How to quickly wean your baby off night feedings. Weaning from night feedings without stress for the newborn. When does your baby stop needing night feedings?

Many young mothers are faced with the problem of their babies eating at night. If in the first months of a child’s life night feedings are perceived as a necessary process and “for granted,” then approaching one year old, this can become a problem for the mother. It is then that mothers have a question about how to wean a child from night feeding, whether it is worth doing it at all, and if so, at what age and under what circumstances.

Breast-feeding

Scientists express the opinion that during the first year of life a baby’s body is “tuned” to continuously receive breast milk. But will this suit the mother, who also needs rest? If your six-month-old child wakes up several times a night, demanding a breast or a bottle of formula and getting what he wants, he falls asleep within five minutes, then he is unlikely to be hungry. Most likely, this is just a habit that you can “fight.” The main thing is to do everything right.

For a child who is on breastfeeding, night snacking is a desire to be with mom and it is more difficult to wean such children from eating at night. When deciding to stop or reduce night feedings for a child on guard duty, you should comprehensively weigh all the pros and cons of your position. Pediatricians believe that the most optimal and least stressful period for infants when they can stop night feedings is after one year of age. If the baby wakes up several times at night and does not let his mother’s nipple out of his mouth, then he is unlikely to want to eat. Most likely, he associates the feeding process with falling asleep or he lacks contact with his mother during the day.

The association with the mother's nipple and falling asleep is normal for infants aged four months or less, but for 6 months one month old baby it is no longer acceptable. At this age, the baby should clearly differentiate between sleep and food intake. It is necessary to make it clear to the baby that she needs to fall asleep without the help of her mother’s “sissy”. As for the lack of contact with the mother, this is a signal that you are not spending enough time communicating with the baby.

Solving breastfeeding problems

If you have decided to wean your breastfed baby from eating at night, try a few suggested methods:

Perhaps the child does not receive enough “dose” of attention from you during the day. It is clear that, in addition to communicating with the baby, the mother needs to do a “bunch” of different things, and she does not always have time to pay attention to the child. But, at least for the period of weaning off night snacks, try to increase the amount tactile contacts with a baby. Take him in your arms not when it’s time to feed or when he starts crying, but also for no reason.
Your child may not be getting enough during the day required quantity food and the feeling of hunger wakes him up at night. A one-year-old baby is easily distracted while playing during the day and simply “forgets” that he is hungry. Try increasing the frequency of feedings or servings throughout the day to prevent your baby from going hungry at night.
If your baby wakes up frequently at night, try feeding him every other night. Figure out a way to “sleep” him without using your breasts. Rock it in the crib, carry it in your arms or sing a song - every mother will find her own approach.
When your baby wakes up at night, call your dad or grandma for help. Let them try to rock the awakened “food lover” to sleep themselves. Perhaps, without smelling mother's milk, the baby will fall asleep faster.
If you sleep in the same bed with your baby, try to create a boundary between him and yourself. Lay down a blanket or wear closed pajamas to prevent your baby from smelling breast milk.
Try changing your eating conditions. Do not feed your baby in the bed where he sleeps. Let him associate the feeding process with a certain place, and not with a crib, where he is supposed to only sleep.
There is another way in which, without outside help not enough. After feeding, hand the baby over to the care of a relative. Let him try to put the baby to sleep without his mother. Thus, we wean the baby from the habit of falling asleep only with his mother, and when he wakes up at night, the child will more easily fall asleep with another family member.

Artificial feeding

Contrary to popular belief that for children in artificial feeding, the problem of night feeding is not so acute, it is worth noting that it is almost the same as that of “breast milk lovers”. This is clearly demonstrated by the reviews of “exhausted” mothers on forums on the Internet. According to doctors, a child on willows is normal conditions By six to seven months, he is able to easily do without “food supply” for five to six hours. If your child at this age and older wakes up several times a night, then there is some reason for this, and finding out which will solve the problem.

Before you decide to switch a formula-fed baby to a daily diet, or to significantly reduce the number of “night snacks,” you should remember that “artificial feeding” has its own characteristics. Formula feeding is absorbed more slowly than breast milk and can “overload” digestive system child. Therefore, when artificial feeding, a clear diet and dosage of the formula are important. When reducing the number of night feedings and increasing the frequency of daytime feedings, all this must be taken into account.

