THE WEANING PROCESS AND DIFFICULTIES FACED BY BABIES AND MOTHERS

Year 2022, Volume: 3 Issue: 3, 290 - 298, 03.12.2022

Bahtışen Kartal , Mukaddes Demir Acar

Abstract

Background: Breastfeeding is a nutritional method that has a positive effect on the health and emotional intimacy of the mother and baby. However, the methods used for weaning can be traumatic for mothers and babies. We aimed to determine the difficulties experienced by babies and mothers during the weaning process.
Method: The study is cross-sectional and descriptive research. Between April and September 2019, mothers(n=236) in a pediatric clinic of the hospital with their baby and who had at least 6 months of breastfeeding experience constituted the sample of the study.
Results: We determined that the mean breastfeeding rate of mothers was 20.35±7.6 months and weaned their babies(31.4%) abruptly. The reasons for mothers to wean their babies are that they become pregnant, the baby reaches the age of weaning, the baby only takes breast milk and does not gain weight. In addition, we found that mothers used various methods to show the taste, smell and appearance of the breast badly to the child. In addition, we determined that 92.8% of the babies had problems during the weaning process, and the most common problems were crying, restlessness, more dependency on the mother, and sleep problems, respectively. It was determined that 94.9% of the mothers had problems, and the most experienced problems were breast problems, feelings of guilt, sadness and crying.
Conclusion: The methods used by mothers during weaning are methods that can be traumatic for their babies.

Keywords

Weaning, breast-feeding, child

Project Number

-

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