How to stop your child from eating at night

Nutritional needs are the main priority of a newborn. Both breastfed children and babies receiving formula may require food every 3–4, or even 1.5–2 hours, which is generally natural. A tiny but rapidly growing organism needs a lot of energy. However, if during the day the baby’s wonderful appetite makes the mother proud and tender, then night feedings are not always rosy for her.

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

First of all, you need to calm down: everything is not so scary, and feeding your baby at night is normal and even obligatory. Children who receive breast milk at night ensure the development of stable lactation in their mother, but for bottle-fed babies, nutrition in the dark is no less important: for sound and restful sleep, which ensures the health of the nervous system, the baby needs to be well fed.

In addition, eating at night is not only about satisfying hunger: for a newborn child who is still getting acquainted with the huge world, it is important to feel the closeness and warmth of the parents and the mother’s usual heartbeat, which allows him to feel confident and safe. Children grow up, and sooner or later absolutely everyone stops eating at night. Therefore, it is undesirable to wean a baby from night feedings ahead of time.

Until what age should a baby eat at night and does he need to 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 onwards, night feedings are not required. However, few children fit into such a strict framework: breastfed babies can demand milk every hour and even fall asleep at the breast, continuing to feed all night. In formula-fed babies, the intervals between feedings are usually longer: formula milk is digested more slowly, and the baby feels full longer. However, if a bottle-fed baby wakes up more than three times a night, it makes sense to check what is causing the sleep disturbance.

There is another extreme: the mother, worried about the baby’s long night sleep, wakes him up herself to feed him. This should not be done under any circumstances: the child’s need for sleep is no less important, and if he does not wake up, it means he is not yet hungry. Forced awakening causes confusion in the baby’s biorhythms, which is why he can be capricious and have trouble sleeping 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 until he does this, rest on his own.

There are no exact instructions 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 year, and they are faced with the question of weaning their child from eating at night.

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

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

1. He receives complete and varied complementary foods.
2. The number of breastfeeding or bottle calls during the day has decreased.
3. The child is gaining weight well.
4. He has no health problems.
5. At night, the baby wakes up at exactly the same time.
6. The child does not eat the entire nightly portion and is constantly distracted.

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

How to wean it off?

Stopping feeding at night involves working in two directions: organizing sleep and daytime nutrition.

During the day, it is necessary to feed the baby at regular intervals in slightly larger than usual portions. Pediatricians advise making the penultimate meal lighter, and feeding more heavily before bed. 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 to create a microclimate that is comfortable for sleep.

. Pediatricians name warm and dry air among the causes of sleep disturbances. Setting a suitable temperature 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 sleep soundly and long.

Often babies cannot sleep 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 evening swimming in cool water will tire the baby and make him sleep all night to gain strength.

If the child still wakes up at night, you should not feed him right away.

Short quiet games, rocking in your arms or a soft lullaby - there are many ways to distract your baby from eating. You can also try giving your baby water (not juice!): perhaps he wakes 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 night feeding will begin to fade, and perhaps in a few days the child will delight his parents with a sweet sleep 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 still urgently needs night feeding. After a couple of weeks, you can try again.

Food in the crib

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

Lyudmila Sergeevna Sokolova

Reading time: 6 minutes

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Article last updated: 05/25/2019

There is no consensus on this issue. Unfortunately, medicine is not an exact science; its conclusions are often corrected by life itself. Man is an extremely complex system, and each individual differs significantly from the average statistical norm. This fully applies to children in the first year of life. After the baby arrives in the house, a troublesome, restless time begins. And although these are pleasant chores, still a mother, like any person, needs rest and good sleep. Therefore, she is concerned with the question - when will the child start sleeping through the night? Is it possible to train him to do this? How to teach a baby to sleep through the night? And when should the training process begin?

General rules for organizing children's sleep

Now we know and can take adequate measures. The following recommendations will help you provide your baby with full and healthy sleep, which will give him strength for new achievements. So, the crib should be small, and the mattress should be firm enough so that the baby does not fall into it. Often, parents buy spacious cribs for their children too early, in which they cannot sleep because they are stressed.

