Weaning can be very hard work for the parents if the baby isn’t yet ready to give up the special bond with her mother. Nursing is so much more than food to babies; they know that this is the one time they have their mother all to themselves.
During breast-feeding, the baby feels loved, enjoys skin-to-skin contact in addition to receiving milk, of course.
Weaning Plan
1. Find other ways to give the baby his/her daily doses of close loving contact.
For example, hold him/her between arms while reading a book, take them to the park, or just sit and play with them.
2. It is not recommended to let babies cry it out or withhold food.
3. Move along slowly.
First, observe how many feeds the baby gets per day and choose to eliminate his/her shortest and least important feeding and substitute this feed with some quality time of hugging, playing, and loving.
Then proceed to substitute one feeding every four days in the same way.
4. Wear clothes that are difficult to nurse in so that the baby has difficulty reaching the breast.
5. When the baby asks for a feeding, have his/her favourite snack and drink prepared but do not force him/her to have it; the baby will eat it when he/she is ready.
During these steps, try to get the baby out of the habit of going to sleep while nursing and put him/her in bed while he/she is drowsy so that they learn to sooth themselves to sleep.
6. After eliminating the daytime breast-feeding, this process will have reached its final step, which is the bedtime feeding, which one can deal with as follows:
* Establish a bedtime routine: a bath, reading a book, reciting Qur’an, or singing a goodnight song.
*Stay in the room till the baby dozes off.
7. Do not return to giving a feeding after you have stopped it.
8. Again, move on very slowly, which will also prevent any breast pains.