Feeding the baby at night. How to wean a child from night feeding?

Why does the baby have night feeding? At what age can you refuse them? Detailed advice on how to wean your baby off of a night meal.

Sleepless nights - that's what most mothers associate with the first months of motherhood. If you want these troubles can be avoided. But you have to deprive the crumb of night feedings. From what age can you teach a baby to sleep without milk all night? How to disaccustom a small lover to eat after midnight from a late meal? And whether it is necessary to do this?

Breastfeeding at night

Feeding a baby at night or not? The answer to this question depends on what the child is eating. If he is on breastfeeding, then the answer is unequivocal - yes!

The first two months of pediatricians are advised to feed the baby on demand. This technique does not depend on the time of day. Whenever a child is crying, day or night, it needs to be attached to the chest and try to feed. If he refuses, then it is worth checking whether he has other reasons for crying: uncomfortable clothes, cold, wet diapers.

Late feeding is important not only for the baby, but for the mother. After all, after three o'clock in the morning, the production of prolactin becomes maximum. This hormone promotes that the colostrum turns into ripe milk, and regulates its quantity. It turns out that night feeding in the first months of a baby's life is the key to successful breastfeeding in the future. In addition, night feeding will save you from lactostasis and mastitis.

If the baby wakes up at night, the easiest way to put him to sleep is to give him a breast. The crumbs are calmed not only from the feeling of saturation, but also from the sucking movements themselves. He feels Mom's warmth, hears the sound of her heart, feels a familiar smell. ...But he is already sleeping, and my mother also has time to rest. Until the next feeding.

Feeding a child with a mixture at night

This is different if breastfeeding has failed. In this situation, the benefit of late feedings will be received only by the baby, but not by the mother. Does the baby sleep soundly at night? Then there is no sense in waking him up and stuffing him with the mixture.

If the baby is healthy and cheerful, he does not have shortages in weight, and he eats well during the day, let him sleep 3, 5 or even 7 hours in a row. In the morning, he will catch up. But if he wakes up every couple of hours and loudly demands a favorite bottle, do not refuse. To do this, it is convenient to keep the water in the preheater for the mixture heated to the desired temperature. So you will prepare food faster. Cooking mixture from the evening can not.

The mother of an artificial person often has a temptation to calm the awakened baby by giving him a bottle of food, and most to go to sleep. Never do this. The child is not yet able to fully control the process of eating. He can choke, drop a bottle or regurgitate food. Always wait until the end of the meal, and then hold it in an upright position. So the air that a baby could accidentally swallow with food will quickly come out. So, the crumbs will not torment the colic.

How many times to feed a child at night?

What should be a break in feeding at night? Most doctors already in the hospital allow mothers to sleep for 5 hours, if the baby does not require food. In the afternoon, it is recommended not to let him stay hungry longer than three hours.

Moms of small and premature babies feed babies every three hours, both during the day and at night. In this case, the baby is awoken, even if he was not going to eat.

In the first months of life, it is recommended to feed on demand. Experienced moms say that the baby can "claim" every hour, while remaining at the chest for 10 minutes. Other children can sleep peacefully for 5-7 hours. Is there a break in night feeding?

Beginning with the third month, you can proceed to the method of free feeding. It is similar to feeding on demand, but the pause between meals should be at least two hours. A new portion of food can upset the tender gastrointestinal tract of the baby, if it has undigested remains.

IMPORTANT: Do not forget: after the break in feeding will be more than six hours, prolactin in your body will be less. He will stop braking the ovulation cycle. If you do not want to become a mother of weather, you will have to use contraceptives.

Up to six months, the break in night feeding determines, rather, the baby himself than his mother. Mom's task is to make the child's day so full and so saturated that he wakes up as rarely as possible and lets his parents get enough sleep.

Night feeding: to what age?

• Pediatricians say that already with half a year a healthy baby is quite able to do without night feeding. After this period, late food is already your good will. There is no biological need for the child in it.
• The famous children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky recommends that you refuse frequent night feedings if they burden your parents. Although he treats children, his main principle is "Mom is also a man!".Komarovsky comments: "Mom, such a regime is harmful. It is necessary to try to change the system of feeding the child so that he ate less often at night. For example, in 6 months you can eat 3 times a night, but it's a lot. To bring the situation to one feeding is more than real. "
• By the way, sometimes it happens that the baby sleeps hard all night long until half a year, and after that time suddenly starts to wake up and demand an "additive".This is due to teething. During this period, children get used to "hang" on their mother for hours, because the gums swell and itch.

In this case, you can replace the night feeding:

• pacifier;
• with a cooling washer;
• an anesthetic ointment for gums.

And remember that when the teeth broke through, night feeding becomes even harmful. The baby can be threatened with bottle caries, which cause the remnants of sweet milk or a mixture on the first teeth.

Do I need to wake a baby for feeding at night?

More recently, all mothers were recommended to feed children on a schedule. In this case, the baby had to be awakened to feed on schedule. Now doctors do not recommend disturbing a sound sleep of a crumb. The only exception is small children.

How to teach a child to sleep at night without feeding?

More often than not, kids themselves are taught to sleep through the night long. If the crumb still often bothers you with crying, try changing its mode.

1. The said doctor Komarovsky advises three tricks to make the toddler's sleep sound. First, make a big break before the last feeding, so that for dinner the kid was hungry, like a wolf. Secondly, to bathe it in cool water just before bedtime. Third, tightly feed after bathing. And, of course, the day of the baby should also be saturated, so that by evening it is just tired.
2. If you have already introduced a lure, try to give before bedtime not chest, but porridge."Adult" food is more caloric, and the baby will remain full longer.
3. Check the situation in the room. During the heating season, the air in the nursery can be over-dried. Accordingly, it dries up in the mouth of the child. Perhaps he wakes up from thirst, not from hunger.
4. Try to replace the night meal with water or a teat. Experienced moms say that by going to the water, the children gradually stop waking up at night.

Dad at night with the baby

1. Involve the dad in the process. The papa's handles are warm and cozy, but do not smell of milk. Having become accustomed to falling asleep without eating, the child will simply stop interrupting sleep.
2. If you are sleeping with a baby in the same bed, wear closed pajamas so that the baby can hardly get to the chest. Create a small barrier roller between yourself and the baby. Think about whether it's time for the crumb to move to her own crib. But if the baby perceives the "move" is negative, do not create two stresses at the same time.
3. Change the mode of eating during the day. A child should not lose one feeding. Let the night meal take place closer to the morning, and gradually turn into the first breakfast.
4. Even a well-fed kid can just demand your attention. Communicate more with him throughout the day, often take it in your arms. If you can not play with him for long, sing songs and tell stories, doing household chores.

Night feeding is important not only for the newborn, but for the mother. They allow the baby to gain weight well, and mom - to produce enough milk, avoiding lactostasis and mastitis. But over time they become only harmful to both.

After half a year, it is desirable to reduce the number of night feedings to a minimum. There are many ways for this, but the most important of them are sanity, patience and love.

Video: How to wean from night feeding?