Weaning From Breastfeeding – The Baby Led Way

Posted by admin on October 7, 2009

Baby Led Weaning is the process of allowing your child to lead the way as you introduce solid food. You don’t introduce intermediary food such as purees, or weaning milks — rather, you offer real food to your child in finger sized pieces and allow them to feed themselves.

A child’s first diet ought to be exclusively breast milk for the first 6 months of their life — that is no rusks, nothing other than breast milk. This is because their gut is simply not mature enough to digest anything other than breast milk. Introducing other foods is a waste of time, as your baby will simply poop them out. Introducing other foods also interferes with their delicate gut flora, which has serious implications on their resilience to diseases as they grow older.

Allowing your baby to gradually lead the way weaning means that you ought to expect them to completely wean sometime between 2 and 4 years of age. Gradually dropping feeds, and losing interest in breastfeeding.

Many mothers choose the “don’t offer, don’t refuse” approach in allowing their child to direct the weaning process. That is, don’t offer them feeds, but never, refuse if they ask you.

Breastfeeding a toddler, may be a confrontational idea in today’s homogenized society, but rest assured that you’re doing a wonderful thing for your child, providing them with optimum nutrition, optimum health, and a wonderful source of comfort and love.

At about 6 months, most babies are physiologically ready for solid food. That is they can sit unsupported, show an avid interest in food, and no longer display a tongue thrust reflex (anything that enters their mouth is automatically pushed out by the tongue) At this stage, you can start introducing foods such as lightly steamed vegetables for your child to gum on.

Don’t expect a your baby to eat a great deal to begin with, their first experiences with food are mostly to allow them to explore textures and tastes. As they become more proficient with solid foods, they’ll actually eat more and in doing so, will require less breast milk.

By about 12 months, your baby will most likely be eating family meals, with breastfeeds in between. They’ll probably be particularly efficient at feed time, but may like to linger on the night or nap time feeds for comfort.

As your child’s day becomes busier, and they are stimulated more and more by their busy toddler activities, you’ll probably notice they ‘forget’ their breastfeeds, perhaps only coming to you for a breastfeed for comfort.

Most children drop their night time feeds last, as they like the sleepy comfort that a breastfeed with mom gives them.

At around about 2-4 years of age, and for most children it’s closer to 2.5 years, your child will begin to drop their last feeds. And your breastfeeding journey will begin to come to a close. It’s normal for them to stop completely for a few days, then feed, then stop, then begin again — it’s all part of the self weaning process. Eventually, you may just wake up one morning and realize it’s been weeks since their last feed, and your baby is officially growing up.

At this stage in their life, because they don’t have a “backup” nutrition source, it’s really important to ensure they’re eating a balanced diet.

K L Pedley

Also author of the Baby Book Of Weaning

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