It has long been noticed that breastfeeding is indispensable for the baby, and the longer it continues, the stronger and healthier the baby will be. But sooner or later there comes a moment when it should end. This is not so easy. After all, it is necessary for this to pass painlessly not only for the child, but also for his mother. Here it is best to follow the advice of specialists. One of the best and most famous pediatricians is Dr. Komarovsky. Weaning by his method, is carried out by many women.
How is breastfeeding
Many women know how to feed a baby, but few understand how the process goes.
Without a doubt, one of the most interesting phenomena in nature is the process of lactation. It is associated with the development of nutrients and elements necessary for the life and growth of the child. Two hormones that are produced by the brain of the mother’s brain, oxytocin and prolactin, are responsible for this process.
When a child drinks mother’s milk, information that stimulates their production enters her brain. It turns out - the more the baby consumes it, the more actively it is produced. Another interesting point is breastfeeding at night. It was found that if lactation occurs in the dark, this stimulates milk production during the day. If you stop feeding the baby at night, then the mother will have much less milk.
Gradually, as the child becomes older, he can be given various additional nutrition, which means that he will suckle his chest much less often. It is at this moment that you will need to correctly change the baby's diet. Smoothly and painlessly excommunicate from the mother’s breast and transfer to other products.
If a woman realized that this moment has come, she must not forget that there is also the emotional need of the child to contact her mother, one of the forms of which is breastfeeding. This is where the advice given by Dr. Komarovsky comes in handy. Weaning by his method showed its effectiveness and helped transfer many babies to a different diet without causing them psychological trauma.
When to Stop Breastfeeding
Quite often you can hear the opinion that to finish breastfeeding should be around the age of two years. This is due to the fact that it was at this time that the child was already free to digest ordinary, “adult” food. But according to Dr. Komarovsky, weaning can be done at the age of one and a half years.
A fairly common problem is the natural termination of the process of milk production in mothers. The reasons for this can be very different, but if this happened, then you have to wean the child forcibly. You should think about how to excommunicate the mother and transfer the baby to normal nutrition even if he can no longer satisfy his hunger in one feeding.
Weaning from feeding at night
Also, many do not know how to wean their babies from night feeding. But this is quite simple. You just need to feed the baby well at the last lactation before bedtime. So he ate a hearty meal, you need to bathe him. After that, give him a massage.
To keep the baby’s sleep sound, it should not be hot in the room where he sleeps. Otherwise, he will often wake up, and therefore want to eat. If you know how to wean a baby from night feedings, then this can be done quite simply. It does not take much time and effort.
In such cases, Dr. Komarovsky’s school recommends that you carefully observe how the child behaves and the symptoms that indicate the completion of lactation.
Weaning the baby from the chest
The process of weaning a baby from breastfeeding is not as simple as it might seem. But if you follow the advice of Dr. Komarovsky, then this can be done much easier. In addition, the baby will be able to avoid stress, which is a very important point.
Dr. Komarovsky’s advice is as follows:
- Mothers should try to consume less fluid. After all, if you drink it a little, then it will be difficult for a child to get milk. Most likely, the baby will quickly get tired of fighting this difficulty, and he will gradually wean from the mother’s breast.
- It is necessary to try to make feeding time less, gradually reducing it. Skip it sometimes, and the child at this moment, take something interesting.
- So that a woman can quickly get rid of excess fluid in her body, she should gradually increase daily physical activity.
- It will be necessary to exclude from the diet of the mother all products that have a positive effect on the process of producing her milk.
The main goal of the Komarovsky method is to make it difficult or uninteresting for a baby to breastfeed. It is he who is the most simple and stressful to excommunicate him from the mother's breast.
If, for any reason, interruption of lactation is required for a child who is not yet a year old, then it is best to turn the baby's attention to activities that will be of interest to him. For example, various games, looking at pictures, etc. That is, in no way connected with the process of breastfeeding.
Common mistakes
Many mothers, especially young and not having the appropriate experience, often make mistakes by interrupting lactation. It is for them that the school of Dr. Komarovsky is suitable.
Do not wean from the chest in the following situations:
- If you intend to move, the child will change the situation. This is stressful for him and should not be aggravated by the cessation of lactation.
- With the illness of the baby.
- If the child is completely against it, then it is not necessary to wean him. Better to wait a couple more weeks.
- In summer, it is also not recommended to interrupt lactation.
But mothers should remember that it is impossible to feed the baby with their milk for too long, as this can negatively affect the health of the woman - cause mastopathy.
When to wean a baby from the chest
Dr. Komarovsky gives recommendations, including about when it is best to stop the lactation process. His advice differs from the instructions of many doctors, but nevertheless, many mothers have successfully used them for more than one year.
According to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, the baby should be fed breast milk until the moment when he turns two years old. This is due to the fact that during this time it perfectly protects the baby’s fragile body from a possible deficiency of protein and intestinal bacteria. But here it should be borne in mind the fact that if the family attentively applies to all the rules of hygiene, maintain cleanliness in the house, carefully monitor the child, then it is unlikely that he can get sick.
