Until recently, the newly-made mother was nervous that breast milk was not enough or of the wrong quality. But somehow everything went smoothly, the baby grew up and already actively eats porridge, meat puree, dairy products. He has his first teeth, and mom intuitively understands that it is time to stop breastfeeding.
How to do this painlessly for the child and his own body is a serious question. In addition, on women's forums on the Internet, where a woman will definitely go looking for answers, they are always ready to intimidate and intimidate her to such an extent that she will change her mind about weaning the little one. Renowned children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky explains how and when to stop breastfeeding and what to do with lactation.
When to stop?
Breast milk is a very nutritious and valuable product for a newborn, and no formula, even the most modern, expensive and adapted one, can compete with the very nature of food intended for an infant. Evgeny Komarovsky claims that after the appearance of teeth, a person no longer has a biological need for breast milk. When he can already eat thicker food, his body begins to require a qualitatively different composition of food than his mother's breast can offer. This occurs after the child is one year old.
When deciding to stop feeding, a mother must remember that she is not only a walking milk factory, but also a member of society, a social being, and she needs to perform not only her biological functions (feed the child), but also engage in her social functions (go out to people , work, communicate, study).
Eventually she may become ill and require medications that are incompatible with breastfeeding, and this likelihood cannot be ignored.
If adherents of breastfeeding up to three years old want to forget about the social functions of the mother and her personal desires, then this is their business. Breast milk will not harm a two-year-old or a five-year-old. But also of great benefit - too.
Komarovsky believes that the mother, who honestly fed the baby for up to a year, can be calm - she has fulfilled her biological duty in full. It's time to think about how to wean a baby from breastfeeding after a year.
Where to begin?
It's hard to start, Komarovsky warns. A kid who, at 12-14 months old, knows perfectly well what a delicious mother's tit is, is unlikely to want to give it up without a fight. He will fight like the last time, yell, throw tantrums, demand.
In such conditions, not everyone, even a very nervous mother, can survive. At some point, she will give a weakness, allow you to suck a little, and everything will have to start over. It is impossible to stop lactation of milk while the child irritates the receptors on the nipple.
To start the action to wean the child from the breast, you need to gain resolve and understand that the baby's dependence on breastfeeding is no longer physiological, but psychological, and without breast milk he will live quite normally. Mom and grandmother, as well as other relatives living in the same living space, need to stock up on valerian.
It is best to separate mother and child for a few days, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. Sending mom to the dacha or to a sanatorium for 5-7 days will be enough for the child to learn to do without breast milk. After mother's return, there may be inclinations of the child for the selected pleasure, but they should be resolutely suppressed. Of course, the child will be unhappy and may cry. But the mother should not change her decisions, otherwise the process of excommunication will last for months and years and will cause a lot of moral suffering to all household members.
If admonition doesn't help, try spoiling the taste of the milk. To do this, according to Komarovsky, it is enough to eat garlic or smear the nipple with mustard.
If a child receives a breast with such a “product” several times, next time he will think well whether to ask for it again or to do. Although this method does not work for everyone: some babies really like their mother's "garlic" milk, and the pungent smell does not bother them at all.
The information that for a child refusal to breastfeed is the strongest stress and trauma for life, according to Yevgeny Komarovsky, has no foundation. All this is speculation of mothers who are far from medicine and even psychology, who are fans of breastfeeding up to five years old. The stress will be minimal and very quickly forgotten by the baby if the mother does everything right. This means quickly, decisively and irrevocably.
The best time
You can finish feeding at any time of the year, says Yevgeny Komarovsky. Winter outside or summer doesn't matter. But it is important whether the child is ready for change. There are several situations in which it is better to postpone weaning:
- Baby's illness. If he feels bad, it's not a good idea to make it worse.
- Painful teething. If the process is in full swing, it is better to give the usual chest and not injure the already inflamed gums. In addition, breast milk contains a large number of antibodies to various infections, and it has antibacterial properties.
- A change of scenery... If you yourself have to move with your child or go on vacation in a week or two, you should not start weaning. It is better to leave it for later, when the child gets into a familiar environment.
After recovery, after a few days, you can proceed to your plans.
For a very long time, the people believed that it was impossible to stop breastfeeding in the hot season, and at that time it was quite reasonable - after the abolition of breast milk, the incidence of intestinal infections almost always increased. Now is the XXI century, and basic hygiene standards make it possible to stop feeding without any problems when the mother needs it.
Cessation of lactation
It is quite difficult to stop the production of breast milk, since its psychomotor mechanism is very stable. But nothing is impossible, says Evgeny Olegovich, and if the first stage - weaning - has taken place, and the mother has withstood the persistent ordeal of the child for several days, then it's time to make sure that there is as little milk as possible.
For this, the doctor recommends drinking less fluids. This does not mean that mom needs to dry herself to death. You just need to observe the drinking regimen as it was at the time of the formation of lactation and its maintenance, it is no longer necessary. In no case should you express milk, even if it happened that the child fell ill a few days after the start of the weaning action. Expression starts the production mechanism.
Komarovsky strongly advises mom to go in for active sports - run, do push-ups, pull up, lift the barbell, do whatever you like to sweat more. The more you sweat, the less breast milk will be produced.
If the aforementioned measures do not bring much relief to the woman, you can additionally pull the chest with a sheet. Today, other methods are available to Russian women, which are considered more civilized throughout the world. They are based on the intake of drugs that block the ability to lactate at a hormonal and chemical level.
These drugs that suppress the production of prolactin include, in particular, "Bromcriptine" or "Dostinex". But it is best to start taking pills after consulting your doctor. Sage decoction and linden flowers, which mom can brew and drink in small portions, also help.
Common mistakes
Evgeny Komarovsky believes that a rare mother in the process of weaning a child does not manage to make any mistakes. The most common misconception is that a baby without a mother's breast will begin to lose immunity. Up to six months, the mother's crumbs have innate immunity, then his immune system sets off on an independent "swimming", by the year the defense gets stronger, and then it will only gain momentum, encountering microbes and viruses, and producing antibodies against them.
Some mothers begin to prophylactically give antiviral drugs, immunomodulators and immunostimulants instead of breast milk. There is no need for this, says Evgeny Komarovsky, especially since the effectiveness of these drugs has not been clinically proven. And the extra "chemistry" is absolutely useless for the child.
There are mothers who, by canceling breastfeeding, transfer the baby to whole cow or goat milk. Komarovsky believes that it is better to give the baby a drink of an adapted mixture with markings from 12 months. It is saturated with trace elements, vitamins, minerals, and lacks the rather allergenic cow protein.
You will learn more about how to wean your baby from breastfeeding in the following video.