Create an optimal microclimate in the children's room. Maintain the air temperature between 20 and 23 degrees. The humidity level should not fall below 50-55 percent, otherwise the nasal mucosa will become excessively dry. This can lead to the destruction of small capillaries. Do wet cleaning and ventilate the room daily.

When there is a baby, there is no need to disturb him. Carefully place your baby in the crib. Don't try to distract him with games. There is a high probability that you will completely disrupt the already unstable routine, and the baby himself will not be able to fall asleep normally even at the scheduled time.

Completely exclude active and overly emotional games before relaxing. They do not tire infants, but excite the nervous system. After this, putting the children to bed becomes even more difficult. Let your child be active during the day. Immediately before bedtime (a couple of hours before), protect your baby from strong emotions and maintain silence.

If you want to make it easier for your baby to fall asleep, make his sleep deeper and less sensitive, follow a certain evening ritual. This way the baby will learn to calm down on his own. Every movement of the parents will set him up for rest and prepare him for an imminent departure to the crib.

Pediatricians also advise choosing a so-called nighttime toy for your child. She will be next to him only when the baby is sleeping, and will begin to be associated with rest. This is a successful technique that calms the baby and eliminates the feeling of loneliness.

Don't forget to take a walk in the fresh air a few hours before napping. Walking strengthens children's immunity, gives them new experiences, and allows them to get tired to the required degree so that they sleep soundly. After all, parents often cannot put their child to bed precisely because the baby is not physically tired.

A good way to relax is aromatherapy. Apply a couple of drops of lavender, almond or chamomile essential oil to a napkin and place it near the baby's crib. This way the baby will fall asleep faster.

If you have any doubts or questions, do not hesitate to consult your doctor. It’s better to play it safe and be calm about the baby’s health. The doctor will identify the disease in a timely manner, help you choose the optimal course of treatment and tell your parents how to behave correctly.

How long do newborns sleep at night without interruption?

Children are different and they sleep, accordingly, differently, and from the first days. Some lucky women gave birth to babies who sleep peacefully for 5-6 hours at night and let their mother rest; other babies confused day with night and “tug” their mother every hour. In this regard, we can conditionally distinguish 4 groups of children:

1. The child sleeps consistently almost all night.
2. The baby wakes up 1-2 times at night to feed.
3. The child wakes up several times during the night.
4. The little one hardly sleeps at night.

• Group I includes children who sleep most of the night almost from the first days of their birth. Some pediatricians recommend waking your baby to feed or feeding him when he's sleepy. Others believe that nothing needs to be done; the little person’s stomach rests at night, as it should. And that's okay. Here the questions about when he will sleep most of the night and how to accustom him to this are resolved by themselves. This group is not the most common.
• Group II includes children who wake up 1-2 times a night to suck their mother’s milk. This is due to the fact that a newborn’s stomach, like a kitten’s, is very small, and milk is absorbed quickly. In addition, many children need not only and not so much food, but contact with their mother and satisfaction of the sucking reflex.
• Group III includes children with a pronounced Moro reflex. Such babies wake up not only to suck milk or cuddle with their mother. A loud, sharp sound or flash can frighten your baby. Their fear is expressed in a fairly strong shudder, throwing up their arms and unclenching their hands. This wakes some babies up. In this case, he should not be taught to sleep, but sleep should be prolonged. To do this, the mother can swaddle the newborn at night.
• And the last, IV group, are children who do not allow their mother to rest almost all night. Usually newborns sleep 5-6 hours consistently, but these babies don't do that. The owl baby does not sleep for various reasons. The first three months it may be colic, then teeth begin to cut, etc. It is the parents of such babies who are very interested in the question of what to do and how to teach the baby to sleep through the night.

When can you stop night feedings?

A child can wake up several times a night from 0 to 1.5 years. In rare cases, this lasts until the 3-year mark is reached. And this will not be considered a deviation.

