There is some disagreement as to the best time to wean your baby. Some experts suggest that weaning should be completely initiated by the child. This means that a baby should be able to breastfeed as long as they wish, even through the toddler years. On the other hand, there are those who do not think that a baby will benefit much from nursing beyond the first year or so of life. The bottom line is that, as long as your child is physically ready to wean, there is probably not any down side to weaning at any point thereafter.

As a parent, you need to watch for the signs that your baby is physically able to be weaned. For the most part, babies are ready to be weaned at some point during the 9 to 18 month period. During that period, two things must happen. These two things demonstrate that your baby is physically ready to be weaned. First of all, your baby’s sucking reflex has to slow greatly or stop altogether. Second, your baby needs to have enough control over his movements to be able to control his hands and mouth well enough to drink from the cup and to, at least a little, feed himself. Once your baby is able to do both of these things, you can probably start to wean at just about any time.

This doesn’t, of course, mean that the child feels ready to wean, or that the child will want to wean. There is, for the most part, probably not any major harm in allowing the child to nurse until they no longer have any interest in nursing. There is no real evidence to suggest that waiting longer to wean will make it any more difficult to wean later on. For the most part, weaning will be a natural progression during which both you and your child get used to the idea of not nursing any longer.

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