AboutSally Wendkos Olds Expertise What do you want to know about breastfeeding? I can tell you what`s good
for the baby, what`s good for the mother -- and the father, how it`s
related to a woman`s sexuality, how working moms can nurse, how to
overcome obstacles, and lots more. As the author of THE COMPLETE BOOK OF
BREASTFEEDING and author or coauthor of 8 other books and more than 200
articles about child and adult development, I can offer sound, sensible
advice on breastfeeding, child care and family issues.
Experience I nursed my 3 daughters and am the grandmother of 5 breastfed children. My book THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING (written in consultation with pediatrician Marvin S. Eiger, M.D.) was first published in 1972, and in 1999 came out in an updated 3rd Edition by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books. It is now a classic, with over 2 million copies in print. I am now revising this book for a fourth edition, consulting with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D. This new edition will be published September 2009. I welcome any and all suggestions for the new edition.
I coauthored college textbooks A CHILD'S WORLD: INFANCY THROUGH ADOLESCENCE, and HUMAN DEVELOPMENT; both are leading texts in their fields and have been read by 2 million students. I am the coauthor of HELPING YOUR CHILD FIND VALUES TO LIVE BY and RAISING A HYPERACTIVE CHILD, and author of THE WORKING PARENTS' SURVIVAL GUIDE & THE ETERNAL GARDEN: SEASONS OF OUR SEXUALITY. My newest book, A BALCONY IN NEPAL: GLIMPSES OF A HIMALAYAN VILLAGE, published in 2002, tells the story of the way of life in a remote village in Nepal, where all the women breastfeed! My book, SUPER GRANNY: COOL PROJECTS, ACTIVITIES, AND OTHER GREAT STUFF TO DO WITH YOUR GRANDKIDS, will be published March 2009.
I speak often to professional, parent and general audiences and make many radio and TV appearances.
Credentials
I received my B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, where I minored in Psychology, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated summa cum laude.
Other points of interest
I have received national awards for my writing, and am a former president of the American Society of Journalists & Authors. I am listed in the World Who's Who of Women, International Authors & Writers Who's Who, and Contemporary Authors, and am a member of several professional and civic organizations. I believe: that all parents are working parents; that parents employed outside the home need special support; that mothers' well-being is crucial to their children's welfare; and that the family is the best institution in the world and the one for which we are least prepared. My thrills come when parents or kids tell me they were helped by my writing or speaking or just understanding.
To find out more about me, go to
Question hi,
Just want to check, my son is about 19 months old,he is still having breast feeding, now i donot want to give him breast feed, could you advise how can i get rid of this,Is any medicine or ointment is available which i can put on my breast.
Looking forward.
kind regards
suman
Answer Dear Suman,
First, congratulations for giving your son the best start in life by breastfeeding him!
I am attaching an excerpt from my book (see below), with a lot of suggestions for weaning. I hope some of them help. In this section I answer your question about putting any medicine or ointment on your breast -- I recommend not doing it. You don't want to end the nursing relationship which I'm sure both of you have enjoyed in a loving atmosphere, with something so unpleasant as putting some evil-tasting stuff on your breast.
Good luck!
Sally
--------------------------------
Sally Wendkos Olds
Author, THE COMPLETE BOOK OF BREASTFEEDING: Eiger & Olds, 3rd edition 1999, published by Workman Publishing & Bantam Books, and available in most public libraries, bookstores & La Leche League chapters. Now in revision for a fourth edition, with pediatrician Laura M. Marks, M.D.
------------------------------
If you’re ready to wean, but your child hasn’t shown any sign of losing interest, you may want to start the ball rolling yourself.
Try to initiate weaning at a time when your child doesn’t have to make other adjustments. If he’s teething or has a cold, or you’ve just gone back to work, or there’s a new baby-sitter, or the family has just moved, or there’s some other major disruption of routine, put off the weaning for a few weeks. It’s always easier to manage only one change at a time.
* Pinpoint the nursing session your child shows the least interest in, probably the early evening or noontime feeding. Eliminate this one first. Using the “don’t offer, don’t refuse” method can often identify the child’s least important nursing session and can be the first to go.
If your baby is under a year old, you’ll need to substitute formula. Most babies enjoy sucking on a bottle, but not all find them appealing. If your baby doesn’t seem interested in drinking from a bottle, don’t try to force it on him. Instead, substitute something else, like a cup of formula or juice, or a few spoonfuls of applesauce.
