Feeding a newborn at night is one of the important factors for successful lactation. Baby suckling at the breast at night stimulates milk production. Interruptions in feeding can cause the baby to slowly gain weight, and the mother may develop stagnation of milk in the mammary glands.
Night feeding up to one year is simply necessary for children who are not gaining weight. In the first months of a baby’s life, he simply needs food every 2-3 hours, regardless of the time of day.
How often does a newborn wake up?
If a newborn sleeps next to his mother, he rarely wakes up completely to feed at night . While the baby is in the shallow stage of sleep, he usually begins to smack his lips, looking for the mother's mammary glands. At this moment, the mother should attach the baby to the mammary glands. Thus, the newborn continues to sleep peacefully, sucking at the breast from time to time. The mother can also rest, because she does not have to get up to console him.
How often you need to feed your baby at night depends on his individual needs. The smaller the newborn, the more often he wants to eat. After 6 months, the baby can sleep for a long time without feeding until the second half of the night. This regimen is maintained throughout the entire lactation period.
Main features of supplementary feeding
Supplementary feeding is the use of a special formula for feeding infants under 6 months of age. It is recommended to be administered when:
- lack of milk in the mother;
- low content of micronutrients and substances in milk;
- weight loss in the baby, anemia;
- neuralgic disorders in infants;
- prematurity of the child;
- the mother does not have enough time to breastfeed: due to study, work or other circumstances.
Today, supplementary feeding during breastfeeding is an exception to the rule rather than a normal situation. Most often, nursing mothers resort to it, not confident in their abilities and that their milk will be enough for the baby. It is worth noting that after childbirth, milk in the breast does not yet reach the required amount; this requires some time. The situation can also be aggravated by the child's pronounced crying, because of which the mother often makes the wrong conclusion that her baby is hungry.
Answering the question of mothers whether it is possible to feed a child with formula and breast milk at the same time, we answer: it is possible. It is worth noting that supplementary feeding is perfectly combined with natural breastfeeding. This is the so-called mixed feeding, when the baby receives not only breast milk, but also formula.
To find out that the baby is not getting enough mother's milk, you should pay attention to the state of lethargy of the baby. He is capricious and cries, and also reaches for the mammary glands too often. When at the mother's breast, the baby may twitch and become nervous. In addition, weight loss in the baby may indicate insufficient milk supply. In this case, it is necessary to introduce supplementary feeding into the baby's diet.
As a rule, supplementary feeding with formula during breastfeeding is temporary. It is introduced until the main problem that necessitated the use of special milk formulas is eliminated.
When feeding with formula
If a newborn is fed formula, feeding at night is just as necessary as for an infant. The interval of formula feeding should be the same as when breastfeeding a newborn. It is not recommended to prepare the mixture in advance. Therefore, the mother must get up before the baby wakes up in order to have time to prepare a bottle of formula.
We recommend purchasing this effective remedy for stretch marks.
Night feedings are important...
...for the lactation process
Everything is quite clear here - night, and especially early morning (from 3 to 6 am), breastfeeding promotes greater production of prolactin, the hormone responsible for lactation. If you reduce or eliminate feedings during these hours, the process of milk production will gradually slow down.
...for the physical development of the child
The concentration of nutrients in night milk is several times higher than in day milk. At the same time, milk retains its ability to be easily absorbed by the baby’s body. This helps harmonious physical development: the baby gains weight and grows without having problems associated with excess weight.
Babies on breastfeeding can actively gain weight above normal only in the first months of life, but closer to 8-10 months, body weight returns to normal.
…for the baby’s mental development
Children are born with an immature nervous system. The senses are not yet properly developed, the baby is not able to generalize and analyze his sensations, and the slightest excitement can make the baby worry and be capricious, including at night. So, the more emotional a child’s day has been, the worse he will sleep at night. In such cases, the best way to calm the baby is to put it to the breast, because it is at this moment that the baby feels safe.
Each child is unique; for one, 2-3 feedings to the breast per night are enough to be satiated and calm down. Others require much more, which can be quite exhausting for a new mother. But as soon as the baby grows up and his nervous system gets stronger, nighttime attachments will stop being so frequent.
...for a good night's sleep
Yes, feeding at night helps your baby sleep soundly. The special composition of breast milk has a calming and mild analgesic effect, which helps the baby to sleep, calm down, and cope with pain (for example, when teething). This is why most babies fall asleep at the breast within the first minutes after latching on.
In addition, night feedings do not allow the baby to completely wake up. If you immediately give a whimpering baby the breast, he will begin to suck before he has time to wake up from sleep, which means that the mother will be able to sleep longer.
When to stop feeding at night
Most experts agree that gradual weaning from breastfeeding is the most painless for both mother and child. The most favorable period is considered to be the warm season. At this time, children spend more time playing outdoors, get tired and forget about night feeding.
