Weaning
WHO Recommendations
This is a recommendation, and not a rule - so many things influence your breastfeeding
journey...
We all know the wonderful aspects of breastfeeding, I'm not here to educate you on
that, however, the WHO does endorse breastfeeding, where possible, for the first six
months of life, up until 2 years of age and beyond. BUT (and its a big BUT), we all know this isn't possible for everyone, so this is where this
resource is designed to guide you.
When to Wean
I am a huge advocate of being baby led, where possible, and discourage actively weaning any feeds, prior to 12 months of age. However, many little ones will naturally wean feeds pre 12mo, as their appetite for food increases. This is absolutely ok, but we do need to be mindful and preserve milk intake as much as possible, ideally with no milk feeds reducing before 8.5-9mo. Around 9mo, we do see a very normal drop in milk intake, of up to 400ml.
Whilst there is no immediate rush, it is really important that after 12mo our little one's primary source of nutrition is food. Some reasons you might be ready to wean:
Your little one is favoring milk feeds over food
Formula is expensive
You're returning to work
You are mentally and emotionally done with breastfeeding
Medical reasons or for your physical health
How to Wean
A really great starting place for weaning is to ask yourself the following questions:
Are there any feeds that your little one is less interested in, or already not finishing?
Are there any feeds you logistically need to wean (returning to work etc)?
Are any particular meals being impacted by a bottle/milk feed being present?
Are there any feeds you would like to keep or your little one is particularly fond of?
After considering the questions above, the easiest place to start is middle of the day feeds, leaving a shell of the day (ie am and pm). If timed well, they can simply be swapped for distraction + snacks.
If feeds are timed less favorably, we can tweak the routine to ensure we're offering food every 2-4 hours, keeping the desired milk feeds as a lovely bonus. This time frame is a guide – some toddlers will go longer stretches, others will need food more frequently.
Example 1
0700 BF
0730 breakfast
0930 nap
1000 bottle
1230 lunch
1300 nap
1500 bottle
1730 dinner
1830 BF
This is a fairly straightforward routine to tweak. Mum wanted to keep the BF, but wean the bottles.
Bottles were already timed perfectly for snacks
The plan was to wean one at a time, over 1-2 weeks, however for those little ones with very relaxed temperaments, this can be done faster
0700 BF
0730 breakfast
0930 nap
1000 snack
1230 lunch
1300 nap
1500 snack
1730 dinner
1830 BF
Example 2
0630 awake
0700 breakfast
0830 BF
0930 nap
1100 lunch
1230 BF
1300 nap
1500 BF
1700 dinner
1800 BF
1830 bed
This was a little more of a complex routine to wean, requiring a little more tweaking, over a longer period of time
Mum wanted to keep morning and evening BF
0830 feed weaned, and breakfast pushed a little later
1230 feed weaned, offering lunch a little later so it is closer to nap time, sustaining fullness and popping in morning tea, essentially shuffling the first part of the day to ensure food is offered regularly enough.
1500 feed weaned, instead of offering a feed, offer afternoon tea.
0630 awake
0730 breakfast
0930 nap
1000/1030 snack
1230 lunch
1300 nap
1500 snack
1700 dinner
1800 BF
1830 bed
Example 3
0630 awake
0700 breakfast
0830 bottle
0930 nap
1200 lunch
1330 bottle
1400 nap
1745 dinner
1845 bottle
1900 bed
This was also fairly straightforward
Aim was to keep the evening bottle and switch to cow’s milk
0830 feed weaned, making heading off to daycare easier. Simply dropped the feed and instead, offered a morning tea post nap, shifting lunch a little later (home days)
1330 feed weaned, lunch was already a little later, then needed to offer an afternoon tea post the nap.
1800 feed - this was a feed this little one was attached to, so we made this a cow’s milk bottle
0630 awake
0700 breakfast
0930 nap
1030 morning tea
1300 lunch
1400 nap
1530 afternoon tea
1800/1830 dinner
1845 bottle/milk
1900 dinner
Keeping Feeds
If you are wanting to wean some feeds, but not all, it can be tricky to know which are best to keep. There are no hard and fast rules, and this will be different for every family - work requirements, current schedule, feeding to sleep etc.
I typically find that the morning and evening feeds are easier to keep and often really lovely to keep, particularly if you're heading back to work.
The biggest caveat to this is ensuring that milk intake DOES NOT reduce appetite for food.
Breastfeeding Considerations
When intentionally weaning breastfeeds, there are some important considerations that need to be made re Mumma's health.
Hormones
Prolactin = produces breastmilk
Oxytocin = released during breastfeeding
What happens when weaning? Both prolactin and oxytocin reduce. Which can lead to feelings of depression and sadness
Hormones aside, weaning is an emotional process - I cried big ugly tears when Franklin self-weaned.
Mastitis
Clogged milk ducts and mastitis are common when the breast is not drained of milk
This, as well as the hormonal shift, is why I recommend a gentle approach to weaning breastfeeds when doing so intentionally.
Now, this can be as simple as weaning one feed at a time and reducing feed length, or simply weaning the feed, and pumping for a few days to a week
Day 1-2: Pump for 10 min for dropped feed
Day 2-4: Pump for 7.5 min
Day 4-6: Pump for 5 min
Day 7-9: Pump for 2.5 min
Check in with an IBCLC or the ABA
What next?
The above gives you a good guide on how to wean (also recorded in a masterclass), but please also check out the articles on building a balanced meal (really important when weaning) and snacks. Additionally, I have created a written resource on introducing cow’s milk.