A nursing mother planning to breastfeed certainly wants to know how long to feed her baby breast milk. Up to 6–8 months or longer? Modern pediatrics has developed a number of recommendations that will help you go through the weaning period painlessly. The main factor when planning to stop breastfeeding is the baby’s age.
Is breast milk good for big babies?
At the age of one year, the child almost completely switches to solid food and, from a physiological point of view, ceases to need breastfeeding. At the same time, the qualitative composition of mother's milk changes - the nutritional value decreases, and the content of immunoglobulins, on the contrary, increases.
Thus, breast milk ceases to be the main source of nutrition and begins to perform a protective function. From the point of view of developing and maintaining immunity, it is useful to continue breastfeeding children aged one year and older.
When is the best time to wean?
Physiologically, weaning begins from the moment food other than mother’s milk appears in the child’s diet. In modern pediatrics, it is generally accepted that up to 6 months, a baby can eat only breast milk, optimally satisfying its needs for substances necessary for the body. A 9-month-old child is already able to completely abandon breastfeeding. However, it is not recommended to stop breastfeeding at such an early age unless there are serious reasons.
The most suitable age at which it is better to wean a child, according to pediatricians, is between 1.5 and 2 years. A one and a half year old baby becomes more independent and ceases to experience an urgent need for breast milk. The baby's attention is not completely focused on the mother, as before, and he can be distracted from thoughts about sucking the breast.
At the same time, the process of lactation involution begins in the mother’s body during this period. The flow of breast milk gradually stops. Long breaks between feedings no longer cause the same discomfort. For the mother, during the involution of lactation, the risk of milk stagnation or mastitis is significantly reduced.
WHO opinion
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months followed by the introduction of solid foods.
Until 4 months of age, the baby does not require complementary feeding as a source of nutrients. Moreover, the extrusion reflex, in which the tongue pushes anything into the mouth, makes feeding solid foods more difficult.
Breastfeeding after 3 years
If it is acceptable to feed a baby with milk up to 2 years of age, then after reaching three years of age, pediatricians do not recommend this type of nutrition. The baby may be very capricious, refuse to sleep until he receives the mother’s breast, and he may have difficulties with social adaptation. A woman may go to work, which may create inconvenience.
Then you should think about shortening the feeding period and stopping breastfeeding. Each mother must make her own decision, but this opinion is based on the experience of specialists.
WHO opinion
The Health Organization considers breastfeeding up to this age to be beneficial. After 1 year of breastfeeding, breastfeeding is recommended in countries with poor ecology and poor sanitary conditions, as breast milk helps the baby cope with intestinal and other infections. In countries with favorable conditions, lactation can be continued for up to 6 months, with the further introduction of complementary foods.
What do American colleagues think?
Pediatricians from the USA believe that up to 6 months the baby should receive everything he needs from his mother’s milk; after six months, complementary foods can be introduced. After 1 year, lactation can be continued at the request of the mother. In the West, one-year-old children are already weaned from their mother's breast.
How to end night applications
Before you start weaning your baby off night feedings, make sure your baby is able to fall asleep without breastfeeding. If your child is able to fall asleep in a stroller, in the arms of grandma or dad, then you can start weaning.
For several days, tell your child that everyone sleeps at night - birds, fish, animals, and people. Mom should sleep too. Repeat this phrase as often as possible, including before bed.
Weaning your baby from the breast will be much easier if he sleeps separately from his parents. When the baby wakes up at night, it is advisable for one of the relatives, such as dad or grandmother, to come to him. Try to calm him down on your own, without mom's help.
But during daytime wakefulness, the mother needs to spend as much time as possible with the baby so that he does not feel deprived. Hug and stroke your baby as often as possible - close physical contact during the day will compensate for the lack of breasts at night.
WHO recommendations
WHO recommends that children be fed until at least six months of age before introducing their first complementary foods. At this time, the child needs valuable substances, and breastfeeding can fully provide the baby’s body with them.
Note! Every mother should make every effort to establish lactation and long-term breastfeeding of the child in order to create the precondition for his further good health.
The WHO considers the desirable period of guarding to be 2 years. At this moment, the baby, as practice shows, weans himself. You should not listen to any advice from grandmothers, girlfriends and strangers. Every mother feels good about her baby and knows exactly when to stop breastfeeding. The duration of the guard applies only to the mother and baby.
How to properly end breastfeeding
It is not recommended to wean your baby in the spring or summer, as the risk of contracting viral colds or intestinal infections increases. Teething is associated with a weakened immune system, so it is best not to start weaning at this time. It is not advisable to refuse breastfeeding during illness or after recent recovery.
The process of completing long-term breastfeeding can be divided into several stages:
- To begin with, they end up with intermediate daily feedings, which do not constitute full feeding.
Often babies ask for their mother's breast during breaks between games and, after sucking for 2-3 minutes, return to the interrupted activity. The mother will have to make an effort to distract the child’s attention, but such attachments have more of a psychological value, so giving them up is usually painless.
- At the second stage, feedings are removed after naps.
If a child wakes up and finds his mother nearby, he will not understand why she denies him the breast. Therefore, women who are accustomed to resting during the daytime with their baby need to get up before he gets up. When the new regime is established, morning application is also abandoned.
- The next step is to avoid breastfeeding before naptime.
It is likely that the baby will be capricious for the first few days and have difficulty falling asleep. The mother needs to try to calm the child down - lie next to him, stroke him, sing a song. If your baby is old enough, try to compromise and explain that milk will only be available in the evening.
