When weaning is a mother's idea, it normally requires a lot of patience and can take time, depending on the age of your baby or toddler, and also how well your child adjusts. The overall experience is different for everyone.
Weaning is a long goodbye, sometimes emotional and sometimes painful. It doesn't however, signal fo the end to the intimacy you and your child have developed during the nursing stage. What it means, is that you have to replace breast feeding with other types of nourishment.
Starting weaning Your the best judge as to when it's the right time to wean, and you don't really have a deadline unless you and your child are actually ready to wean. The recommended time for weaning is one year. No matter what relatives, friends, or even complete strangers tell you, there is no right or wrong time for weaning.
How to wean You should proceed slowly, regardless of what the age of your child may be. Experts say that you shouldn't abruptly withhold your breast, as they results can be traumatic. You should however, try these methods instead: 1. Skip a feeding - Skip a feeding and see what happens, offering a cup of milk to your baby instead. As a substitue, you can use a bottle of your own pumped milk, formula, or a cow's milk. If you reduce feedings one at a time, your child will eventually adjust to the changes. 2. Shorten feeding time - You can start by cutting the length of time your child is actually at the breast. If the normal feeding time is 5 minuts, try 3. Depending on the age, follow the feeding with a healthy snack. Bed time feedings are usually the hardest to wean, as they are normally the last to go. 3. Postpone and distract - You can postpone feedings if you are only feeding a couple of times per day. This method works great if you have an older child you can actually reason with. If your child wants the breast, say that you'll feed later then distract him.
If you've tried everything and weaning doesn't seem to be working at all, maybe the time just isn't right. You can wait just a bit longer to see what happens, as your child and you have to determine the right time to wean together.
It has been advertised time and again that it is best for the babies if they are breastfed for the first six months even up to two years. So why is breast milk so beneficial for the baby? First of all, only breast milk contains colostrums which are essential for the baby to take. Commercially-made milks cannot simulate the colostrums made by a mother. The colostrums contain natural antibodies and immune globulins that are responsible for keeping the baby free from illness for the first few months of its life.
Another advantage breast milk has over cow's milk is that it allows the mother to save as cow's milk can be expensive. The baby can better adapt to breast milk. Their feces are not smelly and they don't have any difficulty defecating compared to cow's milk. Breastfeeding has also been approved to be one of the family planning methods that a family can observe.
Since breastfeeding has been given so much importance, many women have been made aware. However, despite the awareness, many mothers still report of breast problems associated with lactation. These problems are most often than not, associated with improper breast feeding techniques. In order to lower down the incidence of breast related problems due to lactation, it is important that mothers observe the proper techniques of breast feeding. Ultimately, both the mother as well as the baby will benefit from the proper observance of these techniques.
First of all, you need to prepare your breast for milk-production. There are various nipple exercises to perform in order to prepare your nipple to deliver the breast milk to your baby. One of these exercises would involve routinely pinching the nipple.
Second and what most mothers fail to realize is how to keep the nipple clean before the baby latches on to it for feeding. When you plan to breast feed, you should avoid using soap on your nipple. If this cannot be avoided, your nipple should be wiped using a soft cloth soaked in clean water to make sure your nipple is clean before your baby feeds from it.
Third and perhaps the most important step is to allow your baby to properly latch on to your nipple. You will know when your baby is latched on properly when your baby's mouth covers the entire areola and not just the nipples. It is essential that your baby should latch on properly so that he or she can properly stimulate the ?let-down reflex? of your breasts wherein the milk will go down the ducts and out your nipple.
To aid your baby in latching on properly, you should make use of their rooting reflex. This is manifested in the first few months of life. You stimulate your baby's cheek, near their mouth using your nipple and their head will automatically turn towards the stimulation. Their mouth will open and be ready for receiving your nipple. Once you're done, you can aid your baby to stop latching on by inserting a clean pinky finger into the side of their mouth and propping it slightly open. Your baby will stop sucking and you can remove your nipple.
To prevent sore nipples and breast engorgement you have to monitor the amount of time your baby sucks with each nipple. It is usually advisable to spend 10-15 minutes each breast to make sure that the breasts are completely emptied of milk. This will prevent breast engorgement. The next time your baby feeds on your breast, let your baby feed from the last breast he or she fed on. This will completely empty the milk on that breast before you move on to the other breast.
Both Julia Sullivan & Steve Mallard are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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