So, Can I Stop Breastfeeding Completely?
The Answer is Not Yet!
To meet your baby’s evolving nutritional needs, you should continue to nurse your child up to 2 years of age and beyond along with providing nutritious and safe complementary feeds.
Can I Reduce the Frequency of Breastfeeding?
As the frequency of breast milk is reduced, ensure that you include calcium rich complementary feeds in your child’s diet.
Yes! Your baby’s digestive system is slowly adapting to digest a variety of foods. You may not want to lose any opportunity to introduce a variety of taste and texture to your baby’s food, so you can reduce breastfeeding frequency.
- As your baby eats more and more of solid foods, he or she may eventually lose interest in nursing.
- If the demand for breast milk decreases, your milk production will also eventually decrease.
How Often do I Need to Breastfeed?
- The frequency of breastfeeding will now mainly vary with:
- The type or energy density of food your child eats.
- The amount of food your child eats.
- Your baby’s desire and mood to breastfeed.
- If you are feeding energy-dense complementary foods to your baby at least 3–4 times per day along with 1–2 snacks, you should nurse depending on your child’s appetite/demand, to fulfill the nutrition requirements.
- If your child prefers to eat a variety of foods more often like mashed chapati, mashed rice and pulses, and other animal-source foods like eggs, mashed meat, yogurt, etc., then you may need to nurse less often.
- You may choose to breastfeed at night and give complementary feeds through the day to adjust to your work schedule or according to your child’s desires.
Note: Amounts suggested are general guidelines and may differ depending on the age, sex and activity level. To get your child’s personalised diet plan please visit our Meal Planner
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