- Once the baby has come to terms with the situation, it is time to wean him off feeding before bedtime.
- The last thing to do is remove night breastfeeding.
Usually this stage turns out to be the longest. It sometimes takes several months before your baby completely stops nursing at night.
Until what age should a child breastfeed?
The question of until what age a baby should be breastfed is sought by mothers from pediatricians, breastfeeding specialists, more experienced friends or relatives. And although it is difficult to find a definite answer in the sea of available information, we will try to reveal general recommendations and tips designed to make life easier for all family members.
Until what age should a baby be breastfed: WHO recommendations
The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly recommends that new mothers breastfeed their newborns until they are six months old. At this stage of development, the baby’s immunity completely depends on the nutrients obtained from milk. Therefore, breastfeeding up to six months guarantees the child good health and proper physical development.
After six months, WHO recommends gradually introducing the baby to complementary feeding, gradually replacing breast milk with special formulas and other foods. The transition to complementary feeding is due not only to the need to gradually accustom the baby to “adult” food. Once a baby begins to crawl and expend a lot of energy exploring the world around him, his nutritional needs increase and breast milk becomes insufficient to provide the baby with the nutrition he needs for sustained growth and weight gain. Therefore, by the age of one year, the basis of the baby’s diet should be complementary foods, and the number of breastfeedings should gradually be reduced to 3-4 times a day.
WHO experts recommend continuing breastfeeding for up to two years, if this diet meets the needs of both the child and the mother. Long-term breastfeeding is especially recommended for children in developing countries, where children are at risk of intestinal infections and other infectious diseases. In these cases, breast milk is the safest food for babies.
Breastfeeding babies over one year old
The decisive factor when choosing to breastfeed a child older than one year is the psychological state of the mother and baby. According to pediatricians, weaning has virtually no effect on the physiological state of healthy children who grow up in good conditions. Over the age of one year, latching on the mother's breast brings more psychological benefits. Close contact with the mother allows the baby to quickly calm down and feel safe. Moreover, breastfeeding strengthens the already close bond between mother and baby.
On the other hand, modern women often have to combine caring for a baby with work, maintaining a family, and many other things. If breastfeeding causes you more stress than peace and positive emotions, it is better to stop breastfeeding. In this situation, milk will not benefit the baby, and you will continue to experience negative emotions until you stop breastfeeding your baby.
Psychologists also believe that timely weaning of a baby from mother’s milk allows him to quickly develop communication skills and control emotions. The faster the baby learns to calm down without his mother’s breast, the easier it will be for him to find a common language with his peers. If the baby actively demands breast milk, perhaps he lacks communication with his mother in addition to feeding. Try to spend more time with your baby, play educational games with him, read books to quench his thirst for communication.
Baby's readiness for weaning
If you decide to continue breastfeeding your baby until the baby refuses milk on his own, you will have to wait a little. Depending on individual characteristics, at the age of 1.5 to 3 years, most children are ready to give up breastfeeding. Recognizing this stage is quite simple if you pay attention to some signs.
Firstly, the baby attaches to the breast less often, he is easily distracted from the desire to suckle at the breast by other food, games or conversation, and at night he almost never wakes up to drink milk. Secondly, the baby has already learned to cope with grievances and frustrations on his own, and he does not need to be attached to his mother’s breast to calm down. Thirdly, the baby calmly goes to bed without breastfeeding, even if it is not the mother who puts him to bed, but another family member.
To watch videos on how to establish breastfeeding and how to feed your baby correctly, with detailed expert instructions, you can purchase our Healthy Baby Care
According to WHO recommendations, breastfeeding up to six months ensures healthy growth for the baby, after which it can be switched to complementary feeding and breast milk excluded after a year.
However, ultimately, until what age you continue to breastfeed is your decision and should not be influenced by any external factors.
Disadvantages of prolonged feeding
In addition to the positive aspects of breastfeeding large children, there are also a number of disadvantages:
- Exhaustion of the maternal body.
In order to produce breast milk, a woman's body mobilizes significant resources. Long-term breastfeeding, especially in combination with an unbalanced diet, can lead to a lack of vitamins, affecting the condition of the mother’s skin and hair.
- Excessive psychological attachment of the child to the mother.
Some pediatricians believe that too long a period of breastfeeding (3 years or more) creates a kind of dependence on the baby’s mother. This interferes with the formation of independence.
- Negative social attitudes towards breastfeeding large children in public places.
Pediatricians consider the most suitable age for weaning a child to be one and a half years old and older. You should not start this process while you are feeling unwell. A gradual reduction in the number of attachments will minimize stress factors for the baby and mother, ending breastfeeding painlessly.
If the baby does not eat anything other than breast milk
Sometimes parents are faced with the following problem: the child does not eat anything other than breast milk. In such cases, introducing complementary foods not according to the usual pattern recommended by pediatricians helps. It is rational to follow the rules of the so-called pedagogical complementary feeding. It lies in the fact that with unlimited consumption of breast milk, the baby receives in microdoses what the whole family eats, naturally avoiding harmful, spicy, canned foods. In any case, pressure and violence with food will only aggravate the situation, and abrupt weaning will cause stress.
No matter how beneficial breast milk is for a baby, managing the feeding process should bring joy to both parties. If the mother is calm and affectionate, the baby will be fine in any case, no matter how many months or years she breastfeeds him.