Dr. Komarovsky insists on this, believing that in this case, the baby should be breastfed for up to a year, and after that, accustomed to ordinary food. If you do everything right and follow the recommendations - it is completely safe. After all, the cessation of lactation after a year will not affect the subsequent development and growth of the child.
Breastfeeding after a year is not too important
You should not think that Dr. Komarovsky, whose weaning is popular and has proven effective, insists that giving a baby to a baby over one year old is harmful. It's not like that at all. He simply advises listening to common sense and intuition. Well, how much can you breastfeed! Moreover, ordinary products will not harm the baby, but rather, will be able to strengthen it. So, you should start giving them to your child, without waiting for two years of age. This will only benefit him.
A woman can have no doubt that she paid off her maternal debt in full, feeding her baby with breast milk for up to a year. After which she must make her own decision, continue lactation or stop.
According to numerous medical studies and observations, as well as the personal experience of Dr. Komarovsky, it was fully confirmed that the health and growth of a child who is already a year old does not depend on the method of nutrition. Painless weaning can begin at any time of the year, with the exception of summer.
How to wean a baby from breast after a year
Above, we have already briefly examined how to wean a child after a year from lactation. Now we need to do this more carefully, taking into account all the advice of Dr. Komarovsky.
As practice shows, if a child was fed not only with mother’s milk, but also necessary food was added to his diet, then by the year the baby will eat the following products:
- various soups;
- cereals in milk;
- kefir and cottage cheese.
Of course, a couple of times a day he will use mother's milk. Also, his daily menu must include natural fruit juices, meat products, egg yolk, and mashed vegetables. Gradually, mother's milk will recede into the background and will no longer be in the first place.
Keep in mind that there is no way to wean a baby’s breasts that are completely emotionally painless. You can only use the most justified and practical. Mothers should remember that if she is consistent in her decision, then this will best protect the baby from stress. If he cries, just calm him down, but in no case should you give up. Indeed, otherwise, the process can be significantly delayed. And this will negatively affect both the child and the mother.
Prepare in advance for the fact that the baby will not be delighted with the termination of breastfeeding and may cry and be capricious. But this rarely lasts more than two days, and if you do not restore lactation during this time, then it will gradually calm down and switch to a different diet.
Of course, the mother will not be too pleased to realize that she gives her child negative emotions, but there is simply no other way. Here you must also remember that during this period you should not make any changes to the life of the child. Everything should be ordinary, as he used to. If the baby is sick, do not rush, wait until he recovers and gets stronger.
The social life of a woman after lactation
As is clear from the above, Dr. Komarovsky is not a supporter of long-term breastfeeding, despite the fact that in recent years lactation has become increasingly popular until it ends naturally. But even the most ardent supporters of this method of feeding, agree that this has little to do with food.
This more closely resembles a peculiar process of communication, which becomes the cause of the emergence of emotional attachment and spiritual closeness between a mother and her baby. This is much like the idea of ​​sharing their sleep when the child sleeps only with his mother. As the adherents of such a theory are sure, this contact remains for life.
But as numerous observations show, excellent relationships between children and parents are preserved in those families in which the baby stopped receiving mother’s milk after a year and even where the baby grew up on artificial feeding. Indeed, in order for the family to have mutual understanding between children and parents, long-term breastfeeding is not required at all. The main thing is that there is care, attention and kindness. This is exactly what Dr. Komarovsky implies in his recommendations.
On the contrary, from long-term observations made by many doctors, it can be concluded that with prolonged lactation, most often in the future, numerous problems and misunderstandings occur in the family, which can lead to its destruction. Gentle weaning from breastfeeding is a universal remedy that can effectively help.
After all, even the most loving father is not always able to endure a joint dream with the child for several years and the constant, often baseless, worries of his wife about the child, even if it comes to meaningless details.
Woman's return to ordinary life
For the normal development of the child as a person and the formation of his positive qualities, there must be a good psychological climate in the family. It is he who comes first, and by no means a long-term feeding of mother's milk. After all, if there are regular quarrels in the family, the child sees violence, it is difficult to expect that he will grow up to be a positive person.
Giving women recommendations, Dr. Komarovsky urges them to remember that now a woman bears not only biological responsibility, but also social responsibility. And the latter, even more so. Despite having a small child, a woman should remain a loving wife and remember to take care of herself. In addition, knowing how to wean a baby from the chest, this can be done quite quickly.
A woman should visit the gym, beauty salons, regularly visit the fresh air, and see her friends. A trip to rest for at least a couple of days helps perfectly. A woman should remember that she should not devote her time only to the child. She must live a full life.
Breastfeeding a child after a year may not be carried out, and a woman has the right to transfer the baby to normal nutrition and return to normal life. Of course, not forgetting to pay attention to the child. The baby should grow up in a healthy family, in which, each of its members is given equal attention. Only in this way can he grow up to be a good, positive person.