How to wean a baby from night feeds? When does a child stop eating at night? What time the child stops eating at night

Nutritional needs are a newborn's top priority. Both breastfed babies and babies receiving formula milk may require food every 3-4, or even 1.5-2 hours, which is, in general, natural. A tiny but rapidly growing organism needs a lot of energy. However, if during the day the baby's wonderful appetite causes pride and tenderness in the mother, then night feedings for her are far from always colored in rainbow tones.

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

First of all, you need to calm down: everything is not so scary, and night food for a 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 for bottle-fed babies, nutrition at night is no less important: for a sound and restful sleep that ensures the health of the nervous system, the baby needs to be properly satiated.

In addition, a night meal is not only a satisfying hunger: for a newborn child, who is just getting to know the 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, it is undesirable to wean the baby from night feedings ahead of time.

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

Particularly strict pediatricians believe that for a baby up to three months old, 2-3 feedings per night are optimal, up to six months, one is enough, and from 6 months night feedings are not required. However, few babies fit into such a rigid framework: breastfed babies can demand milk every hour and even fall asleep at the breast, continuing to feed all night. For artificial people, the intervals between feedings, as a rule, are longer: the milk mixture is digested more slowly, and the baby feels full for longer. However, if a bottle fed baby wakes up more than three times a night, it makes sense to check what is causing him to sleep.

There is another extreme: a mother, disturbed by the baby's long night's sleep, 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 hungry yet. A violent awakening brings confusion to the baby's biorhythms, because of which he can be capricious and sleep poorly 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 while he has not done this - to rest on his own.

There is no exact indication of up to what age night feeds 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 the child from food at night.

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

Before you think about how to wean your baby from night feeds, you need to determine how much he is ready to give up a breast or a bottle. Often after 6 months, especially after the introduction of complementary foods and the development of an individual daily regimen, babies stop waking up at night, providing sound and healthy sleep for both themselves and their parents, and before this age it is not worth taking measures to wean. But closer to the year, the following signs of a child's readiness to stop night feeds can be determined:

He receives complete and varied complementary foods.
The number of breastfeeding or bottle requests 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 nightly portion to the end, is constantly distracted.

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

How to wean?

Stopping feedings at night involves working in two directions: managing sleep and daytime meals.

During the day, you need to feed your baby at regular intervals with slightly larger portions than usual. Pediatricians advise to make the penultimate meal easier, and before bedtime - 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 is create a comfortable microclimate for sleeping... Among the causes of sleep disorders, pediatricians call warm and dry air. Establishing a suitable temperature regime in the room (18-20 degrees), maintaining optimal humidity (for this it is recommended to install an ionizer-humidifier) and a comfortable bed will help make the child's sleep sound and long.

Often, babies cannot fall asleep, 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 in the fresh air and an evening swim in cool water will tire your baby and make him sleep all night to gain strength.

If the child still woke up at night, do not feed him right away. Brief quiet games, hand-rocking, or a soft lullaby - there are many ways to distract your toddler from eating. You can also try giving the baby water (not juice!): He may wake 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 nighttime food will begin to fade, and, perhaps, in a few days, the child will please the 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. After a couple of weeks, you can try again.

Eating in the crib

Mothers, tired of getting up at night, prefer to solve the problem easier: when the child can already drink from the bottle on their own, they simply leave it in the crib so that the baby, upon waking up, can eat without the participation of the parents. However, firstly, this is a rather risky way: the baby can inadvertently remove the nipple, roll over into an unfortunate position and drown. And secondly, the parents who decide to trick will have to wean the child from the bottle in bed, and this process takes much longer. Between night feedings and this way of feeding, the first, perhaps the lesser of the evils.

The onset of the moment when the child stops eating at night depends on the correct actions of the mother. Biologically, babies do not need night feeds until after 6 months of age. Children who eat formula milk may learn to sleep a little earlier without waking up at night.

