Breastfeeding Weaning and Living Without Mother’s Milk

Mother’s milk is an ideal food for babies when they are small and it is recommended that babies should be exclusively breastfed for first six months of their life. But as the baby starts to grow they need more nutrients which milk alone can not provide. Your kid is already 18 month old; you should have weaned your child at a much younger age. If you breast feed him 15 times in a day he will be too full to eat anything else. However it is not wise to stop breastfeeding abruptly if your child is not used to eating anything. Start weaning him gradually by decreasing your feeds. Feed him once in the morning and once in the night and avoid night feeds as far as possible. You can give him feeds in the day time when he is hungry along with introducing other solid foods. You will know your child is ready for weaning when he feels hungry after breastfeed, he demands frequent feeds, watches you with interest while you are eating or wakes up frequently at night for extra feeds. Learn to identify these signs and start giving him solid foods gradually.

Breastfeeding Information and Weaning Baby Tips

Try the following weaning tips which will help your child deal with jaundice and also help to decrease the number of breastfeeds.

• Select a quite time in the day when your child is contented, usually after a small breastfeed or usual milk feed.
• Make sure that the solids are smooth in texture and mild in taste. It is possible that he will refuse to eat solid food sometimes but don’t lose patience. Reintroduce and keep trying again in small amounts for several days.
• Give him foods with simple fats like butter or cream as they can be easily digested till he recovers from jaundice.
• Remember not to hurry or force your child for solid feeds as there can be opposition from his side.
• Slowly introduce one food at a time. Your child is big enough to have all the foods you consume. But since he is not been weaned properly give him one food at a time, as he develops the taste for that particular food introduce another. If you introduce all the different tastes at a time he may get confused and might reject all your effort.
• Finger foods are excellent options like a piece of carrot, banana, toast, pear or any other fruit, cucumber, tomato, bread, breadsticks can all be given. But remember that the pieces are big enough to prevent chocking.
• As he starts eating other solid foods try to restrict your milk as large volumes of milk (more than 10 oz) at this stage can decrease his appetite for other nutritious foods.