The absorption of breast milk is one of the main "tasks" of the newborn. Up to about six months, a child needs a constant intake of food, since his body requires a huge amount of energy.
But if the "daytime" appetite of a baby to a nursing woman brings only joy, then night feedings are not always associated with something pleasant. A mother who managed to take care of a baby in a day, to do household chores, often feels annoyed and annoyed when she hears a hungry cry at night.
Expert advice will help you know how and when to stop feeding your baby at night.
Feeding at night is becoming a big problem for some young mums. For the sake of sound sleep, women even switch to a convenient feeding schedule for themselves, but such a step does not delight babies. So should you stop eating at night?
For a naturalist, night feeding is a necessary element of normal growth. For a child under one year old (and especially a newborn), it is extremely important to have constant contact with the mother, both day and night.
Babies under 6 months of age cannot tolerate long pauses between feedings. Waking up and crying at night in order to eat is not a whim, but a natural need for young children.
In addition, feeding at night is important for both the baby and the new parent. The hormone prolactin, which regulates the secretion of milk secretion, is produced precisely in the morning hours. If the baby does not eat at night, the amount of breast milk will soon decrease.
Breastfeeding experts warn that stopping nighttime snacks too early will disrupt optimal milk secretion, leaving the baby on "starvation rations" and switching to formula, and the mother may expect breast problems.
An infant whose diet is dominated by formula milk is most often fed by the hour. It's a little easier for moms to set at least an approximate meal time. However, up to 6 months, artificial people must eat at night, as do babies who are breastfeeding.
Some parents, especially experienced ones, can easily tolerate feeding their newborn at night. Others try to stop nighttime snacks as soon as possible for various reasons. It is the latter who are actively interested in the age at which it is better to wean the child from feeding in the dark.
There is still no consensus among HB experts, pediatricians, psychologists and lactating women on this issue.
If a breastfeeding woman has a normal attitude to night feeding, this process can last up to the fourth year of life. However, usually new parents get tired of lack of sleep already in a year, so the advice of experts on hepatitis B will come in handy.
How do you know if your child is ready?
Weaning choices are best done after women have determined whether infants are ready to give up breast milk or formula. Quite often, after 6-7 months, when additional foods are introduced, the child stops waking up at night, allowing the mother to get enough sleep.
The main symptoms of a baby's readiness to give up nighttime snacks appear at about 11 months or a year and look like this:
- babies receive the most varied feeding;
- the number of breastfeeding or formula preparation during the day is significantly reduced;
- babies have a good weight gain;
- the child is absolutely healthy;
- at night, children get up at a certain time;
- the child cannot be forced to eat the entire last portion, he can often be distracted.
In the presence of such symptoms, it can be assumed that the night meal for the child is not a vital need, but a formed habit. In this case, it will most likely be possible to wean the baby without any problems.
Slowly or instantly?
Cancellation of snacks at night can be gradual or instantaneous. Each of these methods has positive and negative characteristics. This is why a woman who is breastfeeding or using formula should make her own decisions about the preferred technique.
The essence of the technique is that breastfeeding at night is stopped gradually due to denser meals in the daytime. For example, before bedtime, the baby is additionally fed with porridge or vegetable puree so that he does not wake up in the middle of the night.
Simultaneously with the introduction of more complementary foods, the total volume of breastfeeding should be reduced. In this case, the woman will have a decrease in the amount of milk secretion.
The main advantage of this method is that the babies fall asleep well-fed and satisfied, and the mother will not need it, which reduces the likelihood of nipple cracks and lactostasis.
This technique also has disadvantages:
When Mom starts to cancel nighttime snacks, GW experts recommend that she show her love to her child in every possible way - fondling, talking and kissing. Such attention in infancy is vital!
This method is usually used when weaning a child up to one year old, but it will also come in handy for older babies. From 6-7 months, babies can already receive complementary foods. Even this “gentle” method is not suitable for children under six months old.
