Night feeding baby

Infants of the first year of life often wake up at night, but it is in her mother's forces that the process of night feeding is maximally facilitated.

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 to night feedings has changed. Nowadays, the most natural and optimal is feeding in a free mode, when the breast is given at the request of the baby.

The baby sleeping next to his mother almost never wakes up completely at night. He finds a breast during a superficial dream, is put to it and in a dream sucks it. Mom while resting, because she does not need to get up, feed the baby and put 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 crumbs may be plagued by colic or discomfort from a wet diaper at night;
• restless sleep with frequent waking up is also characteristic for the period of teething.

The frequency of feeding at night is influenced by the individual characteristics of the infant. In infants in the first months after birth, sleep, nutrition and wakefulness are not yet established. The baby does not know, in the daytime he wanted mother’s milk or at night, he feels only hunger at about regular intervals. In addition, in young children, the active phase of sleep prevails, which is why the baby sleeps very sensitively. And due to the fact that breast milk is absorbed quite quickly, hunger appears about every 2 hours, despite the time of day.

By 6 months of age, most of the noodles have been sleeping for a relatively long time at night without feeding, clinging to their breasts in the second half of the night. Babies for whom breastfeeding will end soon, the chest is no longer asked at night. At the same time, the number of attachments at night can increase when the baby is teething, there is psychological discomfort, or the disease begins. Also, the crumb is more often applied during the nighttime, if the mother’s milk produces less than it needs (during the “growth spurt”).

Note that it is night feeds 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. Refusal to breastfeed at night can not only reduce lactation, but also cause lactostasis.

Babies receiving formula are also in need of feeding at night. In this case, it is better to prepare the mixture for the baby in advance, so as not to waste time on it at night, when the crumb has already woken up. In addition, a half asleep mother may confuse something, for example, the amount of the mixture. However, resist the desire to leave the cooked mixture in the room where the baby is sleeping. Put the bottles in the refrigerator, and at night they will only need to be heated.

Food that a baby needs at different feedings may have a different volume. To say how much milk will be required for the baby is impossible. Even if your toddler was born rather large, this does not mean 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 caloric content of milk in each mother can be very different. Premature babies and crumbs with low weight experience hunger more often, so they are often fed at least 2-4 times at night.

Even before the birth of the baby, discuss with your husband where the baby will sleep. Do you want a crumb to sleep in your bed or next to it (in the attached bed), or decide to immediately put the baby in a separate room prepared for him.

You can often hear the recommendation to feed the baby, receiving supplements, more dense food at night, allegedly it will provide the child with a more sound sleep. In fact, doctors recommend that products that are harder to digest are given to the child in the morning. If you feed the crumbs very tightly before laying, this will only worsen the sleep and well-being of the baby.

• Awakened at night, the baby should be immediately picked up. If the baby will cry, and you will wait for him to calm down, in the end, the crumb will get 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 will not disturb the little one.
• Put a clean diaper and wipes close to the bed to quickly change the diaper at night if necessary.
• In order for the baby to wake less not because of hunger, but because of extraneous sounds, gradually accustom the child to different noises, for example, a phone call or a working washing machine.
• Get ready for the fact that your sleep habits for the first time with a baby can change dramatically. Perhaps you will start to bed earlier, postponing all non-urgent matters.
• You should not worry that you will not hear the baby waking up at night if he sleeps nearby. Rarely what kind of mother sleeps while her baby cries. If the baby is in a separate room, take care of the purchase of a radio nanny.