Weaning bottle-fed babies from eating at night involves using several methods popular among mothers:

Feeding formulas have a higher calorie content than breast milk and take longer to digest. Therefore, the baby’s feeling of fullness will last longer. long time. The mixture, eaten immediately before bed, will allow him to “last longer” without food at night.
Eating enough food throughout the day will help your baby sleep more peacefully.
We “smoothly” wean the baby off night feedings, gradually reducing the amount of formula in the bottle.
To increase the interval between night feedings, try to give your baby a bottle every other time, trying to get the baby to fall asleep without food.
Don’t rush to offer a bottle of formula at the baby’s first cry; maybe something else is bothering him and he didn’t wake up from hunger.
Dilute the mixtures in the bottle with plenty of water, gradually switching to water exclusively. After some time, it will become “uninteresting” for the child to wake up in the middle of the night just to drink water.

Weaning children in the second year of life

Weaning one year old child and older children from night feeding is also a rather difficult process. At this age, the child begins to show his character and stubbornness. If your baby, who is one and a half to two years old, wakes up several times at night and demands a bottle with formula or compote, then the problem is most likely not in hunger, but in the pacifier, which he needs to fall asleep. It is already possible to explain to such children what they should eat during the day. Repeat this to your child every time, not only at night, but also during the day - then he will associate eating with light time day, not at night.

If your baby, after a normal meal in the evening and throughout the day, wakes up several times at night demanding to drink sweet tea or compote - replace the pacifier with a sippy cup, and sweet drinks with plain water. The spout of the sippy cup is not as “interesting” to the baby as the pacifier, and he will drink water without much enthusiasm. The child will not agree with such changes right away; you will have to withstand his protest and indignation, but be persistent, and everything will work out. Gradually, the baby will adjust and will ask for a drink at night if he really needs it.

Anyone who likes to watch Dr. Komarovsky’s video advice on children’s health will be interested to know what a professional thinks about the problem of weaning a child from night feedings. How, according to the doctor, can the problem be solved correctly and painlessly? Komarovsky believes that if a child wakes up three times a night to eat after six months, there is a problem. For mom, such a nutritional schedule will be difficult, because she also needs rest.

The doctor's first advice says that bathing the baby in late time before bedtime and heavy feeding after a bath will “make” the child sleep longer and his sleep will be deeper. Great importance It also depends on the air in the room where the baby sleeps. For good sleep fits cool and wet air, and warm and dry will make the baby feel thirsty and often wake up at night. The doctor believes that optimizing the air parameters in the baby’s bedroom will help solve the problem bad sleep baby and thereby reduce the number of night feedings.

Contraindications

According to pediatricians, there are circumstances when weaning a child from night feedings should be postponed. If for several days the child persistently continues to cry at night and you cannot calm him down in any way, except by offering him something to eat, postpone the changes in diet and go back to the previous regime. After a few weeks, try again, maybe by this time your child will accept the new regime more loyally. If weaning off night feedings has led to your baby crying more often during the day and demanding more attention, wait a little.

Until the age of six months, children need regular and good nutrition, since insufficient intake nutrients into the body leads to the formation of developmental abnormalities. When the child turns 1 year old, parents should take care of the timely transition of the baby to daytime feeding, excluding night meals.

The tactics for canceling night feedings during artificial feeding differ from the same procedure during breastfeeding. This issue requires a competent approach, so the young mother is recommended to coordinate her actions with her doctor.

When to stop night feeding

Experts agree that you can switch to daytime feeding at the age of 12 months, when the baby stops needing night meals. For your own peace of mind, it is recommended to check the child’s weight. If the baby's weight corresponds age norm, and the time intervals between feedings are at least 5 hours, then parents have nothing to worry about.

It is appropriate to continue night feedings at this age only when the child is feeding mother's milk. As in any situation, in in this case There are exceptions. If for any reason the child does not receive sufficient volume food in daytime days, then stopping night feedings can lead to weight loss and the development of abnormalities.

