The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends that babies be exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of life. After six months, mothers should begin to add complementary foods while continuing to breastfeed until the age of two years and beyond. This in itself if a slow gradual means of weaning baby from the breast for as baby grows and the body matures, children are just dependent on breast milk for healthy survival.

Thus, when it is time to wean, the best thing to keep in mind is that it should be a gradual and with loving process. If you wean "cold turkey," both mother and baby are likely to suffer. Mothers breasts will likely become painfully engorged, and possibly develop a breast infection. The baby will probably fight the switch from mother’s warm, soft breast to a plastic substitute. He might mourn the loss of "his" breasts.

To wean a baby under a year, substitute his least favorite feeding first. If the baby won't accept the bottle from you, (he knows the breast is right around here somewhere!) see if Daddy or Grandma can succeed. Let the baby have a few days (or weeks, if possible) between each time you substitute a breastfeeding session with a bottle. Express a little milk from your breasts, to your own comfort, if you become engorged. Don't express a whole feeding's worth of milk; just take the pressure off. Your body will get the signal to make less milk over time.

To wean a baby who is about a year, or older, you may not need to go to bottles at all. All you may need to do is stop offering the breast. "Don't offer, don't refuse" may work for you. Or, learn to substitute a cup of water, juice or cow's milk (if tolerated), or solid food, for the baby or toddler's least important feeding. Sometimes the father (or another relative) can help by taking the baby to the kitchen for a good breakfast. This can become a special time for both of them. For mealtime feeds, try to offer food first, with a short session at the breast for later. Avoid sitting down in your special favorite "nursing chair." If your child won't nap without breastfeeding, sometimes a car ride will get him or her to sleep.

The nighttime feeding is usually the last to go. Make a bedtime routine not centered around breastfeeding. A good book or two will eventually become more important than a long session at the breast. Your child may agree to rest his head on your breast instead of feeding. Talk to your child about what's going on. He may understand more than you think.

A lot of extra love and attention in other forms will be needed now. Try getting out more, to the playground, a friend's house, shopping, anything your child will be distracted with and stimulated by. Read stories, rub or scratch their little back, sing and dance. It's a whole new stage in your growing child's life. You will still be needed, just in different ways.

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