Sleep rates by age (of which 8-9 hours sleep at night):

From 1 to 2 months, the baby sleeps about 18 hours a day;
From 3 to 4 months, the child sleeps 17-18 hours;
From 5 to 6 months, the child sleeps 16 hours;
From 7 to 9 months, the baby sleeps 15 hours;
From 10 to 12 months, the baby sleeps for about 13 hours;
From 1 to 1.5 years old, the child sleeps 2 times during the day: the 1st sleep lasts 2-2.5 hours, the 2nd sleep lasts 1.5 hours, the night sleep lasts 10-11 hours;
From 1.5 to 2 years old, the child sleeps 1 time during the day for 2.5-3 hours, the night's sleep lasts 10-11 hours;
From 2 to 3 years old, a child sleeps 1 time during the day for 2-2.5 hours, a night's sleep lasts 10-11 hours.

There are four basic rules for ensuring a restful 8-hour sleep for the entire family in which a child is growing up:

Daytime sleep is normal: if the child "fell asleep" during the day, he needs to be woken up. Up to a year, the time of daytime sleep is determined as follows: from the daily sleep rate by age, we subtract 8 or 9 hours allotted for night sleep. For example, a child is 7 months old, which means 15 hours - 9 hours, we get 6 hours. This means that a child at 7 months should sleep 2-3 times a day for 1.5 - 3 hours.
An even bed, a hard mattress, no pillow up to 2 years old, after 2 years - a thin one.
The room where the child sleeps should not be hot, at the same time, the crib should not be placed in a draft.
Sufficient activity during the day: outdoor games, walks, communication with mom or older brothers - sisters. Plus, before going to bed - the absence of exciting moments (unexpected arrival of guests, loud music, an unplanned visit "for an hour", prolonged TV viewing).

Compliance with these points will help the child start sleeping 8 hours at night without waking up and stop eating at night.

What to do to stop your child from eating at night

In order for a child to stop eating at night, you need to follow these rules:

For daily feedings, he must eat the daily rate. If necessary, increase the number of daily formula or breast milk feedings. If the child is already fully eating complementary foods, then increase the number of daily feedings, you can make the evening (or at night) more satisfying than you have now.
Spend more time with your child during the day: play, walk. Lack of attention and spending time together with mom translates into the fact that the baby eats more often and more at night than his peers. This is a "struggle" for the attention of a mother, carried away by her work in the afternoon or immersed in household chores.
If the mother goes to bed later than the child, it is worth trying to wake the baby up when the mother goes to bed and offer him a mixture or breast. Most likely, the child eats and falls asleep again, already before the morning.
Sleeping in another room is also a good option. The child will stop eating faster at night, when he has older brothers and sisters with whom he can sleep in the same room: a new environment and a sense of calmness with which he will fall asleep, realizing that he is not alone in the room will prevent him from waking up.

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Every newly made parents dream of the day when their baby starts to sleep peacefully, without colic, whims and, most importantly, night feedings. Even knowing how important good nutrition is for a baby, it is difficult for mothers to get up every 3, or even 1.5-2 hours after the day's bustle and constant worries to attach the baby to the breast or give a bottle with the mixture. Especially if the months go by, the child grows, and the habit of eating at night, and even more than once, remains unchanged. The question arises: up to what age are additional snacks considered the norm, and how do you know when it's time to stop your baby from waking up his parents in the middle of the night?

Up to what age does a child eat at night

This is one of the main issues of concern to young mothers who know firsthand what chronic lack of sleep and constant fatigue are. In the daytime, a good appetite of a toddler, which grows by leaps and bounds, is a matter of pride and affection for any parents. But with the coming of night, things don't look so rosy. Newborn babies often require attention for days on end, kissing their breasts every hour or two. But this does not mean that something is wrong with them. In the first months of life, due to the immaturity of the digestive system, it is difficult to properly organize the baby's nutrition, hence the need for frequent nighttime snacks, which can persist for quite a long time.

Each child has its own individual maturation schedule, so there is no definite answer to the question of when it is time to stop feeding at night.

