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Breaking from the Breast:
When you are ready to begin weaning your baby from the breast, you should know that it is quite a bit different than breaking a baby from the bottle. With the bottle, the more abrupt the break, the better off your child is in a much shorter period of time. With weaning, it works opposite. It is much better for mother and baby to slowly wean the baby from the breast.
You will begin around the time that the baby is 4-6 months old by introducing solid foods into the baby's diet. Then the breast milk will be more supplemental than it will be their whole diet.
This is also a good time to try to introduce your baby to a cup or bottle. They can drink juice with their food, and once they get used to taking a bottle or a cup, it will make it much easier when you decide to start really weaning.
Many people believe that you should let the baby be the guide on when to stop breastfeeding. This is the way that many mothers do it, waiting until the baby is ready to stop. Some babies may stop abruptly, and some may stop gradually when you do it this way.
One thing to remember about this method of weaning, though, is that if you are ready, but your child isn't, there is no harm in encouraging your child to stop. This is better than continuing feeding your baby when you don't want to anymore and they no longer need it.
Gradual weaning is another method that many mothers choose to use, and it is where the mother phases out one feeding every couple of days by offering some other form of nutrition or comfort in the place of the feeding. The mother will continue this gradual reduction of feedings until they have ceased, and by this time, the baby has usually adapted quite a bit, and this makes it much easier.
Another type of weaning is when the baby and mother aren't quite ready to completely give it up just yet, and this is called partial weaning. This is when the mother will gradually eliminate all the feedings except one or two. Often, this is one at night and one in the morning, or whenever is at the mother's convenience.
However you choose to wean your baby will be just fine, and you should not try to give in to any pressure you may feel from outside sources. If you are ready to quit breastfeeding, then there is nothing wrong with beginning to wean them, as long as you supplement this with some other form of nutrition.
Likewise, if you aren't ready to wean your baby completely yet, you shouldn't give in to people who say you should stop.
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