No Night Feeding Plan

In order to wean a bottle-fed baby from night feedings, a young mother is advised to follow these rules:

The first step is to assess the child’s level of readiness for such a step. The mother is advised to monitor the child throughout the day. Special attention It is necessary to pay attention to the regularity of the child’s nutrition throughout the day. If your baby skips meals during the day, he is less likely to ask for a bottle at night.
If the time interval between daytime feedings is more than 5 hours, then parents can safely begin to stop feeding at night.
The next step is to increase the time intervals between feeding the baby. This stage contributes to the development of a regime.
It is recommended to feed your baby especially carefully before bedtime, making sure that the child eats the entire portion. Malnutrition in the evening leads to night awakenings, whims and crying.

A child's diet should be complete and contain the amount of nutrients that corresponds to the age-related needs of the child's body.
It is recommended to stop feeding the baby on demand. The next stage is to accustom the child to the schedule. If the mother continues to feed the child according to his desire, then he will demand a bottle at any time of the day or night.
The baby's dinner should be more nutritious than daytime meals, as this ensures the baby is full throughout the night.
If the child wakes up at night and begins to be capricious, then the mother is recommended to give him a bottle of baby tea or drinking water. Perhaps the baby is not hungry, but simply feels thirsty.
To prevent the baby from waking up at night, parents must provide their child with a calm and comfortable sleep, about how to properly organize and improve sleep infant, read . Violate children's sleep maybe low or heat indoors, noise, bright light, and a full diaper. Nighttime whims are often caused by the eruption of baby teeth.

A child over 1 year old is able to analyze and understand parents’ requests. The young mother is recommended to constantly talk with the baby, explaining to him that he needs to eat only during the day and that no one does this at night.

To prevent the child from being capricious and crying, the mother can read him a fairy tale, talk to him, rock him in her arms, or put him to sleep next to her.

TO this issue It is recommended to involve the child's father. The baby's dad can take on the responsibility of putting the baby to bed. When the baby gets used to this regimen for several days, he will stop waking up at night and asking for a bottle of formula.

Common mistakes

The lack of proper knowledge pushes young mothers to make mistakes related to stopping feeding at night.

When implementing such a task, the following actions are strictly prohibited:

It is forbidden to wean a child from night meals if his baby teeth are erupting or he is sick. For information on how to help your child cut through his first teeth, read the article at the link. Additional stress contributes to the weakening of the child’s psyche. Parents need to postpone this idea for 2-3 weeks.
It is not recommended to leave the baby with close relatives in order to wean him off night feedings. Similar situation- stress for the child's body. In addition, parents may lose confidence in themselves.
It is strictly forbidden to apply mustard or red pepper to the surface of the nipple. Such experiments lead to burns of the mucous membrane oral cavity child, as well as the formation of fear in the baby.
When refusing night feedings, it is forbidden to raise your voice at the baby, as well as use intimidation tactics.

A newborn baby is less attached to a pacifier than to mother's breast. That is why the process of canceling night feedings with artificial feeding causes fewer problems. If a young mother experiences difficulties, she is advised to seek advice from a pediatrician or a feeding specialist.

Immediately after birth, the child needs regular food, and he eats not only during the day, but also at night. But over time, the child’s need for food changes, and mothers begin to get tired of sleepless nights. This means it’s time to think about how to wean your baby off night feedings. But at what age and how should you start doing this?

So, until six months of age, almost all babies still need additional feedings at night, but their number will need to be gradually reduced. For example, at 9 months, most healthy children already manage with one feeding at night.

Pediatricians, including Dr. Komarovsky, believe that you can stop feeding your child at night at 1 year. However, everything here is very individual, so some children even at 2 years old need to receive food at night.

Experienced mothers are advised to start reducing the number of feedings in the dark at about 6 months. How can I do that? It’s worth trying at one of the feedings to give compote or plain water instead of the usual food. The child may not like it, but attempts will need to be repeated.

At natural feeding You should try to gradually reduce the time you hold the breast at night, so that the baby understands that in the dark you need to sleep and not eat. But we have to admit that it is much more difficult to wean a child from night breastfeeding than from bottle feeding. The fact is that breastfed children, as a rule, perceive attempts to change the regime and reduce the time spent at the breast very painful. Moms will have to prepare themselves for several sleepless nights, which they will have to spend rocking and soothing the baby. It’s even better to involve dad in this matter, since the baby will not smell the milk.

