If you’re still breastfeeding, you could be thinking about switching to follow-on milk or just want to know how to cope with a teething baby. Here are our top five tips for breastfeeding your six months old:
1.  New positions
Now your baby is more active, breastfeeding might have turned into a bit of a circus act. Instead of being content to lie peacefully while they feed, your baby seems more interested in crawling across your chest or bouncing up and down on your lap – all while attached to your breast. Don’t worry, as long as they’re having at least five wet diapers a day they’re getting enough milk, so you might just have to get used to these interesting new positions.
2. Teething... ouch!
By now your baby has probably sprouted a couple of teeth and along with them can come biting. If you want to continue breastfeeding, you’ll need to discourage these nips as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to remove your baby from your breast as soon as they bite and put them on the floor. When they realize that biting equals no milk, they’ll quickly stop.
3. Keeping baby’s attention
As your baby becomes more alert they’ll become easily distracted by things around them, which can make breastfeeding tricky. Choose somewhere quiet to feed so your baby can concentrate on the job in hand or, if that’s not possible, give them a rattle or toy to hold so they can play and feed at the same time.
4.  Introducing follow-on milk
If you’ve exclusively breastfed for the past six months, you might want to give yourself a bit of a break and start introducing a bottle for some of the feeds. As this will be quite a change for both of you make sure you choose the right time for your first attempt. Don’t do it when your baby is very hungry or overtired and give yourself plenty of time. It’s also a good idea to use expressed breast milk at first so you’re not changing the taste of the milk as well as how it’s delivered. If your baby refuses to take the bottle and they’re over six months you could offer a sippy cup instead, or try getting dad to give them the bottle so they can’t smell you or your milk.
5. How to stop breastfeeding
If you’ve decided to stop breastfeeding altogether and switch to follow-on milk you might be feeling quite emotional. It can be hard to give up that special bond, but you should be very proud of your achievement. Once you’ve made the decision, you should stop breastfeeding gradually so that your baby and your body can get used to the change. If you stop too suddenly your breasts might become painful and engorged, as they’ll be full of milk that has nowhere to go.
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