Whats a good age for baby to stop breastfeeding and whats a good way to ween him off it?

Answer 1

When they are old enough to wean themselves then they just stop.

American Academy of Family Physicians
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/policy/policies/b/breastfeedingpositionpaper.html
If the child is younger than two years of age, the child is at increased risk of illness if weaned.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/weaning/how_weaning_happens.html
Child-led Weaning

Child-led weaning occurs when a child no longer has a need to nurse - nutritionally or emotionally. A baby who self-weans is usually well over a year old, is getting most of his nutrition from solids, is drinking well from a cup, and cuts down on nursing gradually. If children are truly allowed to self-wean in their own time, most will do so somewhere between the 2nd and 4th year. Obviously, some will wean before this time and some will wean after this time, too.


Extended Breastfeeding Fact Sheet
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/bfextended/ebf-benefits.html

http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detsleepthrough.html
Human children are also designed to have breast milk be a part of their diet for a minimum of 2.5 years, with many indicators pointing to 6-7 years as the true physiological duration of breastfeeding -- regardless of what your cultural beliefs may be.


A Natural Age of Weaning
http://www.kathydettwyler.org/detwean.html
It is true that there are still many societies in the world where children are routinely breastfed until the age of four or five years or older, and even in the United States, some children are nursed for this long and longer. In societies where children are allowed to nurse "as long as they want" they usually self-wean, with no arguments or emotional trauma, between 3 and 4 years of age.

[...]

Some of the results are as follows:

1. In a group of 21 species of non-human primates (monkeys and apes) studied by Holly Smith, she found that the offspring were weaned at the same time they were getting their first permanent molars. In humans, that would be: 5.5-6.0 years.

2. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that length of gestation is approximately equal to length of nursing in many species, suggesting a weaning age of 9 months for humans. However, this relationship turns out to be affected by how large the adult animals are -- the larger the adults, the longer the length of breastfeeding relative to gestation. For chimpanzees and gorillas, the two primates closest in size to humans and also the most closely genetically related, the relationship is 6 to 1. That is to say, they nurse their offspring for SIX times the length of gestation (actually 6.1 for chimps and 6.4 for gorillas, with humans mid-way in size between these two). In humans, that would be: 4.5 years of nursing (six times the 9 months of gestation).

3. It has been common for pediatricians to claim that most mammals wean their offspring when they have tripled their birth weight, suggesting a weaning age of 1 year in humans. Again though, this is affected by body weight, with larger mammals nursing their offspring until they have quadrupled their birth weight. In humans, quadrupling of birth weight occurs between 2.5 and 3.5 years, usually.

4. One study of primates showed that the offspring were weaned when they had reached about 1/3 their adult weight. This happens in humans at about 5-7 years.

5. A comparison of weaning age and sexual maturity in non-human primates suggests a weaning age of 6-7 for humans (about half-way to reproductive maturity).

6. Studies have shown that a child's immune system doesn't completely mature until about 6 years of age, and it is well established that breast milk helps develop the immune system and augment it with maternal antibodies as long as breast milk is produced (up to two years, no studies have been done on breast milk composition after two years post partum).

And on and on. The minimum predicted age for a natural age of weaning in humans is 2.5 years, with a maximum of 7.0 years.

Answer 2

The World Health Organisation recommends breastfeeding until at elast 2 years of age. As a result many nursing mothers find that child-lead weaning is the way to go. No effort is required to wean at this point as the child has made the choice.
Of course whatever the wishes of the mother are should be of primary consideration. If the mother is happy to keep feeding she should feed until the child decides he/she is finished with breastfeeding. If the mother has had enought than that is the best time to stop breastfeeding. If she has fed the child to 12 months she can switch straight to cows milk. If the child is not yet 12 months infant formula will need to be introduced. Breatsfed babies are often reluctant to take a bottle if they have never had one so you may wish to try with a cup instead.
If you plan to wean it is first a good idea to cut back on feeds rather than just quit "cold turkey" (if possible) to reduce the risk of mastitis. Believe me, if you've never had mastitis you absolutely want to keep it that way.
There is no right or wrong time. It should be determined by the wishes of the mother and child.

Answer 3

This is a very personal decision for you and your family. There is no right or wrong answer. I personally started weaning when my baby turned 5 months old and he had his last breastfeeding on his 6 month birthday. During the first week, I dropped one feeding and replaced it with formula, The next week I dropped another feeding and replaced with formula-- so now he was getting 2 bottles per day. I kept on by this same process.....replacing a feeding every 5-7 days. It kept me from becoming engorged, although there was still a little discomfort. Towards the end, my baby turned away from the breast because he was no longer getting enough milk there. He seemed to have no stress about it at all.

Don't be surprised if you feel a little (or a lot) blue during the process. There are hormones and chemicals at work and when you wean from breastfeeding, you may feel a little depression for a couple of weeks. It is normal and it will not last forever. :-)

Answer 4

2 years

Answer 5

That should be asked by yourself, how often does the baby feed? is he or she just needing the suckeling? How old is the baby? Are you ready to end the brest feeding? Most women slowly ween their babies off little at a time(does the baby feed more in the morning or at night?) If at night then start giving a sippy cup through out the day(if baby is old enough) and let the baby brerst feed at night befor bed

Answer 6

2 years.

Answer 7

Its really up to you when you want to ween and if the child is seemingly less interested in breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding for at least 6mths is most beneficial to the baby and I believe 10-12mths is a good bench mark to aim towards. If you can breastfeed longer than that is good too. I do think beyond 18mths + is going a bit far but thats my opinion.
I could only breastfeed for 8mths with both of mine because with the first I went back to work and because she had bottles in the day, she didn't want the breast anymore after a month or so. With the second, I got really sick and had no choice but to stop breastfeeding which I was devasted about as I was determined to get to 12mths that time and go straight to cups without the need for the hassle of bottles again!
If you can go up till 11-12mths you can ween straight to cows milk from a sippy cup without having to use formula or bottles and believe me this will create a lot less hassle.
By this age your baby would really only need 2-3 feeds a day and none in the night so it would be easy to start offering milk in a sippy cup and gradually over the next 2-3 weeks increase the milk intake and decrease the breastfeeding. If its done gradually and without preassure on the child, then it should be a seemless transition for both of you. Usually the hardest feed to drop is either the first one of the day or the last one at night so prepare your self for this. Distraction is usually the key. Also if your baby is used to falling asleep at the breast I would start to teach him to settle in the cot rather than in your arms.

Best of luck and I hope thats been helpful!

Answer 8

Only when you feel ready to . I stopped at nine months with my eldest but only because the midwife told me to , we were not ready and I did regret it. My second I gave up at 11 or twelve months and the same with the last one. We were both ready. Some of my friends still fed two year olds but that was not for me. Just do what feels right for you. If you have had enough then stop. My husband was quite glad when I gave up tho ! lol. x

Answer 9

depends on the mother
some mothers continue to breast feed their kids till age of 5-7...

i personally think if the mother can carry on breastfeeding maybe by the age of 1-2 should be OK to ween the child off it

Answer 10

1 year

Answer 11

My aim was to breastfeed until my baby was one, he ended up feeding until he was nearly 3...I did wean him a bit, I stopped giving him nightfeeds at one point (by cold turkey, just stopped), then I started only feeding him if he actually asked instead of asking if he wanted to, because he always wanted to lol.
But if you feed your baby until he is 6 months you've given him a good start in life.