What time to wean a child from feeding at night. Artificial feeding of the child. Wean the baby from the night reception. Phases of activity and nutrition of babies

The need for nutrition is the main priority of the newborn. Both breastfed babies and babies receiving formula milk may require food every 3–4, or even 1.5–2 hours, which, in general, is natural. A tiny but rapidly growing organism needs a lot of energy. However, if during the day the wonderful appetite of the baby causes pride and tenderness in the mother, then nighttime feedings for her are far from always painted in iridescent tones.

Daily 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 mixture for him, and this is repeated more than once or twice during the night, there is no question of a good rest. And tired of such a busy schedule, a mother can often experience overwork, despair, and even irritation.

First of all, you need to calm down: everything is not so scary, and the nightly feeding of the baby is a normal and even mandatory phenomenon. Children who receive breast milk at night ensure the development of stable lactation in the mother, but also for babies on artificial feeding food in dark time days is no less important: for a strong and restful sleep providing health nervous system, the baby needs to be properly satiated.

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

Up to what age should a baby eat at night and does it 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 need nightly feedings. However, few babies fit into such a rigid framework: breastfed babies may demand milk every hour and even fall asleep at the breast, continuing to feed all night. For artificial babies, the intervals between feedings are usually longer: the milk mixture is digested more slowly, and the baby feels full longer. However, if a bottle-fed baby wakes up more three times per night, it makes sense to check what causes sleep disturbance in him.

There is another extreme: the mother, worried about the long night's sleep of the baby, wakes him up herself to feed him. In no case should this be done: the child's need for sleep is no less important, and if he does not wake up, then he is not yet hungry. Forced awakening confuses the baby's biorhythms, because of which he can be capricious and sleep poorly in the future. If the baby is sound asleep, it is better to give him the opportunity to wake up on his own for feeding, but until he has done this, rest on his own.

There is no exact indication 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, and they face the question of weaning their child from eating at night.

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

Before thinking about how to wean your child from night feedings, you need to determine how ready he is to give up the breast or the bottle. Often after 6 months, especially after the introduction of complementary foods and the development individual mode day, babies stop waking up at night, providing a strong and healthy sleep and to yourself, and parents, and before this age, it is not worth taking measures to wean. But closer to the year you can determine the following signs readiness of the child to stop night feedings:

He receives a complete and varied complementary food.
Number of breastfeeds or bottle requests per daytime decreased.
The baby is gaining weight well.
He has no health problems.
At night, the baby wakes up exactly at the same time.
The child does not eat the night portion to the end, is constantly distracted.

If there are such signs in the behavior of the baby, it means that eating at night has turned from a need into a habit, and, most likely, weaning from night feedings will be painless.

How to wean?

Stopping feeding at night involves working in two directions: the organization of sleep and daytime nutrition.

During the day, it is necessary to feed the baby at regular intervals with slightly larger portions than usual. Pediatricians advise to make the penultimate meal lighter, and before going to bed - to feed more densely. 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 sleeping environment. Among the causes of sleep disorders, pediatricians call warm and dry air. Establishing a suitable room temperature regime(18-20 degrees), maintenance optimal humidity(for this it is recommended to install an ionizer-moisturizer) and a comfortable bed will help make the child's sleep strong and long.

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

If the child still woke up at night, do not immediately feed him. Brief quiet play, rocking, or a soft lullaby are many ways to distract your baby from eating. You can also try giving your baby water (not juice!) to drink: perhaps he wakes up thirsty.

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 food will begin to fade, and perhaps in a few days the child will please his parents with a sweet dream 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 is still in dire need of night feeding. You can try again after a couple of weeks.

Nutrition in the crib

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

In the first months of a newborn's life, when the child needs to eat every 2-3 hours, and the mother needs to establish HS, night feedings are an obligatory component of the baby's regimen. For a woman, such a schedule, of course, is not very comfortable - in this case, there is no need to talk about a full-fledged night's sleep. Up to what age is such a sacrifice justified, and after what age does it become in vain? We’ll talk about when and how to wean a child from night feeding right now.

Night feeding: until what age is it necessary

Most pediatricians recommend weaning your baby from the habit of eating at night after 6 months. At this age, the child can already do without “feeding” for about 5 hours, for example, from 12 am to 5 am. Komarovsky, a pediatrician, adheres to the same position on the issue of night feedings, whose opinion should definitely be trusted.

However, it should be understood that such recommendations are generally accepted. In the case of infants whose body weight is below their age norm who are not gaining weight well, are restless and capricious, it is better to keep feeding at night until the moment when the existing health and well-being problems are resolved.

Why is it important?

As mentioned earlier, in the first months of a child's life, a night meal performs its direct function - saturation. In addition, the psychological moment is also important for the baby in night feedings - communication with the mother, a sense of her closeness, a sense of calm and security. That is why falling asleep on the chest is very frequent occurrence: the child calms down and plunges into a full sleep, which is difficult to break even by shifting to the crib.

