Weaning Tips: Night Feeding
Night feeding is one of the horrors of being a parent. It's often thought to be the hardest part. However, night feeding need not last very long, and it definitely should not last throughout infancy. It is only necessary to night feed during the first three months of your baby's life. It is during this period that their stomach is too tiny to hold food for long, so they need to feed both during the day and night in order to take in enough milk and nutrition to continue growing.
After three months of age, your baby's stomach should have developed enough to be able to sleep through the night. However, many babies continue to wake at night. Often it is not because of thirst or hunger, rather it is out of habit. Some babies feel cold, feel sick, are teething (and it hurts) so they wake up at night. Mostly it is because they miss your body warmth and having you cuddle them.
To stop night feeds, you have to break the nightly pattern. Some women take this (not feeding at night) as their first step towards weaning since you will be reducing or removing the night feeds. The first step is to feed them more during the day. You can feed them more milk or more frequently. The choice is yours. This means their stomachs will be full at night and they are less likely to wake.
Next, reduce the number and length of your baby's daytime naps. This will make sure your baby is tired in the evening (since s/he was up most of the day) and they have better chances of sleeping through the night. If your baby still wakes during the night, try comforting them and not feeding them so that they get used to not eating at night. Remember that this whole process can take a while, so have patience with your baby.
Though some women take the removal of night feeds as the first step of weaning, other mothers may choose to make night feeding the last to go. This is usually under recommendation of a doctor, who may recommend it for a mother who goes back to work before their baby reaches the three month mark.
If a mother goes back to work soon, night feeding may be the only chance she'll get to continue breastfeeding her baby, as well as spend time with her baby. She can pump breast milk that the baby can drink during the day, while she's away, but the only time she can feed her baby herself may be during night feedings. Remember that breastfeeding isn't just an act of nourishment, but an act of bonding and relationship building for mother and baby, so it is important that this act be continued till the baby is at least six months old. |
