Breast milk is the best food for babies, but as babies get older, so do their nutritional needs. Breast milk is far from meeting the growth needs of the child, and it becomes imperative to wean the baby. Breastfeeding mothers know that weaning a baby can be especially difficult. Why? The main reason may be that the baby is weaned incorrectly. If you find the right way, weaning won't be so difficult. Here are some tips on how to wean your baby and the best time to wean your baby.

What is weaning
Weaning is the complete cessation of breastfeeding and switching to normal food for the baby. This requires your baby to switch from liquid food to semi-solid or solid food, from sucking on the nipple to getting food from chopsticks, spoons, cups, plates and bowls. This is a big transformation process that requires the baby to change and adapt from both physical and psychological aspects. It should not be rushed, and should be done gradually; otherwise, it will cause problems such as baby refusal to eat or indigestion.
The appropriate period for weaning is around 1 year old. However, in areas lacking milk or milk replacers, in addition to ordinary food, breast milk can be stored 1-2 times a day until 1 and a half years old, and the longest is not more than 2 years old. Humans have a long lactation period, especially infants without complementary food. It is easy to refuse ordinary food and unrequited love for breast milk. At this time, breast milk can no longer meet the nutritional needs of children, resulting in malnutrition, anemia and various nutritional deficiencies. Get ill. Weaning should be gradual.
The period when breast milk and complementary foods are used at the same time is called the "half-weaning period".

Baby weaning Weaning method
Gradual weaning: If your baby is very dependent on breast milk, weaning quickly may be uncomfortable for your baby. If you're serious about breastfeeding and are with your baby every day, you can feel lost if you're weaning abruptly, so take a gradual approach to weaning. From 6 times a day of breastfeeding, first reduce to 5 times a day, after the mother and baby get used to it, then gradually reduce until the breast milk is completely weaned.
1. Gradual natural transition .
When and how your baby is weaned depends on many factors, each mother and baby will experience weaning differently, and choices will vary from person to person. Quick weaning: If you are well prepared and both you and your baby are comfortable, the time is ripe for weaning and you can wean your baby very quickly. Especially in the case of objective factors, if the mother must travel for a period of time, it is likely that she will be completely weaned after a few days. If the mother stops pumping after get off work, the day's milk will soon be weaned.
2. To reduce the dependence on the mother, the role of the father cannot be ignored.
Before weaning, it is necessary to consciously reduce the time between mother and baby, increase the time for father to take care of the baby, and give the baby a psychological adjustment process. Babies stick to their mothers for a while after weaning. At this time, the father can play with the baby more. Babies may be dissatisfied at first, but then they get used to it. Let your baby know that dad will take care of him and mom will come back. Trust in the father will make the baby less dependent on the mother.
3. Cultivate children's good behavior habits.
Before and after weaning, due to psychological guilt, mothers tend to indulge their babies, hold them wherever they want, and give whatever they want, regardless of whether the baby's request is reasonable or not. But know that the more indulgent you are, the bigger your baby's temper will get. Before and after weaning, mothers should hold and caress the baby more, but do not easily adapt to the unreasonable requirements of the baby, and cannot develop the baby's bad habits because of weaning. At this time, the rationality of the father needs to play a role in balancing the emotional feelings of the mother. When the baby is crying, the father will come forward to coordinate, and the baby will be more obedient.
4. Eat less breast milk and more milk.
When you start weaning, give your baby some formula or fresh whole milk every day. It should be noted that try to encourage the baby to drink more milk, but as long as he wants to breastfeed, the mother should not refuse him.
5. Change the habit of feeding before bed and at night.
Most babies have a habit of feeding in the middle of the night and at night before going to bed. Babies are very active during the day and are more likely to skip breastfeeding. The most difficult to break is probably the breastfeeding period before bed and in the middle of the night. You can wean at night, and then wean at bedtime. At this time, the active cooperation of the father or family is required. When the baby sleeps, the father or family can coax the baby to sleep, and the mother temporarily avoids it. When the baby can't see his mother, he will cry a lot at first, but he has no clue himself, so he goes to bed after a little coaxing. When I was just weaned, I would toss for a few days, until the baby was not noisy every time, until one day the baby lay down to sleep before going to bed, there would not be too much trouble, and he would not wake up late at night, congratulations, the first battle of weaning was won.

