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Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or other mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid foods at 6 months; [1] in the US, it primarily refers to stopping breastfeeding. [2]
The time period from 6 to 18–24 months of age is when the risk of malnutrition is high in infants and the role of breastmilk or infant formula remains important throughout this period. It is important that parents do not decrease the volume of milk feeds until the baby is taking in enough solid foods to support growth (AAP, 2013).
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization currently recommend feeding infants only breast milk for the first six months of life. [3] If the baby is being fed infant formula, it must be iron-enriched. An infant that receives exclusively breast milk for the first six months rarely needs additional vitamins or ...
Progesterone levels drop after birth; this triggers the onset of copious milk production. [6] Estrogen stimulates the milk duct system to grow and differentiate. Like progesterone, high levels of estrogen also inhibit lactation. Estrogen levels also drop at delivery and remain low for the first several months of breastfeeding. [6]
Infants who are exclusively breastfed for the first six months are less likely to die of gastrointestinal infections than infants who switched from exclusive to partial breastfeeding at three to four months. [6] During breastfeeding, approximately 0.25–0.5 grams per day of secretory IgA antibodies pass to the baby via milk.
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Traditionally, breastfeeding has been defined as the consumption of breastmilk by any means, be it directly at the breast, or feeding expressed breast milk. [3] When direct feeding at the breast is not possible, expressed breast milk retains many unique nutritional and immunological qualities, and as such remains the gold standard for feeding infants. [4]
Breastfeeding rates in the U.S. at 6 months rose from 34.2% in 2000 to 43.5% in 2006 and the rates at 12 months rose from 15.7% in 2000 to 22.7% in 2006. The U.S. Healthy People 2010 goals were to have at least 60% of babies exclusively breastfed at 3 months and 25% of babies exclusively breastfed at 6 months so this goal has yet to be met. [16]