Breastfeeding is a wonderful way to bond with your child and also provides nutrition and comfort. However, if you’re a mom that is considering weaning you child but your child doesn’t seem interested in being weaned, don’t fret – there’s help. In this brief article, I’ll discuss several mother-led weaning techniques to help you wean your child. I’ll also include the advantages and disadvantages of each method so that you can choose the best method for you and your child. So, without further adieu, let’s get started.
Abrupt Weaning Technique
In this technique, the mother decides to simply go “cold turkey.” She decides that she no longer wants to nurse and stops nursing altogether. With this method, the child gets no real warning. The mother simply tells her child that nursing is over, there is no more milk, and that is that. She then refuses to allow any nursing at all. She uses a variety of coping methods to ease the process.
Advantages/Disadvantages
When weaning is completed in an abrupt manner, the mother may experience uncomfortably full breasts and may get a breast infection (mastitis) or even a breast abscess. In addition, the sudden shift in hormones may cause the mother to feel depressed, especially if she was ambivalent about the abrupt weaning process or if the child vehemently opposes being abruptly weaned. This may cause much stress for both mother and child, especially if they are unable to articulate their dissatisfaction with this method. Therefore, if you decide to utilize the abrupt weaning method, you should take measures to relieve any breast engorgement and keep a very close watch for any complications.
If a mother chooses to abruptly wean her child, there are many tips she can use from other mothers. Here are some ways that mothers “abruptly wean”:
Mother Leaves Town
Mother leaves town for about a week and separates herself from her child. She asks someone to watch and deal with the trauma that the child is experiencing; then, when she returns, she informs the child that the milk is all gone.
Child Leaves Town
An alternative to the mother leaving town scenario is the child leaving town. The child is taken away from the mom and upon return is informed that the breasts are now off-limits.
Some mothers go cold turkey and put something undesirable on their breasts (hot sauce, thumb-sucking deterrent or band-aids) to make them less desirable to their child.
Distraction
Some mothers use distraction during the abrupt weaning process. Whenever the child decides to nurse, they tell them that nursing is no longer allowed and give them something else.
Substitution
A corollary to number 4, substitution is where the mother persuades the child to accept something else instead of nursing. For instance, she might give the child a special toy or gift, a pacifier, a sippy cup full of water or juice, or administer extra attention by distributing lots of hugs and affection-using any means necessary to distract the child when he or she desires to nurse.
Gradual Weaning Technique
In contrast, the gradual weaning method allows the mother to diminish over time the length and/or frequency of the nursing sessions until the child has completely weaned. Using this method, the mother simply employs various coping mechanisms (which will be discussed later).
When weaning is done in a gradual manner, the mother tends not to experience full breast, and the chance of a breast infection or abscess is smaller. The mother’s body is better able to handle the shifts in hormones, so she might experience less depression. This method tends to take the child’s feelings into consideration and allows him or her to better adjust to the weaning process.
Ways that Mothers Gradually Wean Don’t offer, don’t refuse
Here, mothers don’t offer the breast to the child but don’t refuse the breast if the child requests it.
Drop one feeding at a time
Mothers drop one feeding at a time until there are no more feedings.
Shorten nursing session
Mother shortens the nursing session and then works towards eliminating the session altogether.
Distraction
If a child desires to nurse, the mother utilizes distraction in order to postpone the nursing session, in hopes that the child will forget about nursing.
Change in routine
Mother may change the child’s routine, perhaps even taking him or her on a trip, so that his or her need to nurse may be decreased due to the new activity.
Postponing nursing sessions
With this method, the mother postpones the child’s nursing request. For instance, the mother might say, “Not now, sweetie, later,” “Let’s play,” “How about some water,” etc.
