Breast milk is the best food for children, but after a while, mom begins to feel tired and decides to finish feeding. How to determine whether the baby is ready to abandon the breast, and whether weaning will be a big stress for the baby?
Baby wakes up at night feeding
Many children between the ages of 6 and 9 months wake up at night to eat, and for some, nightly feeding can last up to 1.5 - 2 years. In some babies, the digestive system develops rapidly, in others a little slower - and this is normal. If the baby wakes up at night to eat, then weaning will not solve this problem: you still have to get up at night and feed him with the mixture. So is it worth the rush?
The baby does not show food interest
Usually food interest awakens in children aged 6 to 9 months. But if the baby does not react to adult food, does not try to try something from your plate, then it is too early to curtail breastfeeding. In this case, the child is better to continue to receive all the beneficial substances and calories with his mother’s milk.
A child cannot take food on his own
Pediatricians and psychologists define this symptom as the most important: if the baby is not ready to hold food in his hands and send it into his mouth, then he is not ready to refuse breastfeeding. This means that the neural connections of the brain that are responsible for the emergence of food habits in the child have not finally formed, and you need to wait some more time.
Baby doesn’t want to eat healthy food
Even if a child eats baby cookies on his own and with great pleasure, this does not mean that he is ready to refuse mother's milk. In order to grow and develop well, a child’s nutrition must be healthy and balanced, including proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Does the kid not want to eat meat or vegetables? This means that he is not yet ready for good nutrition, and do not rush to complete breastfeeding.
Digestion problems when switching to regular food
Breast milk is easily digested, and when a child begins to eat adult food, the appearance of such troubles as abdominal pain or allergic reactions is possible.In such situations, it is better not to excommunicate the baby, but to gradually introduce new products into his diet and monitor the body's reaction.
The kid drinks very little
Before weaning, you must teach your child to drink water and other fluids. When breastfeeding, the baby does not need to be doped with water, because it is contained in the milk itself. At the end of the GW, the balance of water and food should not be disturbed, otherwise the child will suffer from a lack of fluid in the body.
The child does not eat without mom
Mom not only feeds the baby - it is for him a source of affection, warmth and protection. If a child refuses to eat without a mother, even when he is offered a bottle of breast milk, then do not rush to complete breastfeeding. Of course, after a long hunger strike, the baby will still begin to eat, but is it worth it to excommunicate him with such cruel methods?
The child is not yet a year old
It may seem to you that the baby has begun to lose interest in HS and is ready to switch to adult food, but until he turns one year old, he still should not give up breast milk. Loss of interest in a child with GV can be another phase of his development, when all the attention of the child is focused on another occupation that is important for him. Or it could be a reaction to teething. According to doctors, breast milk is the best food for children up to a year.
Heavy teething
Some children, when their teeth are cut, eat little and reluctantly. Others, on the contrary, are ready to hang on their mother’s breasts for days. In both cases, the termination of breastfeeding can adversely affect the condition of the baby: he is already experiencing stress from teething, and his mother’s chest is a kind of comfort for him.
Kid is sick
Any disease is easier for a child to tolerate by receiving antibodies with mother’s breast milk. While the baby is sick, do not stop breastfeeding. You can think about this later - when the child is completely healthy.
Well, and most importantly - the mother will always feel when her baby is ready to abandon breastfeeding. And she will not need any advice from doctors, grandmothers or girlfriends. If the mother understands that the time has come, then it really has come. There’s no need to rush anywhere, you don’t need to explain or justify anything to anyone. After all, the duration of breastfeeding concerns only you and your baby.