2. Instant way
This technique is permissible if the newly minted parent needs to wean the child as soon as possible. Of course, the reasons must be weighty, for example, chronic lack of sleep, going to work or forced separation from a baby.
The main advantage of this method is that the woman saves the time that it would take to gradually cancel the night feedings. The disadvantage is very significant - such a sharp rejection of milk and formula can cause stress in a baby of an early age.
Of course, situations are different, but most HV experts do not advise weaning infants under one year old instantly. A child at 2 months, and at 11 months, and even a year reacts extremely painfully to the deprivation of his mother's breast.
When asked at what age it is worth weaning a baby from night feeding, a popular pediatrician answers - after 6 months. Komarovsky assures newly-made mothers that a child of the seventh month of life no longer needs to eat at night.
Nocturnal breastfeeding of a child over this age is a common habit formed due to the indulgence of the mother. Baby tears at night are not necessarily caused by hunger. If you feed a baby toddler for every squeak, his digestion may be disturbed.
Your pediatrician advises you to follow these guidelines to help you finish your nightly meals.
- Do not give your baby too much food in the penultimate meal. But before falling asleep, the baby needs to be fed pretty so that he does not wake up from hunger.
- When breastfeeding (and even when using the mixture) late bathing has a positive effect on fast and sound sleep. Any additional procedures (bathing or massage) should be done before feeding to keep the baby hungry.
- At an early age, the microclimate in the room is especially important. Cool and humid air (up to 20 ° C) contributes to sound sleep. It is better to put on warm pajamas on the child than to lay him in a stuffy room.
- You can try, if not remove, then shorten the daytime sleep. Children of the third month of life sleep about 16-20 hours a day. After the sixth month, sleep duration drops to 14.5 hours. A child spends an hour less in a crib a year. A woman can try to wean the baby from sleeping too much during the day.
- It is extremely important to establish a regimen practically from the first month. If the newly-made parent follows the daily routine, then the child is 11 months old, and a year old, and preschool age will firmly understand when to eat and when not.
The well-known pediatrician is sure that if these rules are observed, the child will only eat during the day as early as a year, and at night it is sweet and sound to doze, not forcing the mother to wake up and apply it to the breast.
The older generation of the family, who raised seven babies, claims that in the absence of any problems, night feeds should be saved. The child will decide at what age to refuse such snacks.
If the kids do not stop demanding even after a year breast milk or a formula nursing mom can use the following recommendations.
With excessively bright tantrums, a decrease in weight gain, it is better to adjust the refusal technique. You can also wean off nighttime snacks in a more gentle way.
What shouldn't be done?
It is very difficult to stop doing something, especially for a young child. When do parents fail to wean their babies from nighttime snacks? If the mother does not take into account the main mistakes that are possible in the process of refusing to feed at night.
Also, there is no need to deceive the child, explaining the change in the habit by the fact that the mother has "overactive milk" or "chest pains". Why lie to a crumb, even on such trifles?
Many newly minted parents doubt at what age to stop feeding their baby at night. Maybe six months? Or is it better at 11 months? Experts recommend focusing on the well-being of the baby and your own intuition.
If you are sure that the baby is ready to change the eating habit, proceed with the refusal. If you have any doubts, continue to feed the baby at night, not forgetting that the benefits to the baby from milk compensate for all the mother's inconveniences and fatigue.
Hello, I am Nadezhda Plotnikova. Having successfully completed her studies at SUSU as a special psychologist, she devoted several years to working with children with developmental problems and consulting parents on raising children. I use the experience gained, including in the creation of articles of a psychological orientation. Of course, in no way do I pretend to be the ultimate truth, but I hope that my articles will help dear readers to deal with any difficulties.
Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova
Reading time: 5 minutes
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Last updated article: 05/11/2019
Some parents think it's okay if a newborn baby wakes up several times a night. However, pediatricians have a different opinion on this matter. Subject to certain rules, the baby's sleep is normalized within two to three months of life.
