Q&A on weaning

Makes Milk with Emma Pickett

My new book, ‘Supporting the Transition from Breastfeeding: a Guide to Weaning for Professionals, Supporters and Parents’, is out today!

To celebrate, in this episode I’ll be answering more of your weaning questions from Instagram.

And exclusively for this episode, you can get 25% off the book at the Jessica Kingsley press website, that's uk.jkp.com. Add the code STBPR25 at checkout to get 25% off.

Follow me on Twitter @MakesMilk and on Instagram @emmapickettibclc or find out more on my website www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com

Questions answered in this episode -

02:59 How do I handle my emotions when I'm so scared to try and wean, but I'm so desperate?

07:01 What are typical weaning symptoms for a parent?

11:04 Please cover stopping feeding to sleep as part of the weaning process.

23:45 More booby monster weaning please! How do you stop when the language skills and all the communication isn't there?

34:48 Talk about the impact of weaning on the emotional health of the child.

41:09 Is there any evidence that night weaning will promote babies sleeping through the night?

46:46 How do you occasionally stop the older toddler from nursing to sleep when it's all they've ever known? And how do you involve the non -breastfeeding partner in making the child fall asleep?

49:10 I've noticed a correlation between the moments when I tried to hold a breastfeeding boundary with my two year old and her rejecting me in favour of her dad. On reflection, this seems logical, she feels rejected in some way. But she's rejecting me and I wondered if this was common?

52:00 How do I encourage my toddler to drink water or milk from a cup, not from me?

54:28 Advice for weaning the feed before their nap due to returning to work because I'm not going to be there to feed them to sleep?

59:21 How do you stop breastfeeding a baby if they're 11 months old, and they don't have any other comforter or dummy and they've refused a bottle?

1:01:40 Is it possible, is it fair, to keep feeding to sleep and feeding for certain day feeds, and to stop feeding overnight?

1:05:12 Do you have any advice on avoiding mastitis or painfully full breasts? I find that I'm quite uncomfortable on the few occasions we've been apart for 24 hours, so not sure how I'll go on once I start weaning.

1:06:55 I'd love to hear about weaning and timing with the transition of moving their child to their own bed.

1:09:08 Is there an ideal order when it comes to potty training and weaning?

Resources mentioned -

Guided meditation for bedtime - https://www.emmapickettbreastfeedingsupport.com/guided-visualisation

Effect of Current Breastfeeding on Sleep Patterns in Infants from Asia Pacific Region study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22616943/

Sleep study - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36265054/

This podcast is presented by Emma Pickett IBCLC, and produced by Emily Crosby Media.