In the first 3 months of life at night, the mother applies the baby to the baby to the breast 3-4 times on average. Closer to 4-5 months, the number of additional snacks is reduced to 2-3. Starting from 6 months of age, most babies wake up even less often at night - no more than 1-2 times. This is primarily due to the introduction of complementary foods and the increase in portions during the day. From morning to evening, the baby receives such an amount of nutrients that he can sleep for 6-7 hours at night. Babies who are still breastfed at 9-12 months can also sometimes wake up to feel the presence of their mother and have a little snack, but not more than once a night.

And what time do bottle-fed babies stop eating at night? Milk formulas are more nutritious than mother's milk, so the need for additional snacks in such babies arises less often. Even crumbs under 3 months old can wake up no more than 2 times per night, and by six months, as a rule, they wake up their parents no more than 1 time. Starting at 9 months of age, pediatricians recommend gradually reducing the number of night feedings for artificial babies, replacing the mixture first with water and then with a dummy.

The approximate number of night feedings of children under one year old on breast and bottle feeding

How to tell if your child is ready to stop snacking at night

It is necessary to wean the baby from the habit of eating at night gradually. It is impossible to decide once that the child is already 6 months old, which means that he should sleep peacefully until the morning and not disturb the parents. But even with a sparing approach, you can proceed to active actions only after making sure that the child is ready for this, and the absence of snacks in the dark will not harm him. There is no more acute need for night feedings if:

the child is healthy, active and develops in accordance with age;
the baby is gaining weight;
the child began to kiss less often or ask for a bottle during the day;
complete and varied complementary foods were introduced;
every night the child wakes up the parents at about the same time;
the baby does not finish eating milk or night snack formula.

As a rule, parents notice these signs in children from 6-7 to 12 months. Therefore, when the child is one year old, and he still continues to demand food several times a night, most likely he is not hungry, but is used to doing so. In addition, parents themselves often contribute to the formation of such a habit. During the natural change in the phases of sleep, the baby may wake up briefly, move or even cry, and the mother, instead of letting him calm down without assistance, immediately offers a breast or a bottle with the mixture. Therefore, before feeding a child over six months at night, it is worth waiting a couple of minutes - it is possible that he will fall asleep again, without snacking and motion sickness.

Do I need to wake him up for this?

If the baby sleeps all night, do the parents need to wake him up specifically to feed him? It is believed that a newborn should, on average, eat 2-3 times a night, and only when the baby is 3 months old should the number of night feedings be gradually reduced. But in practice, this rule does not always work. Not all children need snacks at night. Breastfed babies, eating with appetite during the day, often rest for 5-6 hours at night without waking up, and at the same time gain weight and actively develop.

For artificial people, the intervals between feedings can be even longer because formula is more nutritious than breast milk and takes longer to be absorbed. So, waking up a sweetly sleeping baby in the middle of the night and trying to force feed him is not a good idea. This confuses the baby's biorhythms, creating conditions for sleep disturbances in the future, interferes with the digestive system and forms the habit of waking parents up in the middle of the night to “communicate”.

For the normal development of the baby, a full night's rest is no less important than regular nutrition, so you should not satisfy one need to the detriment of another

The only exceptions are premature and low birth weight newborns, for whom complementary feedings are vital. In the first months, until their weight and height return to normal, pediatricians recommend giving them breast milk or formula every 3 hours, both during the day and at night. One more point related to snacks during sleep deserves attention. Some mothers, in order to give themselves the opportunity to rest at night and not suffer from constant lack of sleep, leave a bottle of formula or expressed milk in the crib next to their baby. If the baby is already showing independence and during feeding keeps her unaided, such a way out of the situation may seem ideal: he will wake up, have a snack half asleep and continue sleeping without disturbing anyone. But this is a misconception. Leaving a baby unattended while feeding is dangerous at any age if he is strong enough to remove the nipple from the bottle, putting himself at risk of choking. Well, if the parents believe that he wakes up at night not from hunger at all, but to satisfy the sucking reflex, you can leave a pacifier next to him. This is safer and will help to quickly relieve the baby of the bad habit of eating in the crib.

Not all kids really need a snack at night.

When you shouldn't stop feeding at night

Even if the baby is old enough to sleep peacefully all night, you need to choose the right time to refuse additional feedings.

