Friday, June 24, 2005

Considerations For Weaning Your Child

I received a phone call the other day from a breastfeeding mother who was concerned about a medication she was instructed by her physician to take. As per our hospital protocol, I asked how old her nursling was. After a short, but uncomfortable pause, the mother laughed and stumbled a bit over her words, but I was sure I had heard, “two and a half years.” I could feel her red cheeks burning through the phone, so I quickly verbally applauded her as she began offering excuses for breastfeeding her child. After a few more embarrassed laughs, she became much more comfortable speaking with me about her breastfeeding relationship, and I reassured her that breastfeeding her child was perfectly normal and something she should be proud of. As the call ended, she brought up weaning, so I offered a few questions… “Is weaning something YOU want to do?” “Is weaning something your child wants?” Her reply of “no” to both then led me to, “who wants you to wean, then?” This opened the door for discussion, and I offered her a few considerations to make when deciding to wean.



Considerations For Weaning Your Child - Breastfeeding

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