How to Wean Off Breastfeeding – For your baby to wean from breastfeeding, you must learn what your responsibilities are – you decide when and where to feed your child. Also, you have the sole decision as to what kind of food you will give your baby. Surprisingly, your baby has a responsibility to – he is responsible for how much he will eat and whether he wants to eat.
Guidelines How to Wean Off Breastfeeding
Here some guidelines how to wean off breastfeeding to help your child be a better, willing eater:
- Do not pressure your baby to eat. Talk to him quietly and it is best to encourage him when he is eating.
- Never leave your baby’s side while he is eating.
- Surrender to the fact that eating time can possibly be messy-time. Curiosity will make your baby try out more new foods, so let your child explore and “play” with his food using his hands. If his motor skills are starting to be well-defined, and he is able to hold a spoon, let him do so. This will facilitate easier learning – he will eventually get the notion that he can use a spoon to feed himself.
- Let your baby join the family during meal times. Babies are great mimics; they learn by watching others around them, and eating meals are no exception.
- If possible, don’t give him toys or other distracting things. Turn off your television so that your baby can concentrate more on eating than what’s on.
- Do not pressure him to eat more then what you think he should have. Remember that your baby has the sole responsibility to be able to decide for himself if he wants more or less food. Also, if she seems hungry still, then you should give him some more. It just means that his body is adjusting to the food, and his body is telling him that he needs more than what was given. (You have a growing baby; his growth will depend not only on his milk intake, but also on his food intake as well.)
- New food should follow the 4-day rule. Introduce new food to your baby. Observe and monitor him in a span of 4 days. This is so you can rule out any adverse effects or allergic reactions he may have to the new food. Once you reach day 4 with no allergies or rashes whatsoever, then it is safe to consider new food as harmless for baby and you can continue feeding him that when you can.
- Never use food as a reward or as punishment. Mothers who do this may inadvertently lead their child to unnecessary obesity in the future.
Weaning should always be a 2-way decision – as mentioned earlier, never force a baby. Pressure may lead to a rebellious act from your child – yes, babies can do that too regardless of the age. Just go with the flow for a hassle-free baby-led weaning.
Article publié pour la première fois le 13/09/2015