It is important to pay attention to the child's well-being and behavior during the day: if he is sluggish and capricious, it is better to postpone serious changes in the established lifestyle for later

the baby is slowly developing and gaining weight;
have health problems (digestive upset or teething);
the situation in the family is unfavorable (quarrels between parents, living conditions);
the child does not have enough attention from the mother, for example, if she had to leave the maternity leave ahead of time, etc.

There is another reason why it is not always worth rushing to completely abandon additional snacks. If the mother intends to continue breastfeeding for as long as possible, or she has too little milk, you need to pay attention to the amount of the hormone prolactin, which is responsible for lactation in the female body. The peak of its production falls on the period from 3 am to 7 am, and it can be stimulated just by regularly applying the little one to the chest. Accordingly, if you constantly skip feeding at this time, milk will become much less.

In the first 3 months of life at night, a newborn baby is applied to the baby's chest by an average of 3-4 times

The main thing to remember is that babies grow much faster than it seems at first glance. Therefore, you should not rush too much and categorically deny the opportunity to refresh yourself at night and touch your mother once again - it is possible that in a couple of years she will regret that this time has passed.

A newborn baby and sleepless nights are almost inseparable concepts. But if in the afternoon the excellent appetite of the crumbs, which requires feedings every 2-3 hours, causes affection in the mother, then at the late time of the day, frequent feeding of the baby does not bring her such joy. Every woman, regardless of age, gets physically tired, and she needs a full night's rest to recuperate. Therefore, it is completely natural for the mother to ask when the child will stop eating at night. We will talk about this in our article, and also dwell on how to wean the baby from waking up and how to bring his daily routine back to normal.

Each child is an individual with its own biorhythms and needs. From the first days of life, children sleep in different ways. One child wakes up only between feedings, the second has to be woken up on his own every 4 hours, and the third prefers to stay awake most of the night or doze in his mother's arms. We are talking about those kids who have confused day with night.

As they grow older, the child's sleep becomes stronger, and, in theory, he should wake up less and less. But parents' expectations do not always coincide with reality. In this regard, the following groups of children can be conditionally distinguished:

The child sleeps steadily all night long. This small group includes babies who have healthy sleep from birth. Even for feeding in the first days of life, they have to be woken up.
The child wakes up 1-2 times for feeding. Most children wake up at night to satisfy their hunger and sucking reflex, after which they fall asleep safely until the morning.
The child is more than two times. This group includes babies who react sharply to extraneous sounds and movements of their own body. To make the sleep deeper, it is recommended to swaddle such children.
The child practically does not sleep all night. For various reasons, such children sleep in fits and starts for 1-2 hours. First, they are tormented by colic, then by cutting teeth, etc. Parents of such babies are most concerned about the question of when the child stops waking up for feeding at night.

Regardless of what kind of feeding a child is (natural or artificial), in the first months of life he needs food at least every 4 hours, or even 1.5-2. His growing body feels the need for food, the satisfaction of which is required not only during the day, but also at night. However, the accumulated fatigue only signals the mother that it will never end. A woman wants to know only one thing: at what age do children stop eating at night? It should be assured that this will come very soon, as the baby grows up. In the meantime, the mother should be reassured by the fact that frequent latching of the baby to the breast is an excellent way to stimulate lactation.

For bottle-fed babies, they are equally important. This is the key to a sound and restful sleep, which is necessary for the health of the nervous system. That is why it is undesirable to wean a child from late feedings too early.

Late feedings exhaust the mother. With natural nutrition, she needs to attach the baby to her breast several times, and then put him back in the crib. With artificial feeding, it is even worse - get up, go to the kitchen, prepare the mixture and feed the baby. Therefore, the opinion of pediatricians regarding how many months a child stops eating at night is very important for them.

Most doctors believe that a six-month-old baby can do without late feedings. So, if at three months he wakes up to eat 2-3 times, then closer to 6 months the number of meals is reduced to one. Half a year is precisely the borderline when you can completely refuse to feed at night.

All of the above applies more to children who are breastfed. As for artificial people, as a rule, they wake up even less often, since the milk mixture takes longer to digest. If such a child wakes up more than three times a night, you need to check what causes his sleep disturbances.