Causes of poor baby sleep
The reasons for constant awakenings are divided into physiological and psychological. In children under one year old, both phases of sleep, superficial and deep, replace each other every hour. Even if the child wakes up and nothing bothers him, he will fall asleep again in a short period of time.
TO physiological reasons several factors can be attributed:
- The room is very light or noisy.
- The child is hungry or thirsty.
- Intestinal colic, teething pain, heat body, runny nose.
- Uncomfortable clothes.
- A poorly made bed prevents the baby from sleeping.
- Wet diapers or diaper.
- The room where the baby sleeps has an uncomfortable temperature. The optimal temperature regime is 18-23 degrees.
Correcting the situation is extremely simple, the main thing is to learn how to accurately determine the circumstances that caused discomfort... Talk to a healthcare professional about what medications to take and what to do for colic, fever, runny nose, and teething.
Psychological reasons are considered:
- Lack of communication, body contact with the mother, physical activity.
- Restless family atmosphere. The kid very subtly feels the mood of mom and dad. Quarrels and screams have a very negative effect on the health of the baby.
- The child received negative emotions during the day. Even a broken favorite toy can cause a restless night.
- Many new experiences can also provoke overwork and, as a result, poor sleep.
- Various fears.
- Children under one year old also sometimes have bad dreams, which cause waking up and crying.
Parents should be patient and calm about this problem. If restless sleep is a frequent guest, see your pediatrician. The doctor may refer you to a neurologist for examination. He will conduct an inspection and tell you what to do in this situation.
Day and night sleep rates
A newborn baby should sleep at night for about nine hours, and during the day between four and six. Daytime sleep is divided in half. It is considered normal if the baby wakes up every hour at night until the age of three months. During this period, the sleep of the crumbs is the most sensitive - any rustle can cause awakening. Parents can only have a little patience and try to prevent the occurrence of the above factors in order to save the baby's sleep.
From six months, the baby wakes up much less often. As the year approaches, the number of awakenings drops to one or two. If the child continues to get up often at night, then only an experienced specialist can answer the questions of why and what to do.
At the age of about a year, it is worth teaching the little one to fall asleep on their own. If the child wakes up at night, he can fall asleep again without the help of adults. Read a fairy tale, sing a lullaby and let the child fall asleep with your favorite toy. Thus, the lesson of independence will be learned painlessly.
Breastfeeding and sleep
It has long been proven that breastfeeding mothers who sleep together have better milk production and last much longer. It's all about frequent breastfeeding during the night. If the baby began to sleep with his mother from birth, then his sleep can only be envied. Woke up - immediately fed and again in dreams. The situation is different when the child sleeps in his crib. Both mother and baby need more time to re-immerse themselves in dreams.
Despite all the positive aspects, sleeping together has some consequences. Getting used to receiving milk at the first call, the baby cannot do without breast during laying and throughout the night.
Starting from the age of six months, the child stops looking for a sense of security in the breast, he learns a new world at the speed of light. It is at this moment that it is best to wean the toddler from sleeping with his mother. As you grow older, sleep will gradually normalize, the number of feedings will decrease.
What to do if your child has poor sleep associations
Often, a newborn baby gets used to sleeping in a carrier or car seat. In this case, it can be difficult to change to a crib. But sleep in a car seat or a portable cradle cannot be called full and deep. Subsequently, the parents do not understand why the baby begins to sleep in fits and starts during the day, constantly wakes up and is capricious. These babies can skip feeds before laying down and fall asleep right away. At night, the child often wakes up from hunger, and in the morning the mother is tired. And a similar situation will repeat every day, getting worse and worse.
What to do with such a routine? Try to create the most comfortable environment in the room. You need to ventilate it, close the curtains and turn off the lights. The main point is silence. After ten days, you will notice that your baby sleeps better day and night. 
If you have bad associations with sleep, you need to help the baby to sleep. Put it next to you in bed, go for a walk in a stroller - the newborn should sleep according to his age. It is worth remembering that you do not need to make a problem out of this and panic. The baby is very sensitive to the mood of the mother, and you will notice that he has become more moody. This situation will only aggravate the situation.