It is much easier to stop bottle-fed babies from eating at night. Firstly, the formula has more calories than breast milk, so the baby does not have time to get hungry. Secondly, the mother can easily control how much the child has eaten and not worry about him crying from hunger.

After a year Most babies do not physically need to be fed at night, however, this does not mean that wean one year old baby getting up at night will be easy. Often the demand for food is not based on a feeling of hunger, but on the desire to be near the mother. In order for the baby to wake up less at night, the mother needs to pay more attention to him during the day, provide a sufficient amount of tactile sensations(hold close, pick up, hug, etc.). Having satisfied his needs during the day, the child will wake up less often at night.

Read also: How to teach a child to crawl? Everything parents need to know

Weaning a two year old from night feedings, you can already try to explain your position to him. Tell that people eat only when it is light and sleep at night. Of course, explanations alone are unlikely to be enough, so parents will have to be persistent and not be fooled by plaintive crying.

But you cannot give your child soothing tea or drops at night without consulting a pediatric neurologist and pediatrician. The fact is that in some cases (for example, with increased intracranial pressure) sedatives can harm your health.

How to wean?

If the mother understands that the baby asks to eat at night not because of a physical need, then it is worth taking measures to wean the child from night bottle feedings. And this needs to be done gradually and without forcing events.

You should start by reducing the duration of feedings and reducing food portions. For example, you can add more water to the mixture than required according to the instructions, gradually reducing the amount of mixture and, eventually, switching to plain water.

But these measures can only be started if the child receives enough food during the day. As a rule, night feedings are reduced at a time when the child is already receiving a fairly varied complementary food. In the evening (but not before bedtime) you need to give your child high-calorie food (porridge). And before putting her to bed, give her baby kefir or offer her breasts. At night, at first, you need to give a little mixture or apply it to the chest for a short time, and then try to give water or unsweetened compote during night urges.

Read also: How to teach a child to use a pacifier? Instructions for young parents

During the period of accustoming to long night sleep, it is important to ensure that the room where the baby sleeps is as comfortable as possible. Heat, noise, diaper not removed on time - all this interferes with a restful sleep. And a sleep-deprived baby will definitely begin to be capricious and demand food.

After one and a half years, it is much easier to wean a child from night feeding with formula, since it is already possible and necessary to negotiate with the child. Patiently explain that you will feed him in the morning, when it is light and the sun is out, and at night you can only drink water. Of course, such a baby is unlikely to understand everything the first time, but parents need to be firm and persistent.

What to do if it doesn't work?

If parents take measures, but even after one and a half years the child regularly wakes up at night to eat, then you need to find the reasons for this phenomenon. If the child is healthy, then there are no reasons good sleep can be:

hunger;
lack of communication;
habit.

If a child is driven precisely by hunger, then it is useless to fight the habit of eating at night. You need to understand that metabolic processes may leak into children's body differently. If some children can sleep six hours straight at night already at three months, others need to eat every three hours even a year. In this case, parents will need to ensure that the child’s body weight does not exceed the norm, that is, obesity does not develop.

In addition, it happens that a child eats very poorly during the day, but at night demands food. In this case, you will need to reconsider the baby’s daily routine, since most likely there are too many distractions around him during the day (toys, cartoons, etc.). That is, the child does not want to waste time on food during the day, preferring to have fun, and at night, when there is nothing interesting, he “gets” what he wants.

Nutritional needs are the main priority of a newborn. Both breastfed children and babies receiving formula may require food every 3–4, or even 1.5–2 hours, which is generally natural. A tiny but rapidly growing organism needs large quantities energy. However, if during the day the baby’s wonderful appetite makes the mother proud and tender, then night feedings are not always rosy for her.

Daytime chores already take a lot of energy, and if in addition you need to get up and give the baby a breast, or even more - prepare a formula for him, and this is repeated more than once or twice during the night, there is no question of proper rest. And a mother, tired of such a busy schedule, can often experience overwork, despair and even irritation.

First of all, you need to calm down: everything is not so scary, and feeding your baby at night is normal and even obligatory. Children receiving breast milk at night ensure the development of stable lactation in the mother, but also for bottle-fed babies, nutrition in dark time day is no less important: for sound and restful sleep, ensuring health nervous system, the baby needs to be well fed.

