

How to start the weaning process?

As much as you love breastfeeding your child, there comes a time when you should start offering your little one solid foods.

It’s generally around 6 months of age. Start by replacing one breastfeeding session with solid food. Usually, the best time to offer solids is lunchtime. In this way, the baby will be active to try new foods and tastes and textures. Also, if the child has allergies, you will have enough time to take notice of the negative reactions like allergies, loose motions, vomiting, etc.

And as the age increases, you can replace each breastfeeding session with solid foods, snacks, etc. And after your little one crosses one year, you can also start giving cow’s milk but in limited quantities. You can also start giving a small amount of juice. However, refrain from offering anything that’s high in sugar like cake, chocolates, cool drinks, etc. You don’t want your little one to get used to unhealthy foods and become a trap for diabetes and obesity in their later stages of life.

When to stop breastfeeding completely?

There will come a time when your child will be developmentally ready to wean completely. The age is around 2 to 4 years. Around that time, your child may reject breasts or find new ways to soothe like cuddles and songs. 

However, you can also start complete weaning before the age of 2. You can introduce habits like sleep training to let your child independently without nursing to sleep. Though it takes days, weeks or even months, you can get your child to sleep independently throughout the night. It takes patience and you have to be strong when your child throws tantrums or resists the other soothing actions that you are doing.

Slowly introduce soothing music, and bedtime stories, and make your partner help you in setting a sleep routine. It may take time but you can achieve independent sleep for your baby. 

All things aside, your child will someday stop breastfeeding completely. It’s part of their developmental process. If you want, you can wait for your child to do it, if you don’t, you can start the weaning process whenever you are ready. 

When starting the weaning process, make sure that there are no big changes in your child’s life like sickness, shifting houses, etc.

Conclusion

Breastfeeding is a beautiful journey for a mother. However, it’s a choice that is totally upon you. You can also choose to give formula if you don’t want to breastfeed. There’s nothing guilty about it. Before starting your motherhood journey, make sure to know what it will be like. Though every mother’s journey is unique, there’s a lot to know about breastfeeding and weaning which helps you be aware of what to expect. 

Bonus read: Essential things for those first few weeks of motherhood.

 

Author Bio:

Hi, I’m Eleena Wills. Being a writer and blogger, I strive to provide informative and valuable articles to people. With quality, constructive, and well-researched articles, one can make informed choices. I cover a wide range of topics, from home improvement to hair styling and automotive. You can follow me on Facebook , Twitter & LinkedIn