Facts About Night Feeding Your Baby

Night feeding your baby is different from regular breastfeeding. At night, when you feed your baby, it is mainly for the purpose of putting him/her to sleep. Many babies are breastfed only at night while they are bottle fed during the day. Night feeding your baby back to sleep has many benefits both for you and your baby. That is why many mothers choose night feeding their baby beyond six months. Most doctors advise you to breastfeed exclusively for six months and then continue night feeding as long as you can.

Night feeding your baby has many benefits but also have a couple of problems. Some babies who are night fed are very difficult to wean. They continue feeding at night well beyond two years or more. Besides, if your child has a tendency to throw up milk, then reflux can make night feeding baby back to sleep difficult.

GASSY FOODS TO AVOID DURING BREAST FEEDING

Here are some points which you must take care of when you are night feeding your baby:

Sleeping Position
For night feeding, you must hold your baby in the sleeping position. Lie down next to your baby and adjust your baby's position to feed him or her. This will naturally soothe the baby to a restful slumber.

Gives You Rest
Night feeding allows the mother a lot of rest. Getting up in the middle of the night and feeding your baby from a bottle can be very exhausting. But when you breastfeed at night, you can fall back to sleep after your baby sleeps off.

Baby Sleeps Through The Night
Your baby gets into the habit of sleeping through the night when you night feed him/her. Feeding from a bottle at night awakens them and you have to lull the baby back to sleep by rocking or singing. When the baby sleeps through the night, he or she wakes up fresh in the morning.

Reflux Problem
Some babies have a milk reflux problem wherein they throw up milk after every feed. You have to turn your baby sideways and rub his or her back to ensure that the milk has gone down. Or else, your baby could choke on the refluxed milk.

Difficult To Wean
Babies who are night fed are very difficult to wean. They get into a habit of getting fed at night and falling asleep. They do not want to stop getting breastfed even after they grow up because it is like a habit.

All in all, night feeding your baby is a healthy practice. You should continue night feeding for as long as you can after six months of exclusive breastfeeding.