Wean the child from night feeding

The exact age at which it is time to stop the night feeding the baby is not determined by pediatricians. The decision is made by parents who are tired of lack of sleep at night.

It makes no sense to feed children at night for more than 1 year. A child at that age is able to receive a sufficient amount of nutrients during the daytime.

Listening to the advice of experts, you can avoid unpleasant consequences for the younger body:

1. Remove night feeding only in the absence of health problems. The weight of the child should also be normal.
2. Wean the baby gradually, without screams and scandals, so that the child from an early age does not have trouble sleeping.
3. Do not rush in the first months after birth to wean the baby. Night feeding of newborns is the connection between mother and child.
4. Pay as much attention as possible to the crumbs during the day so that there is no need for this at night.

If the child has not approached one way – try another. Pay attention to the behavior of the baby, only then will it be possible to raise the child in a calm atmosphere.

With breastfeeding, you should  stop night feeding at 7 months. At this age, the child has time for the day to get the necessary calories.

With bottle-feeding,  stop feeding at night before 1 year of age. Dentists claim that the bottles harm children’s teeth.

Do not stop feeding the baby abruptly. After 5 months, the child develops a regimen that, in violation of which, you risk stressing the growing body.

Night feeding replacement

So that the child does not experience stress when canceling the night feeding, mothers go for tricks.

1. Change breastfeeding for artificial.  Replace the breast for a bottle of the mixture at night feeding. The baby will be less likely to experience feelings of hunger and sleep until morning.
2. Breast milk is replaced with tea or water.  The child quenches thirst and gradually stops waking up at night.
3. Swing in your arms or sing a song.  It is likely that the baby does not wake up because of hunger. Having received attention, the crumb will fall asleep without night feeding.

Canceling night feeding, get ready for an unpredictable reaction of the child. Do not focus on the same method, use different approaches.

Weaning a child up to a year

The best method of weaning children up to a year from night feeding is the correct mode.

1. Change the place where the child falls asleep. If this is your bed or baby – use a stroller or sling.
2. Go to bed in clothes that cover the chest. Do not sleep closely with the baby.
3. If the child continues to be capricious – let the father or another family member sleep with him. At first, the baby may react sharply to the changes, but then he will get used to it and understand that milk has become inaccessible at night.
4. Deny the baby at night feeding. This option is considered sharp. But if after the first two such nights the baby is naughty during the day – use gentle methods, do not irritate the child.

Weaning a child older than a year

Night feeding after 1 year can be stopped without prejudice to children’s health. Children already understand what is happening around.

They are affected in other ways:

1. Do not put the baby to sleep on their own, it makes another family member.
2. They explain to the child that at night the children sleep, and they can eat only during the day. To give up the night feeding in this way is not easy, but the child will no longer be capricious.
3. With patience, calm the child on the first night. Stand firm on your own. Tell a story, read a book. Give the kid some water.

A week later, the child adapts to the regime.

Opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

The children’s doctor Komarovsky is convinced that after 6 months the child does not feel hunger at night and night feeding is no longer necessary. Moms who feed children older than this age – overfeed them.

The doctor gives advice to help avoid overfeeding:

1. Feed the baby in the afternoon in small portions, increasing the portion of the last feeding before bedtime. So the maximum feeling of satiety is reached.
2. Bathe the baby before bed and feed it. If after bathing the baby is not hungry, do gymnastics before bathing. Fatigue and satiety will not let the baby wake up at night.
3. Do not overheat the room. The optimal temperature for children’s sleep is 19-20 degrees. So that the child does not freeze, warm it with a warm blanket or insulated pajamas.
4. Do not let your baby sleep anymore. The daily sleep time of children up to 3 months is 17-20 hours, from 3 to 6 months – 15 hours, from 6 months to a year – 13 hours. If a child sleeps more than the norm during the day, it is unlikely that he will sleep soundly at night.
5. Since the birth of the child observe his regime.

Popular errors in weaning from night feeding

Often parents see the problem not in themselves, but in children.

Do not fall for children’s provocations:

1. Pity for the baby. The child can ask for a breast, and in tender, and in a screaming manner. Be patient, stop feeding at night and do not depart from the goal.
2. Inappropriate discussion with baby feeding time. Moms are trying to convey to children what they need to eat at a certain time, because this way “they eat brother or sister” or “eat everything”. This technique works, but in the baby from an early age the understanding is laid that one should be “like everyone else”.
3. Cheating. Do not tell your child that your mother has a breast or “milk sour”. Raising a child with the help of deception, do not demand the truth from him when he grows up.
4. The complete cessation of night feeding at one moment is a stress for the child and mother. Wean the baby to eat at night gradually to avoid the whims of the child and chest pain.