728x90
my iParenting
From Our Sponsors
e-newsletters
Sign up to receive our free weekly e-newsletters

new terms of use
new privacy policy
award-winning products
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families.
Home › Articles › Weaning › The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning

The Nursing Mother's Guide to Weaning

Part 2

By Kathleen Huggins, R.N., M.S. and Linda Ziedrich

Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  

If you have such feelings, be assured your sadness will diminish in time. Appreciate your own courage and determination in persisting as long as you did with breastfeeding problems. Remember that any amount of breastfeeding benefits a baby, even if it's just one feeding of colostrum. Your baby will love being fed no matter what you feed her. And it is possible to minimize health risks and establish a strong mother-baby relationship when you must bottle-feed.

Even mothers who breastfeed for close to a year or more sometimes feel sad when nursing ends. Many women speak nostalgically of the "warmth," "closeness," and "cuddling" of their nursing years. A woman may miss nursing even if she initiated weaning and has no regrets about having done so. But she is most likely to feel sad about ending nursing if her child initiated weaning. Even if the mother had planned to wean soon, she may feel surprised and a little discouraged when her child rejects her in favor of a cup or bottle.

A mother may feel guilty, too, if a child develops health problems soon after weaning. Whether or not the antibodies in her milk could have prevented the child's illness, she may regret that she can't nurse the child through the sickness. If your child gets sick soon after weaning, you migh offer your breast whether or not you have any milk. Even a few weak sucks on a dry breast will probably give some solace. Your child may take comfort, too, from resting his head or hand on your breast.


Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6