How do i breastfeed and wean????????????????

Question

Ok so i'm ready for the weaning stage, do i introduce food after a breastfeed or before? and when food has been given for a while do i give the breast at a different time (like in between) or still at the same time as the meal?

Answer 1

If your child is younger than 12 months you nurse a full feeding and THEN offer solids.  They should always be complementary, and not remove feedings prior to 12 months.  Baby should still get 75% of his nutrition from breastmilk before 12 months of age.

Answer 2

Nurse first then offer solids.  Breastmilk should be where your baby gets the majority of their calories until closer to 12 months.  At 11 months, I nurse my baby when he wakes for the day and after naps and give him solids before he goes down for naps and a few hours before bedtime.

Answer 3

From Canadian breastfeeding authority Dr Jack Newman:

"Solids or Breast First?

            There seems to be considerable worry when a child is starting solids about whether to give the breast first or give solid food first.  If breastfeeding and the introduction of solid foods both are going well, it probably does not matter much.  Indeed, there is no reason that a baby needs both breast and solids every time he eats."

http://drjacknewman.com/help/Starting%20...

Just keep nursing on demand, and baby can help himself at regular family mealtimes. There is (contrary to popular belief) little need to worry about this sort of thing.

Answer 4

When you first start offering solids (and I'm assuming that your baby is an apporopriate age for solids -- around 6 months or more), they are just for fun, and are supplements to the breastmilk.  

So always nurse FIRST at a given feeding, and then offer some solids.  If it's more conveneient for  you, and baby has times when he tends to go a few hours between feeds, you could offer a separate meal if you with.

As long as baby does continue taking about the same amount of breastmilk, whatever pattern works for the two of you is fine.  Just start slowly (about a teaspoon once a day is a good first meal) and follow baby's lead.  If he's indifferent, or can't quite eat from the spoon, feel free to stop for a couple of weeks, or offer just a taste once a day.   If he loves solids, increase as he seems to enjoy -- keeping an eye on his milk intake.