Scientists have been conducting research in the field of proper child development, upbringing and feeding for several years. They are looking for the most comfortable and natural ways. In the first months of life, the little crumbs do not have very large needs and features in the care. All that is needed is proper hygiene, proper feeding, love and affection. Over time, in addition to the simple need to get enough, the child has a habit of frequent contact with the chest. For him, it becomes a way of reassurance. Any discomfort - and the child begins to look for breasts with his lips. It becomes warm for the baby in his mother’s arms, comfortable when he hears the sound of his mother’s heart. This is the sound that the baby is used to for nine months while in the womb.
Activity phases and nutrition of babies
The little ones sleep restlessly at night, often wake up. The phases of activity and sleep in the early stages of life are short. Often night feeding is used to again euthanize the baby. After six months, the sleep phase begins to level off. The baby rarely wakes up at night. There is no need for night feeding. But recently, cases of hyperactivity in children have become more frequent. Six hour night breaks are not maintained.
After six months, pediatricians recommend reducing the amount of attachment to the chest. For the full development of a child’s diet, complementary foods (juices, mashed potatoes, cereals) are introduced. Night feeding overloads the baby's body. They offer to refuse him, and mothers ask themselves how to wean a child to eat at night.
Desire to calm down
The main thing here is to understand the reason why your baby asks for breasts at night. Now we will consider the main ones. If the baby is not hungry, but just wants to calm down, then there are several methods to wean a baby to suckle at night. You need to try to euthanize your child in different ways. Walking in the fresh air is one of the methods, although, probably, a few mothers will be happy at night festivities. A more suitable method is to train, stroke, sing songs. You need to put the child next to him so that he can feel your warmth, smell and hear your heartbeat. Ask for help dad. Let him resemble a child, shake, tell a fairy tale. The main task is to teach the baby to calm down and fall asleep without sucking.
Hunger
Does your baby wake up at night, suck in milk and fall asleep again? How to wean a baby from breast at night? It is necessary to increase the number of daily feedings. It is necessary that during the day the baby is fully saturated. Feed your baby well before bedtime. Let dinner take more time. A well-fed baby will no longer want to ask for supplements at night.
It happens that the baby wakes up after midnight from hunger, while he eats well. There are several ways to wean a baby from feeding at night:
- Before you go to bed, wake the baby and feed. The baby can suckle and sleepy. Then he will not wake up at night with a feeling of hunger.
- Move the lure to the evening. Feed the child porridge, give kefir or drink milk mixture.
- If you fed the baby well during the day, but the habit of waking up and eating at night remained, then during a late meal, try to give milk diluted with water in a 1: 3 ratio. Gradually, you can replace feeding with water. This will help to avoid overeating.
All these tips are suitable for babies who are breastfed.
Artificial feeding of the child. Wean the baby from nightly reception
Artificially fed children receive nutritious milk from a bottle. What to do with such kids? Artificial mothers often wonder how to wean a child from a bottle at night. Trying to get your baby to part with the bottle is a very difficult task. Children with tears beg for their favorite bubble. Sucking from the horn, as well as from the chest, gives the child pleasure, satisfies the feeling of hunger, helps to calm down and fall asleep.
Use for feeding at night not a bottle, but a cup. In shape, it looks like a favorite bubble, but, in fact, it is a mug. You have to drink from it while sitting. The baby will lose its association with sucking, as well as the sensations that it caused. If the baby does not feel hungry at night, then he will soon refuse food at this time of day. Feed your baby more satisfying before going to bed. It can be porridge or kefir.
Glass of milk at night
You see that your child is growing, sleeping well already and eating almost on his own. But after many years, many children have the habit of waking up at night and drinking a glass of milk. The problem is that a cow is not at all useful for children under three years of age. It can cause calcium deficiency in a growing body and provoke an increase in nervous excitability. How to wean a child to drink milk at night? Try to offer your baby water.
If a child drinks it, then he is thirsty. If he refuses, then this is already a bad habit. Start diluting the milk gradually with water until you completely switch to the latter. There is also a radical method - to distract the child and switch his attention. Try to calm and euthanize the crumb without giving anything.
The child is more than a year old. How to wean from feeding at night?
If you are not puzzled by the problems of night feeding for up to a year, then by one and a half years this problem will already need to be addressed. Eating at night can turn into a persistent bad habit. You begin to look for a solution to the problem and think about how to wean a child to eat at night. It is already useless to understand the reasons. It is necessary to solve the problem. But in addition to the fact that some children are used to eating at night, their preferences begin to appear in them. Let's analyze some of them:
- How to wean a child to eat candy at night? Give a more useful substitute (dried fruit, candied fruit, marmalade on pectin without sugar sprinkling). Persuade to put the candy in the cache and eat it in the morning. Play child mercy. Offer to give candy to grandfather, grandmother or another loved one.
- How to wean a child to eat buns, cookies, waffles at night? Cook delicious and healthy breakfasts. For example, it can be banana pancakes, fruit muffins and milkshakes. Let him get used to the fact that desserts can be eaten in the morning. Do not take everything all at once, but act gradually. Say more often: “We don’t eat this” or “Our family doesn’t eat cream cakes, because they are terribly sweet.” Let the little person get used to the fact that your family has its own way of life.
Tips from Spock
Children's pediatrician Benjamin Spock wrote that a baby can be weaned from anything in three days. The essence of the problem is not so important. The main thing is that parents have strong nerves. How to wean a child to eat at night? Three days to cry is difficult, but the result will be a full sleep. Also, the diet will be restored.
The main thing is not to approach the child and not try to persuade. Only a polite and categorical refusal. It is not worth explaining that it is harmful. Anyway, a child at this age will not understand your explanations. You can even harm them. For example, if you start to scare the baby with terrible tales about fat children, this will only help to create a bunch of complexes. Do not forget that the children's psyche is vulnerable.
All parents want smart and obedient children. And besides the question of how to wean, you should be no less concerned about how to wean. It is necessary to teach your child to obey you. Often such a moment is missed. But this is the foundation of education.
The technique that helps you shape your child’s habit of obedience is simple. You need to start with basic things and gradually move on to more complex and difficult ones. The path from simple to complex is easier.
The foundation of education is laid from two to twelve years. A 12-year-old child should already be educated, obedient to your assistant and friend. After this age, your work should already be aimed at self-development and improvement of a small personality. A great life path opens before a child. You are a guide for him. Your care, attention and enormous patience will help to grow a personality.
Conclusion
Now you know how to wean your baby from feeding at night. We hope that our recommendations will help you and you can deal with this problem. Good luck!