It is not true that babies are weaned before they are one year old. Chang! Less! See you! If the mother does not deliberately guide, the baby will not be weaned until he is one and a half years old.
It is better for the baby to be exclusively breast-fed until six months old, and then continue to be fed after one year old with supplementary foods. However, many mothers say that their babies are weaned by themselves at the age of 89 months (or even earlier). Is this really the case?
No!
Let’s talk about why the mother thinks the baby is weaned by herself and how to prevent the baby from being weaned too early.
Will the baby wean himself under the condition of what?
Babies weaned by themselves have the following characteristics:
- Generally, they are over one year old, and more often after two years old, they get most of the nutrition by eating solid food. They can drink skillfully in cups and slowly no longer need mother’s breast-feeding.
The baby’s active weaning must meet two conditions: there is no nutritional need for breast milk and no emotional dependence.
If someone says that his baby was weaned before he was one year old, you should smile and not talk… it is definitely impossible to wean himself!
There is too little milk to give the illusion of [active weaning]
The mother said that the baby was weaned before the age of one. In fact, it may be that she had too little milk and inadvertently interrupted the normal development rhythm of the baby.
If there is too little milk, the baby will not drink so well. If the baby drinks less, the breast will be less stimulated by sucking and the milk will be less produced. As a result, the baby will prefer to drink milk in bottles or cups, because only in this way can they satisfy their desire to drink.
The most common reason for the decrease of milk is insufficient sucking!
The baby appeared [active weaning] after half a year old, which may be due to these reasons:
1. Regular breastfeeding or significant reduction in the number of feeds
Always suck pacifiers and carry out sleep training for babies. If you go too far, you may greatly reduce the number of feeding times.
Many people will ask, how big is it? In fact, different families have different situations and different answers. But at least one thing must be in mind: if you keep reducing the number of times of feeding, the secretion of breast milk will become less and less.
2. Losing too much weight
Some mothers wish to lose weight immediately after giving birth to their children. They do not hesitate to lose weight through diet, but this will reduce breast milk secretion.
Step 3: Take the wrong medicine
It is not impossible to take medicine during lactation, but medication should be more cautious. For example, oral contraceptives containing estrogen may lead to less breast milk.
4. Start eating supplementary foods too early
The baby’s appetite is not so big. If he starts to eat supplementary foods too early, he will drink less milk, which will naturally reduce breast milk.
Generally speaking, depending on the baby’s development and unique needs, supplementary foods can be added from 4 to 6 months.
5. Supplementary foods are added too fast.
Adding supplementary foods should be carried out step by step! To make steady progress incrementally! To make steady progress incrementally!
Some mothers want their babies to adapt to supplementary foods as soon as possible, but they accidentally feed too much, so how can their babies have an appetite for breast milk?
Babies hate milk, which does not mean they want to be weaned.
Many babies may suddenly tire of milk after half a year old, which is normal, but it is not that babies want to be weaned.
Older babies are more likely to be distracted when eating. When they begin to learn to crawl and walk, or when they get sick and suffer from long teeth, they may also suddenly get tired of milk.
At this stage, some babies will show that they are busy playing during the day and don’t eat much milk, and start to ask for milk at night.
Some mothers will give their babies bottles or straw cups, and they will find this way is really convenient. They can not only drink big milk, but also do not delay their [climbing] journey at all! Unlike sitting down to drink breast milk, you can’t move at all…
Therefore, some babies will become more inclined to bottles at this stage and [abandon] their mothers’ breasts.
Welfare: Tips to Avoid Early Weaning
The following tips are very helpful to prevent early weaning. Please bring your own small bench and take your notebook:
In the first year of the baby’s birth, the first choice of diet must be breast milk:
- Before the age of one, Insisting on feeding first, Feed supplementary food again. Slowly increase the intake of supplementary food. For example, in 12 months or so, the proportion of supplementary food slowly increases to 25%, 18 months to 50%, 24 months to 80%. Sugar drinks are best drunk less, sugar is too high, there is no nutrition, and it will only fill the baby’s stomach. Drinking too much water will also have a feeling of fullness, objectively leading to fewer times of feeding.
Try not to let your baby rely too much on bottles:
- To prevent the baby from falling in love with the feeling of large flow, you can use the nipple head with smaller flow, not necessarily strictly in accordance with the specifications corresponding to the age of the month. Compared with bottles, the cup should be considered more carefully. When with the baby, don’t let them suck nipple all day long. In order to satisfy the desire for sucking, the baby will eat milk more diligently.
Older babies are more likely to be impatient when eating milk. They should come up with various ways to attract the baby’s attention as much as possible:
- You can change several more nursing postures, For example, let them stand or sit on their thighs to give them more initiative and wider vision. When nursing, you can hum a little song, talk for a while, do finger games, etc. to let him focus on his mother. Wear a necklace or a brightly colored scarf is also good. Give them a small toy to play with.
Some details may give bad hints to the baby and encourage weaning. When getting along with the baby, pay attention to the following points:
- Often take the initiative to nurse the baby, don’t wait for him to cry and shout for milk to drink. Don’t have the weaning thought of [not taking the initiative, not refusing, not being responsible]. If the mother wants to sleep more at night, she can consciously increase the number of nursing during the day, but if the baby is really hungry and wants to drink milk at night, approve! Mothers who feed regularly may say [not now, drink later], but you have to know that [wait] means [wait] and cannot wait until the baby requests feeding again. Don’t interrupt the baby frequently during the feeding process. Don’t limit the time and place of feeding. Maintain a close mother-child relationship with the baby and often carry and hold him.
Don’t let the baby [wean]
If the baby can sleep alone, sleep peacefully all night, adapt to defecation training quickly, wean earlier, etc., we will feel, ah, this baby is very independent!
Tragically, some babies are pushed to the next stage of life challenges by adults before they are psychologically or physically ready.
Some mothers are influenced by the concept of “independence as soon as possible”. They may not even think that their babies just don’t want to eat milk for the time being, so they are allowed to go head-on and wean decisively.
Of course, this does not mean that it must be a very bad decision for the mother to take the initiative to wean the baby. The timing of weaning should take into account the needs of the family, as well as the situation of the baby and the mother.
However, it should be understood that this is not the baby’s real desire to wean, it is only a temporary growth stage. If mothers know that the baby does not want to wean at this time, they will certainly think twice before acting.
Carefully weigh the pros and cons of weaning and continuing nursing before making a decision. You let the baby choose for himself, the baby cannot do it!