In addition, eating at night is not only about satisfying hunger: a newborn baby who is just getting acquainted with huge world, it is important to feel the closeness and warmth of your parents and your mother’s usual heartbeat, which allows you to feel confident and safe. Children grow up, and sooner or later absolutely everyone stops eating at night. Therefore, it is undesirable to wean a baby from night feedings ahead of time.

Until what age should a baby eat at night and does he need to be woken up for this?

Particularly strict pediatricians believe that for a baby up to three months optimally 2-3 feedings per night, up to six months one is enough, and from 6 months he does not require night feedings. However, few children fit into such a strict framework: breastfed babies can demand milk every hour and even fall asleep at the breast, continuing to feed all night. In formula-fed babies, the intervals between feedings are usually longer: formula milk is digested more slowly, and the baby feels full longer. However, if a bottle-fed baby wakes more three times overnight, it makes sense to check what is causing his sleep disturbance.

There is another extreme: the mother, worried about the baby’s long night sleep, wakes him up herself to feed him. This should not be done under any circumstances: the child’s need for sleep is no less important, and if he does not wake up, it means he is not yet hungry. Forced awakening causes confusion in the baby’s biorhythms, which is why he can be capricious and have trouble sleeping in the future. If the baby is fast asleep, it is better to give him the opportunity to wake up on his own for feeding, and until he does this, rest on his own.

There are no exact instructions up to what age night feedings are allowed. All children are different, and each has its own appetite, character and daily biorhythms. If the mother is not tired of feeding at night, it can last up to 3-4 years - there are many such cases. But most often, parents get tired of lack of sleep by the age of one year, and they are faced with the question of weaning their child from eating at night.

How do you know when your child is ready to stop night snacking?

Before you think about how to wean your baby off night feedings, you need to determine how ready he is to give up the breast or bottle. Often after 6 months, especially after the introduction of complementary foods and development individual treatment during the day, babies stop waking up at night, ensuring strong and healthy sleep It is not worth taking measures to wean yourself, and your parents, and before this age. But closer to the year you can determine following signs The baby's readiness to stop night feedings:

He receives complete and varied complementary foods.
The number of breastfeeding or bottle calls during the day has decreased.
The child is gaining weight well.
He has no health problems.
At night, the baby wakes up at exactly the same time.
The child does not eat the entire nightly portion and is constantly distracted.

If the baby’s behavior shows such signs, it means that eating in the dark has turned from a need into a habit, and, most likely, weaning off night feedings will be painless.

How to wean it off?

Stopping feeding at night involves working in two directions: organizing sleep and daytime nutrition.

During the day, it is necessary to feed the baby at regular intervals in slightly larger than usual portions. Pediatricians advise making the penultimate meal lighter, and feeding more heavily before bed. It is possible that a satiated child will sleep for a long time.

Another answer to the question of how to wean a child from night feedings - create a comfortable microclimate for sleeping. Pediatricians name warm and dry air among the causes of sleep disturbances. Installing a suitable room in the room temperature regime(18–20 degrees), maintenance optimal humidity(for this it is recommended to install an ionizer-humidifier) and a comfortable bed will help make the child sleep soundly and long.

Often babies cannot sleep because the energy accumulated during the day requires release, and, not knowing how to use it, they reach for the breast or bottle. Active games, long walks fresh air and an evening swim in cool water will tire the baby and make him sleep all night to gain strength.

If the child still wakes up at night, you should not feed him right away. Short quiet games, rocking in your arms or a soft lullaby - there are many ways to distract your baby from eating. You can also try giving your baby water (not juice!): perhaps he wakes up from thirst.

In the case when night awakenings are caused by habit, and not by real hunger, the baby will quickly get tired and fall asleep. Little by little, the craving for night feeding will begin to fade, and perhaps in a few days the child will delight his parents with a sweet sleep that lasts all night. But if the baby stubbornly continues to wake up, cry and demand a bottle or breast, it is better to give in - obviously, the baby still urgently needs night feeding. After a couple of weeks, you can try again.