After six months, such a behavior model can be considered more like a habit than a physiological or psychological necessity: digestive system formed, the beginnings of independence appear, sleep becomes more stable. So, it is quite possible to try to change the baby's regimen without harm to him and for the benefit of the mother. This also applies to children who are breastfeeding, and to "artificials".

The situation when a child is a year old, and night feedings are present in the amount of 2-3 times, unfortunately, is not uncommon. To prevent this from happening to you and your child, start changing the situation gradually, starting from 5-6 months.

What do we have to do?

When curtailing feeding the baby at night, it is important to pay attention to bathing and the microclimate in the bedroom. It is better to bathe the baby later, before the last evening feeding. Water should be closer to cool. The room must be well ventilated and achieve the optimal level of humidity.

Artificial feeding: how to wean from night feedings with a mixture

Here, the recommendations are generally similar to those given to parents of breastfed children. Unless a separate dream is of such fundamental importance, since the child is not looking for his mother's breasts.

But the method of drinking matters: you can’t give juice, compote or water from a bottle with a nipple, you need to use a drinker. This is done so that the child does not associate night drinking with food, which he receives just from the bottle.

If you stop night feedings at or close to this age, you can try to explain to the baby that mom and dad do not eat at night, which means that he does not need it either. In this period, children are able to understand simple arguments and at the same time already know how to identify themselves as a person, and therefore associate with their parents.

Sometimes even a pacifier can distract a child from thinking about food at night: this is another proof that the child does not experience physiological hunger, but rather requires attention or worries.

Night feedings and healthy sleep: is there a connection?

Of course there is: it is difficult for many children to fall asleep on a full stomach, which means that for some time the child does not sleep after feeding at night, “gaining” the norm of rest during the day. This situation makes it difficult to work out a normal regimen, to which a baby older than six months already needs to be gradually accustomed.

On the other hand, it is the lack of normal sleep that can become an obstacle to weaning from feeding at night. Therefore, it is important to choose for this right time: when the baby is healthy, he does not cut his teeth, the family has a calm atmosphere, and during the day the parents have the opportunity to spend a sufficient amount of time with the baby in the fresh air. By the way, if all these aspects are present, very often after 6 months the child does not wake up for feeding at night. Therefore, the problem of weaning can be solved by itself.

Should the child be woken up?

Some "sleepy" babies may stop waking up for night meals even earlier - at 3-4 months. And in this regard, parents are often interested in: should the child wake up for feeding at night? If there are no direct indications for night feeding recommended by the pediatrician observing the child, if he is gaining weight well and has no problems with urination and stool, there is no need to wake him up to feed. Having a good night's sleep, the baby will simply have breakfast with excellent appetite, and the mother will be able to rest peacefully during the night.

How to wean a baby to eat at night? It is not a secret for any of the experienced mothers that the pleasure of giving the baby a breast at night is through certain time becomes doubtful, since the resource of the maternal organism is still not unlimited. Experience shows that a night's rest for a young mother is extremely important, including in order to prolong the period of full breastfeeding. During a quality night's sleep, a woman's strength is restored and milk arrives.

In this regard, at some point in time, you quite rightly may have a question: can I already refuse a peanut in a night meal and thereby ensure both myself and him a normal night sleep?

About when, how and what mistakes parents sometimes make in the matter of weaning a baby from night feedings, we will discuss further.

When can you think about giving up night feedings?

There are many opinions on this matter. Pediatricians, speaking about when to wean children from night feeding, proceed from the fact that by 6-8 months the baby has already received from the mother everything that is contained in breast milk and consider this time to be quite suitable.

Psychologists, on the contrary, do not exclude the possibility, painless for both parties, of putting the baby to the breast at night up to a year and older age. They motivate this by the fact that as long as possible close tactile contacts of the baby and mother make them more protected from stressful situations, contribute to a balanced state of the nervous system and, finally, increase the immunity of the crumbs.

Practical experience shows that many women by the age of one can already afford both themselves and the child a calm, full-fledged night's rest while continuing a sufficient quality breastfeeding process during the day. Both mother and baby in such cases are happy and quite healthy, and their daily routine is well adapted to the rhythm of the life of the whole family.

However, there are more than enough exceptions to this convenient custom. Prejudices, stereotypes, as well as the reproachful views of the "caring" mother-in-law and many other factors lead to problems with establishing a feeding schedule that is comfortable for everyone. So it turns out that the mother performs nocturnal exploits for a year, and feeds the child much longer.

Thus, the solution of the problem of until what age it is advisable to continue night feeding, in fact, falls entirely on the shoulders of the mother.