For an older child, the substitution can be any of a number of things—a game, a cuddle, a walk to the park, a reading session with a favorite book, a piece of fruit or other healthful snack. Most important is your involvement with the activity, so that you show your child that you can show your love for him in many ways. For suggestions on weaning the older nursing child, see the following section.
* Wait several days (up to two weeks) and then eliminate the next lightest feeding of the day. Keep doing this until you’re down to one nursing a day, probably the first one of the morning or the last one at night. By now, you’ll be producing very little milk and your child may give up this last feeding easily. Or you may decide to continue this one favorite feeding for a while longer. Many children wean easily during the day but want to continue nursing at bedtime for some time. Weaning this way should take from a couple of weeks to a couple of months or longer.
Suggestions for Weaning the Older Child
• Make an agreement with your child about the places that nursing can take place. For example: only at home, in the car, or in a friend’s house, but not in a restaurant or other public place.
• Make nursing sessions shorter.
• Use distraction. Before a child might ordinarily nurse or as you’re bringing a brief nursing session to an end, involve her in an interesting activity.
• Offer something your child likes to eat just before he would ordinarily nurse. It’s better to forestall a request to nurse than to deny it.
• Change your routine. At a usual nursing time, go out for a walk or a ride, or invite a playmate over, or bring out a new toy.
• Stay away from the places where you ordinarily nurse. If you’re used to nursing in a special chair, hide it or move it out of your home temporarily.
• Don’t sit down in front of your child, since many little ones associate sitting down with nursing time. Just keep on the move in the early days or weeks of weaning. Think of it as another opportunity to exercise!
• Don’t uncover your breasts in front of your child. This will remind him of nursing when he may not have been thinking about it.
• Lavish physical affection on your child during activities not associated with breastfeeding, such as reading a picture book, telling stories, or singing.
• Focus on eliminating the nursing sessions that are least important to your child and most inconvenient for you, and let the others continue for a while.
• Talk to your child about weaning as a definite occurrence in the future (after the next birthday, perhaps, or after Santa Claus comes). Even if there’s some backsliding after these events, your child will think of nursing as ending someday. One mother told her three-year-old a story about a little rabbit whose mother said, “I love you and I love to nurse you, but my milk is going away and it’s really special milk for babies.”
• Emphasize what a big boy or girl your child is. Stress some of the benefits of getting older, like going to nursery school, having play dates, not wearing diapers anymore. Focus on the many things he can do for himself, like dressing himself and using the potty. Talk about nursing as something that’s important for little children but not for big ones.
* Explain that “milky” (or whatever your special name is for nursing) is “all gone,” “went bye-bye,” or something similar.
* Give one week’s notice and count down every night. Then give a special “big boy” or “big girl” present on the last night.
• If your child is over three, you might be able to make a contract—to promise some special “big boy (or girl)” outing or treat one week (or whatever time period you set) after the last nursing. A child younger than this won’t be able to keep his end of the bargain—and even a three-year-old might not be able to.
• Ask your child to postpone a nursing; this will sometimes lead to his forgetting it. A child who asks to nurse in public, for example, can often accept waiting “until we get home.” If you’re already home, you can say, “Yes, but first I’m going to get a drink of water.” Then get him involved in some activity with you, don’t sit down, and maybe he’ll become interested in something other than nursing. Meanwhile, you haven’t said no, and you’ve made a start.
* Enlist your child's favorite people. Ask her father, or grandmother, or an adored babysitter to get her up in the morning or put her to bed, or to go to her in the middle of the night, depending on which nursing session she asks for. The first time I [Sally Olds] put my 18-month-old granddaughter to bed without her mother around, who had always nursed her to sleep, I helped Anna fall asleep by taking her into my arms in a rocking chair and singing every song I could possibly remember. I think she went to sleep in self-defense, so she wouldn't have to put up with my singing!
• While you’re weaning, continue to be willing to nurse your child at times when she’s especially needy. If she hurts herself or is sick or unhappy, depriving her of the comfort she’s used to will only create more unhappiness for both of you. Remember that nursing through an illness is a great way to get food and immunities to an ill child.
• Stay away from traumatic techniques like painting your breasts with pepper, soot, or evil-tasting substances. Allow your child to keep his happy memories and his trust in you. The best way to end this stage in your child’s life is through an agreement between the two of you—even if that agreement originates with you rather than your child.
• Recognize those times when nursing is just what your child needs. As one mother said, “A lot of times when he asks to nurse I can distract him, but when he really needs it, I nurse—and then he’s in a super mood and so it’s good for both of us.”