Food in the crib

Mothers, tired of getting up at night, prefer to solve the problem in a simpler way: when the child can already drink from a bottle on his own, they simply leave it in the crib so that the baby, when he wakes up, eats without the participation of his parents. However, firstly, this method is quite risky: the baby may accidentally remove the pacifier, roll over into an unfortunate position and choke. And secondly, parents who decide to use a trick will have to wean their child off the bottle in bed, and this process lasts much longer. Between night feedings and this way of eating, the first is perhaps the lesser of two evils.

Babies who have recently been born are actively growing and require a lot of strength and energy, so they often eat both during the day and at night. As the baby grows up, parents increasingly think about how to get away from night feedings, so that the baby sleeps all night without waking up, and takes food only at daytime hours. But it is important to understand that night feedings before certain period the child needs, especially if we're talking about about babies. If the child is on, eliminating night feedings will be somewhat easier.

Night feedings in children from birth to six months

For a baby, a constant supply of food is one of the mandatory moments necessary for growth and development. In utero, the baby had no difference between day and night, but received food continuously, and after birth his digestive system should be adjusted to intermittent food intake gradually and smoothly. The child constantly requires attention and care, frequent applications breastfeeding or bottle feeding, including at night. At first, these are several feedings per night, gradually the number is reduced to 1-2 times. Although it is difficult for parents to get up at night to prepare formula or put the baby to the breast, it is worth maintaining such feedings until a certain period, weaning them off smoothly and gradually.

The child must be willing to sleep for at least 5-6 hours in a row without waking up to eat, then you can smoothly eliminate night reception food.

For children early age vital frequent feeding for full growth and development, including at night. This is especially important for children who are breastfed - night feedings are important both for them and for maintaining full lactation in the mother. Without feeding at night, such children do not gain weight well, cry for a long time and sleep poorly, so in the first six months of life it is imperative to feed the baby both day and night. Babies cannot stand long breaks in feeding of more than 3-4 hours, so it is important to organize night feedings for them. Infants are latched to the breast up to two or three times at night, artificially fed babies are usually fed once from midnight to six in the morning.

In order to make it easier for infants to feed at night, you can organize it by putting the baby in bed with you or moving his crib close to your parent's bed and removing the side of the bed. At night, at the first signs of hunger, you can quickly put the baby to your chest, preventing him from crying and waking up the whole house.

For artificial babies, you can prepare bottles in advance with measured powder poured into them and warm water in a thermos to quickly mix the mixture and give it to the child before he bursts into tears.

note

It is important to know that you cannot mix the mixture in advance before going to bed - this is a risk of dangerous intestinal infections, since the mixture is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Typically, babies wake up to feed two to three times a night, and the number of feedings gradually decreases. In the first 6 months, formula-fed babies can withstand up to 4-5 hours of sleep in a row; babies on breastfeeding– up to 3-4 hours.

The importance of night feeding after the introduction of complementary foods

Over the course of six months, the child’s diet changes, its calorie content increases, digestive function and stool normalize, and the problems of bloating and discomfort disappear. Food that enters the digestive system is already more actively and fully absorbed, helping to increase the density and calorie content of the diet. Therefore, parents can already give the child a more satisfying and dense porridge in the evening feeding, which takes a long time to digest and gives a feeling of fullness, which helps to sleep longer without waking up to eat.

During the day, children eat less often, receiving more high-calorie foods; at night, the number of feedings is also reduced, and the child can sleep for up to 6 hours in a row without waking up to eat. But when breastfeeding, it is important to maintain night feedings in order to stimulate lactation during pregnancy. next day

. The baby needs the breast not only for nutrition, but also for comfort and communication with the mother. In the period after 6-7 months, children begin to experience pain, often causing discomfort and many unpleasant minutes. Therefore, breastfeeding is protection against infections that are more likely at this time, soothing and reducing itching in the gums, as well as satiation useful product

. Refusing night feedings and replacing the breast with a pacifier or bottles of water is an additional stress factor for the baby during such a difficult period for him. At this time it is worth saving breastfeeding

at night, so that the baby can calm down in the mother’s arms, and teething and its unpleasant symptoms are alleviated. During this period, babies gradually reduce the number of breastfeeding themselves; they need the breast not so much for food as for comfort. Artificial babies can sleep for 5-6 hours at night or wake up to get a bottle of water. It may help them sleep more soundly.