The best time to wean the baby
1. The best age for weaning baby
The best time to wean the baby is about 8 months, but it can be a little earlier or later, generally 8 months to 1.5 years old is reasonable. However, we recommend that your baby be breastfed for no less than 8 months.
2. Baby weaning season
Weaning your baby depends not only on the age of the baby, but also on the temperature and season. The best season is spring or autumn. Because the baby's gastrointestinal function is not sound, the baby is prone to indigestion in hot weather, and the mother will also have the pain of breastfeeding. Choose spring and autumn, suitable for mothers. Therefore, the weaning time of the baby can be advanced or relatively delayed by a few months depending on the season.

Baby weaning plan before weaning
1. Feeding complementary food twice a day, breastfeeding 3 times, and feeding twice at night (mostly before going to bed and after getting up);
2. If you feed solid food twice a day, the baby will only eat breast milk once or twice, and will not eat at night, and the mother feels that the milk is swollen, then don't feed the solid food twice, but change it to once.
3. If you still can't eat breast milk, and the mother feels that the milk is swollen, then only give the baby eggs, vegetables, fruits, not rice noodles. If you are still eating milk, reduce your milk intake and add breast milk.
4. If the baby only likes to eat complementary food, does not like to eat breast milk, and does not like to eat milk, the weaning time is too early. Babies under the age of one are called babies because babies are mostly dairy-based. Weaning too early is detrimental to the baby's growth and development.
5. If there is very little breast milk, it does not make much sense to eat or not. You can stop breastfeeding and give milk and solid foods.
6. If you still don't eat, feed your baby in the morning when he just wakes up and is willing to drink water. Or take the bottle outdoors, and when your baby is happy, he may drink milk.
7. Not completely weaned. Even if you don't drink it today, try it tomorrow to get your baby into the habit of drinking milk.

Baby's diet after weaning
After your baby starts eating like an adult, prepare him or her a wider variety of foods. It is best to change the types of meals three times a day. He (she) stipulates that, perhaps, the baby will be a partial eclipse, picky eater. Of course, after weaning, the baby should still drink some milk every day. Milk can provide rich calcium, protein and various nutrients for the baby's growth.
1. Some time before weaning, various complementary foods were added reasonably.
2. Due to the poor gastrointestinal digestive function of infants after weaning, the diet cannot be the same as that of adults. On the basis of various complementary foods that babies are accustomed to eat, new varieties are gradually added, so that babies have a process of adaptation.
3. After weaning, the baby should gradually change from the original milk-based diet to a diet based on whole grains, meat and vegetables.
4. Pay attention to choosing foods that are soft, digestible, affordable, and nutritious.
5. The cooking method is mainly chopping and burning, and more methods such as boiling, simmering, stewing, burning, and steaming are used.
6. Don't just give your baby soup and rice. The soup only adds flavor, lacks nutrition, is easy to swallow whole and affects digestion.
7. The number of meals can be 5 times a day. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks are added at 9am and after naps. When the baby grows, it can be changed to 4 meals.
8. Have more breakfast at each meal. Because the baby has the best appetite after getting up in the morning and can eat well; the amount of lunch should be the largest throughout the day, and the dinner should be lighter to facilitate sleep.

What should the mother do when the baby is weaned?
1. Can the mother express the milk after the baby is weaned?
When grandma is breastfeeding, you can squeeze a little. But you can't crowd, you have to be restrained. The traditional method is that even if the milk is swollen, it cannot be expressed. The old man would say, go back as soon as the milk is swollen. But in reality, allowing your breasts to expand unrestrictedly can be very dangerous. Once the mammary duct is blocked, it is very likely to cause mastitis. Therefore, to prevent mastitis caused by weaning, milking should be done slowly.
Many mothers will ask, how high can the milk be expressed? It will be painful when the milk rises, and the temperature may be high. That unbearable pain, no less than the pain of childbirth. If that doesn't work, apply a hot towel to your breasts to relieve pain. When the pain is unbearable, touch the lump in the breast with your hand. If it feels hard to the touch, and you can even see the breast ducts bulge, you can express some milk appropriately. But don't squeeze too much, step by step, squeeze a little less each time.
2. Methods for relieving milk bloating during weaning
Applying cabbage to the breast is a common folk method: wash one cabbage, completely strip each leaf, cover the entire breast with the leaf along the armpits and pectoralis major, and press lightly with the bra. Allow the cabbage leaves to make good contact with the skin and remove after 24 hours. This method can effectively reduce breast swelling and avoid the trouble of mastitis caused by improper maintenance of new mothers.