If you are a new mother, a major accomplishment is weaning your infant from breast or bottle feeding. Parents who are still nursing their infants frequently ask when it is time to wean them from breast milk or formula. It’s important to understand the proper weaning techniques, as it’s not always as straightforward to quit abruptly.
Weaning your infant too soon, if not handled properly, can make things harder for your child or result in issues like engorgement or infections. To make the process of weaning go more easily, you can employ several easy techniques.
In this article, we have shared the best age for weaning a baby and also talk about weaning your child from breastfeeding at every age.
When Is the Best Time to Wean?
If you are a new parent you might always be concerned like every other lactating parent about “What is the best age for weaning a baby?” The response varies according to the individual, with some breastfeeding for weeks or months and others continuing well past the first year. You can go with just what works best for you and your family as there is no right or best time for weaning.
The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) advises exclusively nursing your infant up until the age of six months, after which you should continue to breastfeed while introducing a range of solid meals up until their first birthday.
But ultimately, the decision to wean is one that only the individual may make. Many nursing parents wean their children earlier than the recommended time due to returning to work, physical issues, or simply wanting their bodies back and that’s fine.
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How do Wean a baby around 0–6 Months?
You must switch out breastfeeding sessions with bottles of formula when weaning a kid younger than six months old. In essence, you will replace each breastfeeding session with a bottle feeding. It may not be so straightforward to get your baby to take a bottle, especially if they are older than three months.
Early on, at around 6 weeks, it is advised to incorporate a few bottles of breast milk into your feeding routine so that your infant will feel at ease with both feeding methods. But if your thirsty infant still rejects the bottle then persistence and experimentation are the keys to success.
You can try feeding your child somewhere else, asking a different person to do it, or changing the position of how you hold your kid.
Slow weaning
The general advice is to go gradually while assisting your infant in making the switch from breast milk to formula. In addition to reducing your baby’s anxiousness, this will shield your breasts from engorgement.
The consensus among experts is that you should proceed cautiously, but make sure to only replace one feeding every three to four days so that the entire process takes roughly two weeks. You may also go as far as you like in extending it. Morning and nighttime feedings will probably be the last to go as you transition the feedings that are least liked to bottles.
How do Wean a baby of around 6–12 Months?
Between the ages of 8 and 10 months, it’s normal for newborns to appear to lose interest in breastfeeding. Babies frequently pull away from the breast to gaze around during this period because they are absorbing a lot of sensory information. Therefore, if you’re considering weaning, it might go more smoothly during this window.
Of fact, even if some older infants are eager to end breastfeeding relationships, many toddlers now more than ever crave that tactile connection. Around nine months is when separation anxiety usually manifests. Wait to wean your kid if you discover that they are overly clinging until they have managed this anxiety a little bit.
Think about skipping the bottle.
One option for weaning your baby to solid food and a sippy cup or straw cup if they are older than nine months is to do it all at once. This option saves you from having to transition your child from the bottle to the cup again a few months later. A month or two before you begin the process of weaning, it’s a good idea to introduce your child to the cup so they have time to grow used to holding and drinking from it.
Initially, during solid food meals, you should only provide water in a sippy cup. To help your child get used to the idea that all of their liquids can come from a cup, fill the cup as your child feels more at ease with expressed milk or formula.
The Final Words
Weaning is not a simple task as it involves many efforts by parents to wean their infant from breast or bottle feeding. Moreover, as the baby grows older it becomes more difficult to wean as he gets habitual of breast milk or bottle feeding.
We hope that you found this article helpful and that it helped you decide the best age for weaning your baby.