How should a baby be weaned from breastfeeding at night? Here we allow ourselves to note that the older the child becomes, the easier it becomes for him to control you, and, consequently, the more difficult it will be for him to “persuade” him to take your side in this matter. Therefore, care should be taken to establish an optimal feeding regimen from the first days of a child's life and further, by 6-7 months, smoothly approach the transfer to exclusively daily meals.

The main principles of smooth weaning of the child from the breast

This is exactly the age when you can afford to experiment a little and choose the most convenient way for you to refuse food at night.

We refuse feeding at night: where to start?

First of all, engage in elementary observations and find out for yourself under what conditions your child sleeps stronger, better, calmer. Provide in the room where the baby sleeps the most suitable microclimate for this: the baby's room should be clean, well ventilated, with sufficient air humidity and a temperature of 18-20 degrees, if possible. You should also make sure that the baby does not freeze, is not wrapped up, and his movements are not constrained.

When weaning from night feedings, do not forget about the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for milk production. Most of it is produced precisely from 3 am to 8 am.

For those mothers who do not want to have problems with lactation and breastfeed their baby for a long time, it is still advisable to feed the baby at least once in this period of time.

At the age of 6-7 months, it is already quite possible to start transferring the child to independent sleep in private room. True, in this case, both parents will have to experience some discomfort for some time, since there will still be getting up in the middle of the night and rocking their son or daughter for several days.

Still a dream away from maternal breast nevertheless, it excites children's appetite less than the smell of warm milk under a small nose.

When answering the question of how you can wean a child from night feeding, do not forget about this wonderful method, as a replacement for a night nanny and shifting her duties from mom to dad (until the little one establishes a persistent habit). For this method to be effective, communication between father and child, even before the start of weaning from eating at night, should be close enough and as frequent as possible. Then baby, feeling native person, its support, protection and warmth, will calm down faster.

Why can a newborn not poop for several days?

Another way to increase the duration of a child's uninterrupted sleep at night is to increase the interval between the penultimate feeding and the meal immediately before bedtime. This option is quite real and effective, because when the baby has passed the second half of the first year of life, it can be wonderful to play, walk, swim, finally.

By the way, about swimming. famous today pediatrician E. Komarovsky for a more relaxed and quality sleep of the child at night recommends that the baby take a bath in cool water before a night's sleep and feeding. The procedure is useful, causing pleasant fatigue and stimulating appetite.

If the baby still continues to wake up and tirelessly demand his own, you can try to offer him water. Given, however, the significant differences in taste between water and breast milk, not all babies are happy to accept such a replacement. Therefore, you can try to replace the water with a children's soothing tea. It tastes a little better. Today, such a thing can be purchased in almost every pharmacy or large supermarket. Beforehand, you should definitely consult with a pediatrician or a pediatric neurologist so that the components of the tea would not affect your child in an undesirable way.

A pacifier is also one of the breast replacement options. It is best to combine this method with dad as a nanny.

If your baby is over six months old and solid foods have already been introduced, then bedtime breastfeeding can be replaced with formula or another favorite meal. Usually, artificial nutrition is more high-calorie and it takes more time to digest it, during which the child sleeps.

If we talk about how you can wean a child from night feeding with a mixture, then the approaches will be almost the same.

What contributes to the trouble-free refusal of feeding at night?

First of all, advance preparation and awareness of parents. You, in particular, must know and correctly relate to the fact that sooner or later, but it will have to be done. Yes, this is really one of the stages of weaning the baby from the breast and, in principle, from breastfeeding. But growing up a child, fortunately, is a natural and irreversible process. And mommy should be able to grow up with him. Realizing that it is necessary and convenient for both of you, you will more easily cope with small difficulties. And with your right attitude and the approach and the child will avoid unnecessary stress.
Well-established mode of sleep, wakefulness, feeding, walking in the fresh air, charging and water procedures is an indispensable condition for a successful solution of such important point like weaning from nighttime breastfeeding. The nutrition schedule should organically fit into all the vital processes taking place in the life of the baby. Loads, sleep and food should be reasonable and adequate. If you have little experience or doubts about baby management, then you should resolve them in a conversation with your pediatrician.
Persistence, determination, ingenuity and unanimity of parents in weaning the baby from eating at night. Mom and dad are equally dear people for a child. Mutual support to each other and to your little one in this short and difficult period will definitely contribute to a faster and smoother achievement of the goal. And the role of the pope should by no means be underestimated.

What mistakes do parents make?

Do not abruptly refuse a child. It is very likely that with this step you will exhaust both yourself and him. As we have already said, it is more effective and with less effort and nerves when this process occurs gradually.
No need to tighten. A child who has reached one and a half years and more is already much less accommodating in many matters, especially with regard to pleasures, which, of course, are mother's warm breasts at night.
Do not be nervous: it still will not speed up the process, but it may well have a negative impact on the child's psyche. Your mood will certainly be transmitted to the baby and as a result you will get unstable behavior and tantrums.
Do not intimidate or lie to your baby about feeding at night. Better tell the truth, give examples from life, assure him that despite the fact that you no longer breastfeed him during sleep, you are still always there and love him more than anyone in the world.