How to improve the sleep of a newborn
- The first step is to determine at what time it is convenient for the baby to fall asleep. If the baby began to stay up late and wake up early, then it becomes clear why he is capricious. Lack of sleep is the cause of tears. This means you need to postpone the laying time a few hours earlier. Optimal time - 9-10 hours.
- The ritual of going to bed plays an important role. You can go to the bathroom, do a light massage, give a kind song from your mother. Each parent has the right to independently choose the stages of the ritual.
Scientists have been conducting research for more than one year in the field of the correct development of the child, upbringing and feeding. Looking for the most comfortable and natural ways... In the first months of life, a little baby does not have very great needs and features in care. All you need is proper hygiene, proper feeding, love and affection. Over time, in addition to the simple need to get enough, the child develops the habit of frequent contact with the breast. For him, it becomes a way of calming down. Any discomfort - and the child begins to search for the chest with his lips. The baby feels warm in his mother's arms, comfortable when he hears a knock mother's heart... This is the sound that the infant has become accustomed to over the nine months in the womb.
Activity phases and baby nutrition
The crumbs sleep restlessly at night, often wake up. The phases of activity and sleep in the early stages of life are short. Often night feeding is used to put the baby back to sleep. After six months, the sleep phase begins to level out. The child wakes up less often at night. No need for night feeding. But recently, cases of hyperactivity in children have become more frequent. Six-hour night breaks are not allowed.
After six months, pediatricians recommend reducing the amount of breastfeeding. Complementary foods (juices, mashed potatoes, cereals) are introduced into the child's diet for full development. Night feeding overloads the baby's body. They are offered to refuse it, and mothers are wondering how to wean the child from eating at night.
Desire to calm down
The main thing here is to understand the reason why your baby asks for a breast at night. Now we will look at the main ones. If the baby is not hungry, but just wants to calm down, then there are several methods on how to wean the baby from breastfeeding at night. Need to different ways try to put your child to sleep. Walking in the fresh air is one of the methods, although, probably, few mothers will be delighted with night walks. A more suitable method is pumping, stroking, singing songs. You need to put your child next to you so that he can feel your warmth, smell and hear your heartbeat. Ask your dad for help. Let him walk with the child, shake, tell a fairy tale. The main task is to teach the baby to calm down and fall asleep without sucking on the breast.
Hunger
Does your baby suck in milk and fall asleep again? at night? It is necessary to increase the number of daily feedings. It is necessary that during the day the baby is fully satiated. Feed your baby well before bed. Let dinner take longer. A well-fed baby will no longer want to ask for supplements at night.
It so happens that the baby wakes up after midnight from hunger, while he eats well. There are several ways to stop feeding your baby at night:
- Before going to bed, wake up the baby and feed. The baby can suckle and sleepy. Then he will not wake up at night from a feeling of hunger.
- Reschedule complementary foods in the evening. Feed the child with porridge, give kefir or drink milk mixture.
- If you fed the baby well during the day, but the habit of waking up and eating at night remains, then during a late meal try giving milk diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3. Water feeding can be gradually replaced. This will help avoid overeating.
All of these tips are suitable for breastfed babies.
Artificial feeding of the child. Weaning the baby out of the night reception
Children on artificial feeding get nutritious milk from a bottle. What to do with such kids? Artificial moms often wonder about being at night. Trying to get your toddler to part with the bottle is not an easy task. Children with tears beg for their favorite bottle. Sucking from the horn, as well as from the breast, gives the child pleasure, satisfies the feeling of hunger, helps to calm down and fall asleep.
Use a sippy cup for feeding at night, not a bottle. It is similar in shape to your favorite bubble, but, in fact, it is a mug. You have to drink from it while sitting. The baby will lose the association with sucking, as well as the sensations that it caused. If the baby does not feel hungry at night, then he will soon refuse to eat at this time of day. Feed your baby more satisfyingly before bed. It can be porridge or kefir.
