Tips for weaning your baby from breastfeeding

The topic of weaning a baby from breastfeeding has major implications for young families.  Depending on the age, you may be switching from breast to bottle, or making the transition from milk to solid foods. 

So the question remains, how long should you wait to wean your child from breastfeeding?

For many women in modern society, weaning is something that must be done from a practical perspective and there is not a lot of room for discussion. However, depending on your situation, you may be weighing the benefits and costs of different timeline for this delicate process.

Many women choose to wean their child earlier, pumping and storing breast milk so that they can return to work and leave the milk for the babysitter or nanny to feed the infant. This is a viable option and a good solution for a mother who has to work but wants to give her child the biological benefits of breast milk.

• Most pediatricians and the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP) say that breast milk should be the exclusive source of nutrition for the first six months of life whenever possible
• The AAP recommends continue to breastfeed and supplementing with other foods for an additional six months, until the child is one year of age
• The World Health Organization encourages breast feeding for the first two years of age, double the amount of time specified by the AAP

The ideal way to decide when to wean your little one from breastfeeding is to let him or her tell you when they have had enough. There is little to nothing to indicate that breastfeeding for longer will be harmful for a child, and some research even supports the idea that there may be additional benefits for the child if breastfeeding continues past the first year.

However, if this is not a realistic solution for your family, aim for six months of breast milk and adjust as you and your child see fit. The best thing you can give your little one is your love, so don’t feel guilty or pressured to breastfeed for a certain amount of time.  And at the end of the day, never discount your “mother’s intuition” about when is the best time to wean your child from breastfeeding!