For many breastfeeding mothers, feeding at night is a difficult thing to avoid . Some mothers use night milk as a soothing tool to let their children fall asleep quickly; some mothers use night milk as a nutritional supplement, hoping that their children will eat well and develop well.
As everyone knows, night milk is not harmless, and it has many drawbacks. If children eat too much and eat for too long, it will affect their healthy development.
Just like the little girl Xiangxiang next door to our house, she is a premature baby, and her body is weaker than ordinary children since childhood. In order to supplement her nutrition and healthy development, Xiangxiang’s mother has always insisted on breastfeeding. Night milk is also fed at night. In the beginning, Xiangxiang did develop well, but as Xiangxiang grew up day by day, she ate more and more frequently, and her body became thinner and weaker.
It wasn't until a physical examination before the age of 2 that Xiangxiang's mother knew the reason for Xiangxiang's frequent breastfeeding, but she grew thin. It turns out that eating too much night milk will not only affect the child's sleep quality and gastrointestinal health, but also affect the normal dietary intake, which is not conducive to the healthy development of the child.
So, when should babies be weaned at night, what issues should be paid attention to, and how can we avoid/reduce the harm caused by night milk? Today, let us talk about those things about "Night Milk".
01. When will the baby be weaned at night?
During the newborn period, babies have a small stomach capacity and are hungry quickly. They have to eat every 2-3 months and hours; and their sleep cycle is short, there is no difference between day and night, and they have to take milk at night. At this time, night milk is essential!
As the age of the child increases, the organs of various parts of the child mature and the stomach capacity increases, and they begin to store more nutrients; especially after 6 months, the baby starts to add complementary foods, and the sleep cycle also has As a result, they have the ability to sleep the whole time, and they hardly need night milk to provide them with excess nutrition.
Of course,Babies have individual differences in their development, and their needs for night milk are also different. Therefore, the exact time of weaning depends on the child's performance. Night milk is often harmful. When children send out these 3 signals, mothers should help them to wean them off
①Start to eat complementary food
The reason why children drink night milk is mainly because breast milk is the only nutrient for them Sources, they need to obtain more nutrients through night milk to maintain the body's development; complementary food is a nutritional aid, not only can supplement nutrition, but also has a strong sense of fullness, so that children are not easy to be hungry. After babies eat complementary foods, they will get more comprehensive, more balanced and adequate nutrition, and they don't need to get extra nutrition through night milk.
So, when the baby starts to eat the complementary food and accepts it smoothly, the parents can put the weaning on the schedule.
②Start to sleep all the time
Older generations often say: Children grow up in sleep. This sentence makes a lot of sense. Adequate sleep will not only make children healthy, but also help their brain development, which is of great benefit to children. Therefore, when the child starts to sleep the whole time, the only thing parents need to do is to create a good sleeping environment for them, so that they can sleep well, instead of worrying about them being hungry and calling them up for milk.
③Starting teething
The teething period is also a stage suitable for weaning babies. Because babies drink night milk at night, the milk is easy to stay in the mouth. This milk will not only affect oral hygiene, but also cause the occurrence of dental caries . In severe cases, it will also affect the health of permanent teeth.
Therefore, after the teeth erupt, parents must pay attention to the baby's oral hygiene and dental health, and don't let frequent night milk ruin the cute teeth.
02. Frequent night milk is very harmful, mothers should not ignore it.
As mentioned earlier, frequent night milk will affect the health of the baby. What are the specific effects? First of all, mothers need to be clear that for a small month old baby, eating night milk is a very happy thing, not only can get nutrition, but also increase the baby's sense of security, so that the baby can sleep more peacefully.
However, when the baby has the above abilities, the night milk will start to become "bad".
If babies develop the habit of eating night milk, they will get up and eat two bites at night even if they are not hungry. This will not only disturb their sleep, cause insufficient sleep and poor quality, but also indirectly affect their physical development and brain development; If the baby develops the habit of eating night milk and frequently eats night milk at night, it will inevitably increase the digestive burden on the stomach, causing them to have gastrointestinal discomfort or obesity; eat too much at night, not hungry during the day or not like eating, and eat frequently at night …… Babies can easily develop wrong eating habits, which are of no benefit to their physical development.
Furthermore, frequent night milk can also cause dental caries, which is not conducive to the development of children's independent psychology.
Therefore, when it's time to wean the baby, mothers must not let the baby be weaned.
03. Three preparations for weaning your baby at night
Like weaning, weaning requires a certain amount of time and process. Parents must not worry, too eagerness will also affect the health of the baby. Generally speaking, as long as you do these three preparations, you can get twice the result with half the effort.
1. Eat full before going to bed.
Babies like to eat night milk. In addition to being psychologically dependent on sucking, there is another possibility that can't eat enough and often wakes up hungry in the middle of the night. Therefore, the most important point of weaning is that must feed the baby before going to bed, so that the baby can sleep comfortably.
How should I eat it?
It is recommended that mothers let the baby eat some complementary food before going to bed,Supplementary food has a strong sense of fullness, and the baby will not be hungry easily, and will not wake up in the middle of the night.
However, you must pay attention to the time and amount of this meal before going to bed. Don't eat too late, it's best to eat one hour before going to bed; don't eat too much, so as not to make your baby's abdominal distension and discomfort, which will affect sleep. When my baby is 6 months old, he will eat 2 scoops of rice noodles every night at 7:30, and then go to bed around 9 o'clock, often until dawn.
2. Change the method of comfort.
Most babies wake up in the middle of the night to feed because they have developed a habit of getting up and taking two bites at night to sleep more securely. If this is the case, the mother can change the comfort method: When the baby wakes up in the middle of the night, he no longer uses night milk to comfort him, but gently pats the baby on the back, hums in the ear, and holds the baby in her arms...
At the beginning, you can give the dad the task of coaxing the baby to sleep, because the mother smells of milk, and the baby can easily make a fuss when smelling the smell; the dad is different. They are people who are familiar with the baby and can give them safety. Sensation, but there is no milk taste to attract them.
PS: Changing the comfort method must also be done step by step. For example, if the baby wakes up and eats night milk 3 times in the previous night, the mother can comfort 1 time and night milk 2 times; then gradually change to soothing 2 times and night milk 1 time until the night milk is completely weaned.
Ding Ma's message: Weaning is not easy, especially in the first few days, the baby may wake up frequently at night and sleep unstable, which requires the patient care and companionship of parents. However, as long as you are diligent, patient, and find the right method, weaning will be successful soon, and your mother will be liberated from the work of feeding.
Today’s topic: What other good methods do you think are weaning at night? Welcome everyone to leave a message
in the comment area.