Children after one year and feeding at night Babies at this age are actively exploring the world, and therefore by nightfall they can become very tired, taking their first steps and developing at a rapid pace. This allows babies to sleep more soundly and longer at night without having to wake up for night feedings. At this time, you can gradually wean children off night feedings by replacing the formula with milk or water, but infants may also require periodic feedings. Usually there are no more than one or two of them during the night. It is important to diversify your baby’s diet, feed him more high-calorie dishes at night, then he will sleep longer and more soundly at night. Full, covering all the energy needs of the toddler, lead to the fact that children increasingly sleep at night without awakening.

How to wean your baby off night feedings after a year

There are no universal tips and recommendations regarding this problem; each family selects for itself those recipes and tricks that help best. Sometimes you have to try several methods to find the optimal one. But it is important to know that abruptly depriving a baby of breast milk or formula at night will become a serious stress for him, which can lead to sleep disturbances and even illness, so the process of weaning off night meals should be smooth. This usually takes up to 4-8 weeks.

Increasing the volume of food during the daytime . It is important to monitor the caloric content and balance of the diet as complementary foods are introduced. It is necessary that the baby receives all the vitamins and minerals, as well as a sufficient amount of calories from fats and carbohydrates. It is important that the baby, through breast milk (or formula) in combination with complementary foods, receives all the necessary calories during the day and evening hours, and that he has a hearty evening meal, so that he does not then have a desire to eat more at night. Shortly before bedtime, you can give your child cottage cheese or so that the baby sleeps more peacefully. Sometimes taking porridge at night helps.
Communication with parents . By attaching to the breast, children not only receive breast milk and are satiated, but also gain the opportunity to communicate with their mother, satisfy their physiological needs for affection, tenderness, and feel more protected in their mother’s arms. In order for the baby to get enough attention, it is important to engage with him as much as possible during the day, to walk a lot, be in the fresh air, do gymnastics, massages and outdoor games, so that by the evening the baby can get tired and sleep more soundly. But you shouldn’t overload it with new emotions and events; this can cause overwork and overstimulation of the nervous system, which will lead to restless sleep.
Waking up at night and alternatives . If your baby wakes up at night, you don’t need to immediately offer him the breast or a bottle of formula; you can pat him on the head, sing a lullaby, rock him in your arms or in the crib, giving him the opportunity to fall asleep again. After two years of age You can place your baby’s favorite toy next to him so that he feels more protected.
Replacing food with drink . Such methods are more relevant for formula-fed people, who can replace the bottle with the mixture with water or compote. When waking up at night, the baby often just needs to calm down and go back to sleep; measured sucking on the nipple on the bottle helps to quickly fall asleep again. Also, many mothers gradually dilute the formula for night feedings with water until after a couple of weeks only water remains in the bottle. It is only important that it is warm, and its volume is small, and the hole in the nipple does not allow water to quickly pour into the mouth.
Dad's role in weaning off night feedings . Pediatricians and psychologists often advise involving the baby’s father in the process of weaning off night feedings. You can ask him to put the baby to bed, help with bathing and changing clothes, and also get up at night to give the mother some time to sleep. It is important that the father also takes the baby in his arms, rocks him to sleep at night, without giving pacifiers or bottles, and the mother is not in the baby’s field of vision at this time. Majority modern men copes with rocking, changing the baby's clothes and feeding him no worse than mothers, so they must actively participate in the process of weaning off night feedings.

How to stop night feeding after two years

Some children breastfeed after two years, and artificial babies require a bottle of milk or kefir at night. This is often due to the child’s irrational daytime nutrition, when he does not receive enough calories during the day, and compensates for them through evening and night feedings. It is important to review the baby’s diet, ensuring that he receives all the necessary nutrients.

In addition, with such behavior, children often attract the attention of adults if they fail in other ways. This is possible in families where relationships are strained, and there are frequent quarrels and scandals between parents, which the child sees. It is important to give the child enough attention, surround him with care, and stop sorting things out in front of the child. It is also important to explain to the baby that he is already old enough to ask for a bottle; give an example that you yourself do not eat at night, but eat in the evening and in the morning, after waking up. Can I buy my child a new one? beautiful bed, move him to a new place as an adult, especially if the child previously slept with his parents.

Alena Paretskaya, pediatrician, medical columnist