How to Wean Your Baby?

Breast milk is the best food we give to our baby in the beginning specially colostrum which is loaded with so many immunity boosters. This milk is a gift of nature and one can never deny its benefits at all. However, many mothers couldn’t feed because of low milk supply and switched to formula milk and bottle feeding.

Nursing women must try some known galactogogues and other breastfeeding cookies which are a perfect combination of herbs and foods that help increase milk supply. It is recommended to feed your milk to your baby exclusively for up to six months and then later introduce some semi-solid foods which a baby can easily digest, with continuing breast milk at least at the age of one. However, you could feed your baby till two years of age.

Switching from one type of food to another is actually known as weaning, it could be switching to some foods, leaving breast milk and coming to bottle or cup feed. The usual response of the babies is very different from one to another, as every child is different along with the situations too. Sometimes mothers are unable to satisfy their baby with their milk and have to switch to other options. Here are some ways in which you can wean your baby effortlessly.

1- What is the right time to wean my baby?

After exclusive feeding for six months, your baby is ready to enjoy some foods that includes cereals, mashed potatoes, over cooked rice, boiled vegetable and fruit purees to enjoy new tastes and variety. This introduction of foods is important too because it helps to meet their growing nutritional needs.

You can observe that your baby isn’t getting satisfied from your milk only, that’s the right time to give some other foods. Also the baby should start sitting on its own, having good contact with their neck and muscles, so that they can swallow the food easily. Weaning could be child-led or mother-led too, the most comfortable is child-led because they’re showing interest in food and you don’t need to put in a lot of effort in it.

2- How to do that easily?

Weaning process could be an easy one or the most difficult task you’ve ever experienced in your life. It all depends on your baby’s response and your patience levels too. However, it is advised to follow your baby’s cues, observe what he/she likes and dislikes. Like many babies, they don't like sweet food but prefer savory foods, while many reject the simple bland food and prefer having what elders are having like fries in their hands, a piece of bread, regular cooked rice or sometimes only bone with no meat on it. Whatever you experience and observe, try not to hurry in anything but give some time to your baby to adjust. Try different foods and see what your baby is more interested in. Some tips are stated below:

a- Start by substituting one feed

The easiest and better way of weaning is to do it slower and gradually. It may take you several days or even weeks but this will not disturb your child and is even a good way for you too. always go for sudden abruptness in extreme situations like if you’re pregnant again or if you’ve any medical emergency. You substitute one feed at a time, gradually increasing it and replacing it with food. The general rule of thumb is slower is better.

b- Ask someone for help

Sometimes a baby is so attached to your touch, face and skin that he/she may refuse to take any other food from mother and in that case you need help from someone else to offer a feed for your baby to accept it. In many cases it works like a wonder.

c- Hold and cuddle your baby

Giving a bottle feed after breastfeeding for long is a difficult process, usually baby’s reject it badly and cry their heart out because they want their mother’s breasts to nurse them. You can hold your baby in your arms, cuddle, sing to distract him/her and give them bottle feed.

3-Don’t stop breastfeeding abruptly

Quitting abruptly from the lactation process is not only discomforting for the baby but it also isn’t good for the mother at all. Leaving feed like this can lead to breast engorgement in which milk accumulates in the breasts and make them painful and large. Sometimes it leads to blocked milk ducts and lumps in the breasts, if you wean slowly, milk supply will decrease naturally.

4-What is the next step?

After weaning you must be careful about the diet of your baby, as breast milk has everything in it that your little one requires but now you’ve to be careful about it. pick iron fortified, calcium rich formula milk for babies for their growth and development along with healthy food choices that are made at home, avoid all kinds of packed and processed foods and purees for your baby.

Conclusion

Like the breastfeeding journey is difficult for a mother, weaning your baby is another tough step but feel good about it, because you have given your child the best and a hard journey of nursing is coming to an end!