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For babies who are being breast-fed, the weaning period usually comes sometime in the second half of the first year, as the mother's milk grows a little less, and as the baby, who has become used to eating and enjoying a variety of other foods, is ready to give up a major dependence on the food that he gets from his mother.
The child who has not been breast-fed goes through something similar in connection with the bottle, although there may sometimes be a tendency to cling longer to the bottle, which is not attached to the mother and is more within his control. But weaning is a psychological as well as a physical process.
For the mother who has been breastfeeding her baby, weaning is a change that affects her intimately. Breastfeeding has usually been an enjoyable experience for her, giving her the opportunity to satisfy and promote the growth of her baby in a uniquely intimate way and to identify with the baby's satisfaction. Weaning, therefore, is very much a giving-up process, a facing of separation for her too however much she may consciously wish to initiate it. It involves a little mourning, for her as