However, infants should still be taught nighttime sleep habits. This will make his life easier in the future, when he goes to kindergarten, then to school, etc.

You should start by identifying the reason for the formation of incorrect associations between your baby and sleep and eliminating it as such. In some cases this is very simple:

1. If the baby is hungry and does not eat enough at each feeding, you need to feed him a little more;
2. If it is hot or stuffy, dress lighter and ventilate the room;
3. If the child is tormented by gas, give the carminatives recommended by the pediatrician and place him on his tummy for a longer period of time;
4. If neurological abnormalities are suspected, the pediatrician will send you for a consultation with a neurologist.

If the cause is eliminated, but the baby continues to show “owl-like” habits, this means that incorrect stereotypes have formed and will have to be changed.

In general, you can reduce night feedings with the start of introducing complementary foods with “adult” food, replacing one of the night feedings with water. Perhaps the child wakes up out of habit and is not hungry at all - in this case, water will be enough.

The age of 9 months is considered the milestone after which you can begin to wean your child off night feeding. When breastfeeding, doctors recommend continuing to feed your baby at night until the baby is one year old.

This does not mean that the child has become independent and will simply refuse to eat at night when he reaches the specified age. Children cannot tolerate hunger. The baby can do without food only when it is mentally and physically ready for it.

Serious reasons

• Nocturnal enuresis. If this is the norm for infants, then at an older age children should get up and go to the potty. If your child wakes up every hour at night due to frequent urges to go to the toilet, you should consult a doctor.
• Apnea. This is a disease characterized by short-term pauses in breathing during sleep. Immediate medical intervention is recommended.
• "Swinging movements." The baby can rush around the crib, scatter nearby things, get up and fall again, and diligently bang his head on the pillow. Such symptoms, especially on a regular basis, may be signs of increased intracranial pressure, epilepsy, and mental disorders. Specialist consultation is required. If a child wakes up every hour at night for 8 months, a year in a row, this is not the norm, but a sign of a dangerous disease.

Progressive diseases and their symptoms

Typically, periodic sleep disturbances in infants are physiological in nature and are not a symptom of pathology. But if awakenings accompanied by crying and whims occur more than twice a night, continue for a long time and are aggravated by other disturbing manifestations, you should consult a doctor. These may be nervous disorders, epileptic seizures in childhood. They are accompanied by repetitive movements, the baby may arch his back and whine. There are other manifestations characteristic of each type of disease.

It is important to know! Sleep problems can occur due to sleep apnea. Breathing stops for up to 10 seconds are observed, up to 3% of infants are susceptible to them. The disorder can be obstructive, central, or mixed; the occurrence of one episode per 60 minutes is the norm. If five or more attacks occur during this time, we can conclude that pathology is present.

The first type occurs in a number of neurological and somatic diseases. Air flow is disrupted and breathing becomes ineffective. The second type indicates the possible presence of a cerebrovascular accident, a tumor, which can occur in premature infants.

How to instill in your child the skills of a good night's sleep?

By following a number of rules, you can teach your baby to sleep through the night.

How peacefully a child sleeps largely depends on the psychological atmosphere in the family. If parents show care, warmth, and give their baby affection, then, as a rule, no special efforts are required to improve sleep. When a child reaches 9-12 months, he sleeps peacefully throughout the night.

What to do if your child still asks to eat at night:

1. Follow the daily routine;
2. Feed the baby before bedtime in sufficient quantities so that he is not tormented by hunger and sleeps well and for a long time;
3. Distribute most of the amount of food calculated for the day into the daytime and evening;
4. Gradually reduce the portion of milk or formula at night, replacing them with water, juice, baby tea (give a drink if the baby starts to whine);
5. Teach your child to fall asleep on his own (without a bottle) by rocking him to a half-asleep state in your arms, and when he begins to fall asleep, transfer him to a crib.

Little tricks

People have different biorhythms. It may turn out that a particular baby will indeed be suited to a nocturnal lifestyle over time, i.e. he will be a typical night owl.