Glass of milk at night
You see that your child is growing, sleeping well already and eating almost independently. But after a year, many children develop the habit of waking up at night and drinking a glass of milk. The problem is that cow is not at all useful for children under three years old. It can cause a calcium deficiency in the growing body and provoke an increase in nervous excitability. How to wean a child from drinking milk at night? Try offering your baby water.
If the child drinks it, it means that he is tormented by thirst. If he refuses, then this is already a bad habit. Begin to gradually dilute the milk with water until you completely switch to the latter. There are radical method - distract the child and switch his attention. Try to calm and lull the baby to sleep without giving anything.
The child is over a year old. How to wean from feeding at night?
If you were not puzzled by the problems of night feeding for up to a year, then by one and a half years this problem will already need to be fought. Eating at night can turn into a persistent bad habit. You start looking for a solution to the problem and think about how to wean your child from eating at night. Here it is already useless to understand the reasons. We need to solve the problem. But in addition to the fact that some children are used to eating at night, their preferences begin to appear. Let's look at some of them:
- How to wean a child from eating candy at night? Give a healthier substitute (dried fruit, candied fruit, pectin marmalade without sugar). Encourage you to put the candy in the stash and eat it in the morning. Play on children's mercy. Offer to give the candy to your grandfather, grandmother, or other loved one.
- How to wean a child from eating buns, cookies, waffles at night? Prepare delicious and healthy breakfasts. Examples include banana pancakes, fruit muffins, and milkshakes. Let him get used to the fact that desserts can be eaten in the morning. Do not take everything at once, but act gradually. More often say, "We don't eat this," or "Our family doesn't eat cream cakes because they are awfully sweet." Let the little person get used to the fact that your family has its own way of life.
The children's pediatrician wrote that a baby can be weaned from anything in three days. The essence of the problem is not that important. The main thing is that the parents have strong nerves. How to wean a child from eating at night? It's hard to endure the cry for three days, but the result will be a full sleep. The diet will also be restored.
The main thing is not to approach the child and not try to persuade. Only a polite and categorical refusal. There is no need to explain that this is harmful. All the same, a child at this age will not understand your explanations. You can even harm them. For example, if you start scaring a kid with scary tales about fat children, this will only help create a bunch of complexes. Don't forget that a child's psyche is vulnerable.
All parents want them to have smart and obedient children. And besides the question of how to wean, you should be no less concerned with how to teach. We must teach your child to obey you. Such a moment is often missed. But this is the foundation of education.
The technique for helping your child develop a listening habit is simple. You need to start with elementary things and gradually move on to more complex and difficult ones. The path from simple to complex is easier.
The basis of education is laid from two to twelve years old. A 12-year-old child should already be well-mannered, obedient to your helper and friend. After given age your work should already be aimed at self-development and improvement of a small personality. A great life path opens before the child. You are a guide for him. Your care, attention and great patience will help grow your personality.
Conclusion
Now you know how to wean your baby from feeding at night. We hope that our recommendations will help you and you will be able to cope with this problem. Good luck!
Babies in the first year of life often wake up at night, but it is in their mother's strength to make the process of night feeding as easy as possible.
How many times does a baby usually wake up?
If for several decades it was believed that a 3-4-month-old baby should wake up at night only once, and after 5 months should sleep all night, now the attitude towards night feedings has changed. Nowadays, free feeding is considered the most natural and optimal, when the breast is given at the request of the baby.
With this approach to feeding up to six months, the baby will wake up at night as often as during the day - with intervals of about 1.5-2 hours. This is due to the predominance of the active phase of sleep in newborns, and with a small volume of the newborn's stomach, and with the rapid absorption of human milk. Occasionally, mothers of breastfed babies are lucky and their babies sleep 5-6 hours at night, without waking up from hunger. But this is rather an exception. Read another article about whether to wake up your baby for night feeding.
Does the baby always wake up to feed?