Can I feed my baby in the crib?

Many parents try to solve the problem of lack of sleep by leaving it next to him in the crib when the baby has already learned to hold the bottle. If the child wakes up in the middle of the night, he will be able to eat on his own, without disturbing the parents.

At first glance, this is the ideal way out of this situation. But it is absolutely impossible to do so. The fact is that a child can inadvertently remove the nipple from the bottle, unsuccessfully roll over and choke. In addition, later the baby will have to be weaned from bottle feeding at night. If, according to the parents, the child wakes up in order to satisfy the sucking reflex, it is better to offer him a dummy.

When a child stops eating at night: arguments of psychologists and pediatricians

According to children's doctors, the baby should be gradually weaned from night feedings. Most pediatricians recommend doing this after your baby is 1 year old. Some particularly strict doctors advise parents to be persistent in this matter. In their opinion, it is not necessary to approach the crib for at least half an hour, even if at this time the baby will cry and ask for food.

Psychologists disagree with pediatricians on the issue of when a child stops eating at night. They recommend weaning your baby out of feeding after two years of age. In their opinion, the one-year-old baby is still not old enough for this and needs bodily contact with the mother.

From the point of view of physiology, babies who are already 7 months old can go without food for up to 6 hours. In addition, if the child is not hungry, and they are trying to feed him, this will not lead to anything good. It is at this age that it is recommended to gradually wean the crumbs from eating at night. But there is no need to rush so as not to harm the child's mental health.

How to tell if your baby is ready to give up meals at night?

Each child develops according to his own individual schedule. And the needs for food in children are different. And to determine when a child stops eating at night, when he is ready to give up feeding, you can by the following signs:

complementary foods have been introduced, food has become complete and varied;
the number of breastfeeding and bottle requests decreased significantly during the day;
the baby has no health problems;
the child is gaining weight well;
at night the baby wakes up at the same time;
the crumbs do not eat the nightly portion completely.

The last two signs directly indicate that awakening has become a habit for the baby, and it will be quite easy to part with it.

How to wean a baby from night feeds?

You can offer several effective ways to painlessly solve this problem:

Offer the baby plain water instead of a breast or a bottle of milk. Perhaps the child woke up because he was thirsty. But you don't need to give him juice or compote.
Increase the number of daily feedings so that the baby falls asleep well-fed and wakes up less at night. It is recommended to give the child milk porridge or vegetables for dinner, but not meat, which is rather difficult to digest.
When the baby stops eating at night, he needs extra care from his mother. That is why, despite household chores, you should pay more attention to your baby during the day so that he does not feel lonely.
Provide the child with a sound night's sleep with high physical activity during the day. While walking in the fresh air, you can invite the baby to play outdoor games. Having run in during the day, the baby will sleep better at night.

Organization of the daily routine of the crumbs

The need for food at night after one year of age turns into a bad habit. You can get rid of it by strictly observing the daily routine:

Daytime meals should be organized at the same time.
You do not need to force your child to sleep during the day longer than the prescribed time. A one-year-old baby should rest twice or once a day for a total of 2-3 hours. Otherwise, his sleep at night will not be so sound.
Outdoor walks are a must for children. Thanks to them, the child's healthy development, excellent appetite and sound sleep are ensured.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

From the statements of the pediatrician about the problem, it follows that in order for the child to wake up less often at night, it is necessary to properly organize the feeding system. It may be difficult to completely wean your baby from eating at night at 6 months, but reducing the number of meals from 3 to 1 will be quite realistic. According to the doctor, the answer to the question of when the child stops eating at night depends entirely on the parents.

The doctor advises to organize the daily routine so as to bathe the child in cool water around 23 pm. After that, the baby should be well fed and put to bed. The pediatrician guarantees that in this case the child's sleep will be sound. A lot also depends on what kind of air is in the children's room. If the room is cool and humid, sleep will be deeper, and if the air is warm and dry, then children very often wake up with a feeling of thirst. First of all, you need to optimize the temperature regime in the room.