But most often, the parents themselves are to blame for the “owl” behavior of the baby, if his behavior is not caused by illness, namely their inexperience. Often this behavior of the baby is promoted by the mother, who tries to redo all the household chores and is happy when the child sleeps a lot during the day, or by the father who came home late from work and decided to cuddle his beloved first-born and give him a new toy before bed. All these moments lead to overstimulation of the baby’s sensitive nervous system and a decrease in the quality of his night’s sleep.

The next thing that is best avoided is falling asleep during feeding. Of course, it’s convenient for a tired mommy if the baby falls asleep while sucking on a nipple or bottle - there’s no need to rock him to sleep, sing songs, or carry him in your arms. You can just put it in the crib. However, over time, this convenience will turn into difficulties. If the child wakes up for some reason, putting him to sleep without food will be problematic.

That is why the regime is very important. The regime is a “beast” that, despite all the benefits it brings, is not popular with most adults. How can a newborn be taught this if the parents themselves do not want to follow the daily routine? And yet it should be done.

If a child is breastfed and pediatricians advise feeding “on demand,” how can this be combined with the concept of “daily routine”? There is no catch in this case.

• Firstly, the regime is not only feeding. This is the time for sleep, games, bathing;
• Secondly, if the child eats fully, the mother devotes enough time to him to communicate, play, sits with him, holds him in her arms, then he will not demand the breast endlessly. The baby will have enough mother's attention and will calmly withstand the time between feedings. A daily routine will be established naturally; it will be close to the routine established for bottle-fed children.

And remember Helpful Tips

• Once you establish sleep, your baby may change dramatically. As a rule, growth spurts and teeth change your usual routine. You just need to get through this period, returning to good habits will not be difficult.
• You should not react to the slightest cry of the baby, perhaps he dreamed of something and he himself is able to calm down and fall asleep, as a rule, this is a short, fading cry. Learn to recognize your baby's cries. There is also “mantra” crying, it is quiet, mournful, subsiding at the end of each session - the child does not start yelling, does not express indignation, does not call. Many children calm themselves down by crying like this.
• Don't let your baby stay awake for too long.
• Your child is an individual, do not go against his natural rhythms. For some babies, a strict daily routine and certain rules are suitable, but for some it can turn into stress.
• Change mode smoothly. “Small changes in the routine are often unnoticeable to the child, but a serious disruption can negatively affect the child’s condition. A child who lives according to a routine gets used to the predictability of actions and, if something changes unexpectedly, he can become very upset.”
• After a year, children tend to hide signs of fatigue and often do not look sleepy at all in the evening. But since the child still gets tired during the day, the body helps him cope with drowsiness and fatigue with increased activity, producing the “activity hormone” cortisol. Cortisol triggers activating processes in the body, including in the brain, which is why it is so difficult for a child who has had too much fun to calm down and fall asleep. And having woken up at night, the baby cannot fall asleep due to the excitement “undigested” by the body.

Your child is a living person; before he falls asleep, he needs time to calm down and get ready for sleep. He cannot fall asleep immediately at your request! Prepare your child for bed with gentle words, explain to him that now is the time to rest, restore strength, kiss him, sing a song in a quiet, calm voice, read a book. It is advisable that these are repeated actions day after day - a “ritual” and the child will understand that now is time for sleep.

Very often, nerves are at their limit and it seems that the baby will never learn to fall asleep on his own, to fall asleep without crying, to fall asleep without crawling on his mother)) Don’t despair, continue to help the baby fall asleep, teach him useful habits. It takes time to see the result, do not deviate from the plan you have outlined for yourself, in 100% of cases stick to it, your little one will definitely test you for the strength of your intentions))

The expression “sleep like a baby” is the standard of calm and deep sleep, but babies themselves are not always able to fall asleep soundly. This article will talk about why a 5-month-old baby does not sleep well at night, as well as how this can be corrected.

