Daytime Weaning, How To Achieve It? – Being Parents

One of the most effective ways to get the baby to leave the breast is daytime weaning. As the name suggests,  it involves stopping giving breast milk during the day and reserving this type of food only for when you are sleeping. Is it effective? How do you get there? We tell you about it in this article.

In general,  mothers must wait until their babies are 8 or 9 months old to make the first attempts at daytime weaning . The main reason is that the baby has already started complementary  feeding  at this stage, so that if he eats less breast milk, he does not miss any nutrients.

On the other hand, since this type of weaning requires a certain maturity and the ability to focus attention on other stimuli, it is necessary that the baby’s senses are well developed.

However, this is not always an easy task. There are babies who are very attached to their mothers, even when they are not hungry. Keep calm: nothing is impossible and here you will find some suggestions that may help you.

Reasons to start weaning

As we have mentioned,  daytime weaning is the beginning of the transition from eating exclusively with breast milk to another type of food,  which also includes powdered milk.

The most common arguments that often lead to the decision to stop breastfeeding are:

• A decision of the mother.
• A loss of interest on the part of the baby.
• Little or no production of breast milk.

Advice to achieve daytime weaning

1. Do not offer the breast during the day

As obvious as it may sound,  many mothers give in to the temptation to breastfeed their babies and thus waste the progress of a few days or weeks. Your main mission for daytime weaning is then to gradually change your little one’s eating habits.

So,  instead of breastfeeding, you can try giving him fruit puree, baby yogurt, or any other type of salty recipe that he enjoys. You can also suggest other distractions, in case your baby has eaten recently. For example: games, songs, a walk.

Remember this is the perfect time to experiment with new textures, flavors and foods. Take the opportunity to start daytime weaning.

2. Get them used to eating with other people

In the first months of life, feeding the baby is synonymous with his close connection with his mother. However,  at the time of weaning, it is necessary and fundamental that he be able to eat with other members of the family. It would be a good idea to have someone other than mom feed him in the evening.

In addition, it can be very useful for mothers who plan to work or return to work in the near future. Likewise, weaning helps to develop in the child a certain feeling of independence from his main figure of attachment.

“Mothers must wait until their babies are 8 or 9 months old to make the first attempts at daytime weaning”

3. Set it up gradually

Once again, we stress  the importance that this process is not put in place too brutally. This will cause problems for the baby, who will not be able to adapt to his new  diet; and also for the woman, who may feel pain and hardness in her breasts due to the excess milk.

In addition, it is not advisable for the fragile digestive system of the baby to radically change the diet. Adapting to the new diet must be done with patience and consistency.

4. It should not coincide with times of stress

If the baby is going through a difficult stage like the mother’s return to work, daytime weaning is not a viable solution. This is related to the previous point: too many sudden changes can go against the change of habits.

Therefore, if you are planning to make any changes in your child’s diet or general life, it is best to start daytime weaning before or after that.

“If the baby is going through a difficult stage like the mother’s return to work, daytime weaning is not a viable solution”.

5. Start by withdrawing feedings away from sleep.

The mother needs to do some sort of ‘monitoring’ of her baby’s eating habits. From there,  she should first eliminate breastfeeding that is not associated with sleep. These times are in the middle of the morning, in the afternoon or after a bath, for example.

The other feedings, more related to the closeness the baby needs to go to sleep, will be difficult to reduce. Powdered milk – either mother’s or not – can be a great first step in this direction.

Finally, we must consider that each baby is unique, just like the attachment that binds him to his mother. Therefore,  she will know better than anyone how and when to start daytime weaning. Your little one’s adaptability may surprise you; it is about trying, analyzing and evaluating how to proceed. If need be, you can of course backtrack for a while.