Weaning actually has a few different meanings. For breastfeeding babies, it usually means the time when they gradually cut back on breastfeeding with the idea of soon stopping. For bottle babies, weaning is the process of going from a bottle to a cup.

If weaning from breastfeeding, first make sure that both your partner and your baby are ready. And remember that the AAP recommendation to breastfeed until twelve months is a minimum and not a limit on how long to breastfeed. If mom and baby both want to, your baby can continue to breastfeed after her first birthday. Once your baby does start weaning, try to let her do it gradually, eliminating one feeding every few days or weeks. Or, even better, wait until your baby starts to give up these feedings on her own.

You should usually wean from a bottle just as slowly. You can make it easier if you offer juice and water in a cup only. That way, when you switch from formula to cow's milk when your baby is a year old and make the transition to using a cup, she will already be used to it.

This is a good age to introduce the sippie cup. The easiest way to do this is to offer her water and 100 percent fruit juice in a cup only; you can also offer formula or expressed breastmilk in a cup. If your breastfeeding baby who has never had a bottle weans before a year of age, consider offering formula in a cup only, so that you don't have to worry about bottle weaning.