How to teach your baby to sleep at night

11 rules on how not to turn your child into an “owl” and teach him to sleep properly at night. To do this you need:

1. Spend as much time as possible during the day playing with him;
2. Do not close the curtains during the day, even if the baby is sleeping;
3. Do not play active games with him at night;
4. Do not give new toys before bedtime (this overloads the nervous system);
5. Bath your child in warm water 36.6-37 degrees for newborns when the house is warm (in summer and winter, during the heating season) and up to 38 degrees - if the house is cool (as a rule, this is in spring and autumn, when the heating is turned off);
6. If your baby is not allergic to herbs, you can add chamomile and string to the bath;
7. When your baby starts to fall asleep, you can sing him his favorite lullaby. Such a ritual will form an instinct and make it easier to fall asleep, help put the child to bed without a bottle;
8. If the baby is hyperactive or suffers from the Moro reflex, he can be swaddled for up to 3 months;
9. Comfortable conditions in terms of temperature and humidity also contribute to restful sleep;
10. If your baby’s gums are very sore and itchy when teething, you can use special gels or homeopathic drops;
11. For colic and bloating, use carminatives, give dill water or special tea.

Swaddling is a controversial issue; some experts do not recommend swaddling children at all. But, nevertheless, if the quality of the baby’s sleep is low due to a strong and violent reaction to physical stimuli (light, sound), swaddling is allowed. This will prevent him from waking up due to a startle and will help him get used to sleeping longer.

Read further:

Babies under 3 months of age may wake up several times a night to feed, and this is considered normal. There is no clear answer to the question of when a child stops eating at night. After all, all children develop differently, differ in temperament and behavior. There are factors that lead to the baby waking up to eat.

When does a child stop eating at night?

It should be noted that those children who are breast-fed eat at night more often than formula-fed children. This is due to the fact that the mixture is more satisfying than

Many women are interested in when the baby stops waking up at night to feed, and wait for this moment. After all, this will give them the opportunity to get a full night's sleep. However, mothers need to remember that night time has a good effect on lactation. But if the baby demands to eat too often, then perhaps he does not eat enough during the day. This is especially true for children older than six months. They are already actively moving, which means they spend a lot of energy. Quite often, toddlers fall asleep in the evening without having eaten, and then wake up to make up for the calorie deficit.

“How to wean a child from night feedings?” —

sooner or later every mother asks this question. The baby, unlike the mother, does not get tired of receiving milk and wakes up at night with pleasure. And young mothers have various situations, and at a certain point night feedings cease to be a joy.

If the baby is breastfed, then night feedings can continue for a very long time. For artificial babies, the time of weaning comes earlier; some babies are already able to not disturb their mothers at 3 months. Regardless of what time a young mother decides to start weaning her baby from night feedings, it will be useful for her to know some of the techniques that our great-grandmothers used.

How to stop a child from eating at night?

There are several simple methods for weaning your baby off night feedings, which are suitable for both babies fed breast milk and formula-fed babies.

1. To wean your baby off night feedings, you should increase the number of feedings during the day. During the day, the baby should receive the full volume of milk that he usually consumes per day. The last feeding at night should be dense.
2. The child often eats at night when he lacks maternal attention during the day. Often young mothers, busy with household chores, temporarily forget about their baby. If such situations become the norm, then the baby begins to wake up more often at night and demand the breast or a bottle with formula. Thus, the child tries to get that maternal attention that he lacks during the day. If a mother goes to work early and is separated from her baby all day, then such a child often eats a lot at night.
3. If the baby goes to bed much earlier than the parents, then the mother, before going to bed herself, should wake up the child and feed him. In this case, the baby will sleep longer and more peacefully at night and will provide the mother with longer rest. In extreme cases, the baby will wake up his mother one less time at night.
4. When weaning a child from night feedings over the age of one year, he can be put to sleep in another room. The best option is if he starts sleeping in another room with his older brother or sister. Thus, the baby’s attention immediately switches to exploring the new environment and he quickly forgets about night feedings. Also, after a year, you can talk to the child and explain “that there is not enough milk and there is nothing left at night.” At this age, children are already receptive to words.