A baby sleeping next to mom almost never wakes up completely at night. He finds the breast during superficial sleep, applies to it and sucks it in sleep. At the same time, the mother rests, since she does not need to get up, feed the baby and put it in a separate bed.
It should also be noted that waking up at night is not always associated with hunger:
- in the first months, the baby can suffer from colic or discomfort from a wet diaper at night;
- restless sleep with frequent waking up is also characteristic of the teething period.
The child may also wake up due to stuffiness in the room, so the room should always be ventilated before going to bed.
What determines the number of night feedings?
The frequency of feeding at night is influenced by the individual characteristics of the infant. Have infants in the first months after childbirth, the sleep, nutrition and wakefulness regime has not yet been established. The baby does not know whether he wanted mother's milk during the day or at night, he only feels hunger at approximately equal intervals. In addition, in young children, the active phase of sleep predominates, which is why the baby sleeps very lightly. And due to the fact that breast milk absorbed fairly quickly, hunger appears approximately every 2 hours, regardless of the time of day.
By the age of 6 months, most toddlers sleep for a relatively long time at night without feeding, kissing their breasts in the second half of the night. Babies, for whom breastfeeding will end soon, are no longer asked for breasts at night. At the same time, the number of applications at night may increase when the baby is teething, there is psychological discomfort, or an illness has begun. Also, the baby is often applied at night if the mother produces less milk than he needs (during the period of "growth spurt").
When breastfeeding
Note that it is night feedings that are important for successful and long-term lactation, since prolactin production is stimulated at night. This hormone is responsible for the production of human milk. Avoiding nocturnal breastfeeding can not only reduce lactation, but also cause lactostasis.
With artificial feeding
Babies receiving formula milk also need feedings at night. At the same time, it is better to prepare the mixture for the baby in advance, so as not to waste time on this at night, when the baby has already woken up. In addition, a half-asleep mom can confuse something, for example, the amount of the mixture. However, resist the urge to leave the prepared mixture in the room where the baby sleeps. Put the bottles in the fridge and you just have to warm them up at night.
Appetite
The food that the baby needs in different feedings can have a different volume. It is impossible to say exactly how much milk will be required for a baby. Even if your little one was born quite large, this does not mean at all that his appetite will be increased. On the contrary, there are large babies whose appetite can be called modest. In addition, the amount of milk in each feeding, as well as the calorie content of milk for each mother, can be very different. Premature babies and low-weight babies experience hunger more often, so they are often fed at least 2-4 times at night.
Husband's help
Before the baby is born, discuss with your husband where the baby will sleep. Do you want the baby to sleep in your bed or next to it (in an attached crib), or decide to immediately put the baby in a separate room prepared for him.
The husband can help a tired nursing mother in feeding at night if he gives the baby milk that has been expressed in advance instead of her. If the baby receives the mixture, the parents can take turns and give the baby food in turn.
Debunking myths
You can often hear a recommendation to feed a baby who is receiving complementary foods with denser food at night, as if this will provide the child with a better sleep. In fact, doctors recommend that foods that are harder to digest should be given to the child in the morning. If you feed the baby very tightly before laying, this will only worsen the sleep and well-being of the baby.
- A baby who wakes up at night should immediately be picked up. If the baby cries, and you wait for him to calm down, as a result, the baby will be very excited. You will have to calm him down first, and then feed him.
- At night, the baby's room should be calm and quiet. If you need light, turn on a weak night light that won't bother your little one.
- Place a clean diaper and napkins near your bed to quickly change your diaper at night if needed.
- So that the baby wakes up less not because of hunger, but because of extraneous sounds, gradually accustom the child to various noises, for example, the phone ringing or a running washing machine.
- Get ready for the fact that your sleeping habits for the first time of life with a baby can change dramatically. Perhaps you will start going to bed earlier, putting aside all non-urgent matters.
- You should not worry that you will not hear your baby waking up at night if he is sleeping nearby. Rarely does a mother sleep while her baby cries. If the baby is in a separate room, take care of buying a radio nanny.
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