Here, in a nutshell, is everything we wanted to say about how you can wean a child from nighttime breastfeeding. Bon appetit and sweet dreams to you and your children!

How to wean a child from night feedings - young mothers will definitely ask this question. Any mother wants to sleep and rest at night, but, waking up from the sounds made and crying, sleep is disturbed. Most often, it is considered necessary to wean the child from night feeding after a long period of time, when the baby is one year old. What do experts think is right?

First of all, you need to find the reasons why the baby wakes up at night. The very first reason is discomfort. The chest is an excellent means of calming and relieving if something hurts or it is uncomfortable to sleep. Therefore, night feedings are relevant during teething, at the time of the baby's illness.

The second reason is really hungry. This feeling in the tummy is so unpleasant that he is forced to wake up and call his mother. Milk is absorbed fairly quickly, and the child can eat again after 3-4 hours.

The third reason is that he lacks tactile contact with his mother. The world so interesting, everything needs to be explored, checked! And there is no time to sit in my mother's arms. And the baby has a need for contact. Plus, if the mother practices separate sleep, all the prerequisites for night feedings are added. At least in this way, yes, to be in my mother's arms.

The fourth reason is overexcitement, bright emotions. After visiting guests, a holiday, children can not always sleep peacefully. And to calm them, you need a mother's breast.

So, you agreed: wean the child from night feedings in the near future. What do I need to do? Find the cause and eliminate it.

At the moment when the baby is just starting to wake up (tossing and turning, starts smacking his lips, moving his arms and legs), put your hand on his back or tummy. Lightly pat him to let him know that mom is there.
Let the father pick up and shake the child. Dad does not smell like milk, so the baby may not ask for breasts.
Change the conditions of stay: change the child's clothes, make the bed, cover or open.
Give him complementary foods later than usual or increase the portion. If dinner is at 6 pm, move it back by 8 pm so that the food takes longer to digest.
Fill the need for tactile contact during the day so that the baby sleeps sweetly at night.

When is the best time to wean a baby from night feeding? Considering that prolactin is produced at night, which is responsible for copious excretion milk, you should not reduce or remove night feeding until six months. After about a year, you can already use more radical measures- accustoming to a separate bed, offering water instead of breasts. If the baby wakes up and, having received the breast, immediately falls asleep without starting to eat, then he is not hungry. Therefore, you will have to break the stereotype and give the little one to dad.

The maximum intervals between feedings of a child of the first six months of life are 6 hours, and night sleep, as a rule, takes about 10 hours on average, so feeding at night is indispensable. If the baby is artificial, he can wake up to eat once or twice a night: the mixture is more caloric breast milk and the child does not feel hungry longer. With breastfed babies, mothers can wake up hardly every hour. The reason for this does not always lie in the hunger of the crumbs: he needs bodily contact with his mother.

After 6 months, when the baby receives complementary foods, milk is still his main food, so you should not wean him from night feedings. But reducing them to 1-2 is what you need.

After a year, the diet of the crumbs is already diverse: the child receives a large number of adult food, and from the point of view of physiology, the need for night feeding disappears. But with psychological point vision is not so simple: daytime impressions, lack of maternal attention during the day - all this can affect the child’s sleep, and he eats at night not to satisfy hunger, but to calm down.

Stotskaya called the main advantages of breastfeeding

Methods for weaning from night feedings

Before weaning a child from night breastfeeding, it is worth consulting with a pediatrician: is the baby's weight sufficient to deprive him of food at night? Moms who want to keep lactation longer should remember that it is nighttime breastfeeding that stimulates the production of prolactin (the "milk" hormone).

You can choose one of possible methods weaning:

Radical: abruptly end night snacks, endure children's cries. After a few nights, the baby will understand that it is pointless to wake up, and gradually his sleep will return to normal. Some mothers use the advice of women of the Soviet generation: send the child for a couple of days to her grandmother. Isolated from the mother, and even not receiving food at night, the child experiences stress. However, the method allows you to solve the issue of night feeding once and for all.
Conservative: weaning from night feeding occurs gradually by increasing the interval between feedings, replacing a portion of milk with water or a pacifier, motion sickness, etc.

Wean a child from night feedings a year: is it necessary?

Before finally deciding to wean a child from night feedings a year, it is worth considering: is it really necessary and for whom? If the mother is not bothered to once again feed the little one, you should not listen to the opinions of others. As a rule, it is advised to part with breastfeeding those mothers who at one time, for some reason, were unable to maintain lactation. And the artificial baby can not be weaned from the bottle at all, but taught to independently look for it in the crib and eat without disturbing the mother.