Each child is individual and at different ages there comes a time when he no longer needs night feeding. But, as practice shows, young mothers often get tired of night feedings earlier than their children. According to pediatricians, before weaning a child from night feedings, it is necessary to create soft and smooth conditions for the baby. The child should not suffer from being deprived of a nightly portion of food. You can start weaning at 5-6 months. At this age, the baby can easily endure this deprivation. Perhaps he will not allow his parents to sleep peacefully for a couple of nights, but within two weeks the child, as a rule, will wean himself off the habit.

If your baby nurses all night,

this rarely means that he is very hungry. As a rule, such children cannot satisfy their emotional needs during the day. This problem can occur not only in a newborn, but also in a child after one year of age. In such a situation, the mother should establish communication with the child during the day - pay more attention to physical contact, games, and conversation.

As a rule, children after one year can sleep through the night, easily going without food, but some babies at this age still need regular night meals. When should a child be weaned from feeding and how to make this process go as smoothly as possible for him less painful?

Physiology

• The temperature in the room where the baby sleeps is extremely uncomfortable. The ideal range is 18-23 degrees, so even in winter it is not recommended to create a “greenhouse” in the bedroom.
• Perhaps the baby soiled the diaper or wet the diapers. For all children without exception, this is severe discomfort that forces them to wake up.
• The child is hungry or wants to quench his thirst. Even in their sleep, small household members are unable to give up their needs. With this behavior they try to convey to their parents the true reason for awakening.
• High temperature, nasal congestion, teething, tummy pain, colic, etc.
• The child wakes up every hour at night or even more often if he sleeps in uncomfortable clothes that restrict his movements. It is quite possible that he is uncomfortable with the synthetic material of the bedding (if it happens to be used), or the tightly pulled diapers. All these factors can cause itching and even pain.
• There is excessive noise in the baby’s bedroom, too light, etc.

Such factors can be easily eliminated; the main thing is to reliably determine the cause.

Six months is an important period in a baby’s life.

And suddenly again the child begins to be poorly lulled to sleep, wakes up every hour at night, cries, and is capricious. This problem occurs in many babies at the age of 6 months. It can be triggered by various reasons, but in most cases it is not a sign of the presence of pathological problems in the body.

The sixth month is a critical, transitional period in a baby's life. He begins to master an independent vertical position. First, the baby sits down, then learns to stand on his feet.

This is the time when the first teeth erupt. The baby's gums swell and salivation increases. Three daily naps are being reduced to two rests, and complementary feeding is being introduced. He may still wake up to feed at night, but this will gradually become less necessary. A baby at this age rests 14-15 hours a day.

The concept of sleep regression in children

There are moments in the life of every baby when an already established stable sleep gives way to anxiety, shuddering, the child begins to wake up frequently, cry at night, and the slightest rustle can wake him up. This phenomenon is called regression. There is no need to panic, this is a normal physiological process. Such periods occur at the ages of 6 weeks, 4,6,9, months.

Pediatricians disagree about the causes that cause them, but there are common signs:

• problems falling asleep in the evening;
• reduction in the duration and quality of daytime rest;
• frequent urges at night accompanied by crying;
• changes in appetite;
• increased nervousness while awake.

The child demands attention, asks to be held, and does not let go of his mother. There are no symptoms of the disease, the baby is in comfortable conditions. He may simply drop his pacifier, want to eat, and in a state of half-asleep even a slight noise can wake him up.

Possible explanations for the phenomenon

Manifestations of deteriorating sleep in children coincide with phases of active growth. A period of restless sleep indicates that the baby is developing and forming. At the time of the third regression, when a 6-month-old child wakes up every hour at night, the internal restructuring of the body, the little person’s biorhythms, and teething can influence.

The baby does not sleep well at night due to disturbing pain, then he may get enough sleep during the day, and in the dark he will be capricious again. Getting used to sleeping twice a day takes two to three weeks and causes discomfort for the baby.

Night feedings of children after one year: pros and cons - recommendations from experts

According to pediatricians, children should be weaned off night feeding after they turn one year old.