After a year, breastfeeding your baby at night is not necessary. But if the mother has enough milk, and the child does not refuse feeding at night until he is two years old, experts do not see anything wrong with this. There are no clear boundaries for breastfeeding a baby at night. Over time, the baby will stop waking up at night on his own. After a year, night feeding usually stops.
Are sleeping pills allowed for nursing mothers?
During lactation, all classical sleeping pills of chemical origin are strictly prohibited:
- barbiturates;
- benzodiazepine group drugs;
- non-benzodiazepine derivatives;
- antihistamines;
- bromine compounds.
These drugs can have toxic effects on infant brain development, leading to irreversible consequences.
Insomnia during breastfeeding: what to do?
eliminate the symptoms of insomnia
during lactation
:
- Accept your new status, enjoy every moment spent with your baby, and not perceive caring for him as a duty.
- Establish a feeding schedule, avoid night feeding.
- Take proper care of your breasts, express excess milk, and use comfortable, spacious, high-quality underwear.
- Do not overeat before bed to avoid breast overfilling with milk, watch your diet, which should be balanced, easily digestible, and not contain substances that excite the nervous system.
- Try to avoid stress.
- Do not deny yourself small joys - find time to go to the hairdresser, to a concert, to the theater.
- Before going to bed, listen to calm music, take a walk in the fresh air with your baby.
- Postpone the use of a computer and mobile phone to an earlier time.
- When sleeping, find a comfortable position, use pillows of different shapes and sizes, and surround yourself with them so that you can sleep comfortably.
- Ventilate the room before falling asleep, remove extraneous noise and irritating odors.
- Take a relaxing shower or bath before bed.
- Find a pleasant interlocutor who knows how to listen, understand, and give advice.
Recommendations for mothers
There are several ways to reduce night feeding:
- Breastfeed your baby more often during the day. It happens that after a year the baby flirts during the day, forgetting about feeding, and at night “takes his toll.” If your baby is too active during the day, offer the breast in a quiet, dark place to reduce distractions.
- Let's suckle longer before going to bed. Even if the baby has fallen asleep, do not rush to take the breast. Children have the ability to feed even while sleeping.
- The air in the room in which the baby sleeps should be humid. Don't forget to ventilate before going to bed. Then the baby will sleep soundly, and he will not be bothered by thirst.
- Before going to bed, you can bathe your baby in the bath. Such bathing promotes sounder sleep.
- Spend as much time as possible with your child during the day, carry him in your arms. Sometimes children after one year require breastfeeding at night to make up for the lack of tactile contact with their mother during the day.
Physiology - a hint for solving the problem
The presence of shallow sleep directly affects the proper growth and full development of the child. Newborns, for example, can only sleep for up to 40 minutes.
But what causes virtually no inconvenience during the day turns into torture at night. We are talking about restless sleep and awakening of the child. Just 15 minutes of sleep in the crib - and the child sobs, foretelling the parents a full-fledged “serenade”.
At such moments, there is no need to fall into despair; the irritation will be passed on to your baby. All he needs is timely feeding.
Until what age should a toddler be fed?
How often to feed and when to stop are questions that interest mothers no less than “whether the baby needs to be woken up to feed.” First of all, it should be said that these are individual processes, and the time of weaning depends only on the amount of milk you have and the development of the newborn. Experts believe that it is better to wait until the baby himself refuses treats at night. It is also affected by how much time the mother spends with the baby. If a woman works, and grandmothers sit with her daughter or son, then it is possible that the baby will wake up at night for a long time. He will use this time to be close to his mother.
For all babies, the process of giving up night feedings occurs differently. One baby, by the age of 9-10 months, completely switches to a common table, stops waking up at night and suckles only during the day. Other babies wake up at the age of 1-2 years to enjoy milk. The main thing is that you must understand that there is nothing abnormal in this, and there is no need to sound the alarm.
Tooth decay, bite and indigestion: is there a connection with night feeding?
Sometimes a nursing mother may hear quite strange things about breastfeeding, for example, about its harm after a year or about its negative impact on certain aspects of the child’s health. The bearers of such stories can be doctors, or just acquaintances, neighbors, or relatives.
The most common misconceptions about night breastfeeding are:
- Breastfeeding at night can be harmful to your baby's tooth enamel. Of course, sugar is bad for your teeth. More precisely, bacteria that actively multiply in the remains of sweet food are harmful. However, breast milk, although it has a sweet taste, does not allow pathogenic microflora to actively act due to its composition. On the contrary, it protects the oral cavity from caries and does not allow bacteria to multiply uncontrollably.
- Breast sucking can ruin your bite. This misconception has long been refuted by modern doctors, but is still alive in the minds of some people. The bite may be affected by the pacifier, but not the breast. On the contrary, breast sucking promotes better development of articulatory muscles and oral apparatus.
- At night, the baby's stomach should rest. Breast milk is an easily digestible product and is not a burden on the baby’s stomach. Thanks to its special composition, it actually digests itself, without accumulating in the stomach as a heavy mass, as can be the case with complementary foods or with a mixture.