The famous American doctor Benjamin Spock recommends that parents be firm in this matter and not approach the child at night for at least half an hour, even if he cries and asks for food.

However, psychologists have a different opinion on this matter.

In addition, the older the child gets,... If during the day the baby does not receive the required amount of food, it is quite natural that at night he begins to feel hungry.

If we talk about the physiological development of babies, then, as a rule, starting from 7 months, they can go without food for 6 hours. Moreover, if the baby is not hungry, frequent feedings will not do him any good. It is during this period that pediatricians advise gradually weaning the baby from eating at night.

Giving up night feedings is a rather complex and lengthy process that must be carried out very smoothly and consistently so as not to cause stress in the baby.

In conclusion

The health and peace of mind of their beloved little ones is the concern of diligent parents, especially if the child wakes up every hour at night. 7 months or a year - it doesn’t matter, patience should always be strong. If you treat your child with a fair amount of attention, care and love, you can eliminate any negative manifestations, including frequent getting up at night.

Sources

• https://o-krohe.ru/komarovskij/rebenok-ploho-spit-nochyu/
• https://FB.ru/article/158867/rebenok-prosyipaetsya-kajdyiy-chas-nochyu-chto-delat
• https://onnispb.ru/deti-i-son-esli-rebenok-ploho-spit/
• https://znatoksna.ru/rebenok/plohoj-son-v-raznom-vozraste/6-mesjacev-prosypaetsja-nochju-kazhdyj-chas.html
• https://DobryjSon.ru/newest/rebenok-spit-4-casa-podrad-dnem.html

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How to wean your baby off night feedings?

There are several effective ways to solve this problem:

• You can achieve the desired result by increasing the number of meals during the day
  . During this period, the child should receive his daily milk intake. You can also offer him nutritious, but not very filling dishes, for example, milk porridge or vegetable casserole. Before bedtime, feeding should be dense. However, it is not recommended to give your baby sweets or meat foods at night, as they are poorly absorbed by the body.
• If the child is thirsty, you can offer him fruit juice or
  , but it is better to refuse compotes and fruit juices, since the baby may wake up at night only to drink a delicious drink again.
• Sometimes children ask for food at night, wanting to receive an additional portion of attention from their mother
  , who does not have time to devote enough time to them during the day. Therefore, even despite household chores, it is recommended to communicate with the baby as often as possible during the day so that he does not feel lonely.
• In order to wean your baby off night feedings, you can put him to sleep in another room
  , for example, next to his sister or brother. In this case, he will quickly forget about his previous habits, since his attention will be focused on studying the new environment for him. If the baby continues to demand food, parents can try to explain that the milk has already run out and will only be available tomorrow morning. As a rule, after a year, children already grasp the meaning of words addressed to them.
• A good night's sleep for your baby will be ensured by physical activity during the day
  . You can invite him to play outdoor games, do gymnastics, or, for example, take a walk in the park. If the baby expends a lot of energy during the day, he will sleep well at night, thanks to which the need to feed him will soon disappear.
• Quite often, mothers believe that babies cry at night because of hunger, although in fact they have abdominal pain
  or some other discomfort. In order to calm a child, sometimes it is enough to simply stroke him or talk to him tenderly. Therefore, before feeding the baby at night, the mother should make sure that he really wants to eat and does not have any other reasons for concern.

If all of the above methods did not bring any results, it is worth considering whether you decided to wean your child from feeding too early.

Perhaps you should wait a little longer, and he himself will soon stop waking up at night and provide all family members with a restful sleep.

The baby is not sleeping. Why?

In children under one year of age, sleep phases change at hourly intervals. If there are no prerequisites: illness, hunger, thirst, nervous disorders, the child, even waking up, will immediately plunge back into sweet dreams.

It is noted that sleep disorders can be initiated by parents themselves who have not established the correct daily routine. The child wakes up every hour at night if, before he goes to bed, there is music in the house, loud conversations, or playing outdoor games. It is recommended to introduce rituals such as evening bathing, lullabies, and twilight into everyday life.