How to keep baby awake during night feeding
27 Ways To Keep Baby Awake While Breastfeeding — Milkology®
Newborns (especially in the first couple of weeks) tend to be EXTRA sleepy.
This can pose a problem with breastfeeding because they might not wake enough to take full feedings. Keeping them awake while breastfeeding is key to getting them to eat enough.
It’s no surprise that they can easily fall into a deep sleep while breastfeeding...
According to a study, there’s a hormone released while breastfeeding called cholecystokinin (or CCK) that naturally makes them feel full and drowsy. And the younger the infant is, the higher the concentrations of CCK is released in their body.
Knowing this - you'll need tips and tricks up your sleeve to keep your baby awake long enough during breastfeeding.
(Try 1 or 2 each feeding session to see what works best to rouse your baby)
Light up the room.
Take off their clothes and socks.
Change up breastfeeding positions.
Burp the baby.
Blow air on their cheeks or forehead.
Change their diaper.
Play music.
Sing to them or play with your baby.
Stroke the palms of their hands and soles of their feet.
Feed them during their light REM sleep cycle (when their eyelids flutter, they grin in their sleep, and have clenched fists)
Get skin to skin with your baby.
Massage the crown of your baby’s head while their feeding.
Wet a washcloth with lukewarm water and rub it on their face or along their hairline.
Do breast massages while feeding to encourage them to feed longer.
Run your fingers gently along their cheek or foot.
Switch breasts as soon as you notice baby stops actively suckling and begins to trail off.
Breastfeed in the “football” hold.
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Lay them down on a flat, firm surface.
Bathe them.
Stroke your baby’s cheek if they’re latched but not actively nursing.
Move their arms and legs in a bicycling motion.
Talk to your baby!
Walk your fingers up baby’s spine.
Tickle their lower lip to encourage them to latch.
Feed your baby as soon as they wake.
Unwrap the baby from their blanket.
After trying a few tips, express milk for your baby if they’re still not responding. You can use hand expression or your pump.
Also, be sure to closely monitor their pee and poop output and weight gain to make sure they’re consistently getting enough to eat.
In the early weeks, newborn sleep is largely dictated by hunger so sleep duration varies a lot.
Until baby is back to birth weight (ideally by 14 days), try to gently wake baby every 3 hours for a feeding if they’re still sleeping.
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Breastfeeding, Common ConcernsStacey Stewart
Baby Falling Asleep at the Breast? These 5 Tips Can Help!
Most newborn babies will wake regularly and frequently to breastfeed.
However, there may be times when your newborn baby needs to be awakened to breastfeed.
For example, there may be medically indicated reasons why a baby may need to be woken to feed such as Jaundice, congenital heart disease, illness or your baby may not be gaining adequate weight...
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Is Falling Asleep at the Breast Normal?
Babies are biologically programmed to fall asleep at the breast. Falling asleep at the breast is a normal behaviour and is mostly due to a hormone called cholecystokinin or CCK. CCK makes your baby feel full and sleepy and it is released in your babies gut as soon as they start sucking.
Younger babies generally have higher concentrations of CCK which can make it harder to keep them awake during a feed. This is a perfect system if your baby is waking frequently and feeding well but for the baby who is needing to be woken or to be encouraged to feed it can be a challenge.
So how do you keep a sleepy baby awake at the breast? There are some simple but effective things that you can do to help
Try Skin-to-Skin Contact
Keeping your baby in the skin-to-skin position can help ignite your baby’s natural feeding instinct and encourage them to feed. After all, if you are in the kitchen, you want to eat! Babies can easily find the breast in this position and may spontaneously feed.
Skin-to-skin contact also allows you to notice subtle feeding cues that otherwise may be missed. Your baby may only make a slight wiggle to signal to you that they are ready to feed and if you are holding them closely on your chest you are more likely to notice.
Learn Your Baby’s Early Feeding Cues
Understanding your babies feeding signals and feeding them when they are showing early ready to feed signs can help them to feed better. Check out the Australian Breastfeeding associations Feeding cues article for pictures of early and late feeding cues.
Compress Your Breasts
While your milk is flowing your baby will be actively sucking but once the flow of milk slows down your baby may slow down or stop sucking altogether. By gently compressing your breasts you will be encouraging your milk flow to continue… and this can help your baby to begin sucking and swallowing again. Read more tips on helping your breast milk flow.
Dr Jack Newman demonstrates breast compressions in this YouTube clip:
Switch Sides
Your breasts work simultaneously, so, when you are feeding on one breast, the other side is also experiencing a letdown.
Once your baby begins to fall asleep, switch sides so that there is a fresh supply waiting for them. You can repeat this several times (switch back and forth between breasts) because you have more than one letdown per feed.
Changing breasts can make it easier for a baby to fill their tummy when breastfeeding. You can also mix it up by switching sides and use breast compressions together
Use Gentle Stimulation
If your baby falls asleep and stops feeding (it's possible for babies to continue feeding while they are sleeping), gently stroking their hands and feet can stimulate them to stay awake for longer.
Sitting your baby up and giving them a gentle back rub can also help to wake them up and it gives them the opportunity to expel any trapped wind that they may have. If that fails, changing your babies nappy mid feed can rouse them enough to feed some more.
Babies are all different and all feed in different ways so what is “normal” for one baby may be different from another. If you are concerned about any aspect of feeding it is essential that you seek help early and it is always important that you follow your health practitioner’s advice.
As a general rule, if your baby is having at least six very wet cloth nappies or at least five very wet disposable nappies of pale urine, 3 or runnier bowel actions in 24 hours then you can be assured that your baby is getting enough milk.
For more information contact:
- Your General Practitioner
- An International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant
- Your Maternal Child Health Nurse
- The Australian Breastfeeding Association
Have you ever had a baby that always seemed to fall asleep at the breast? What did you do to improve the situation? Let’s have a chat and support each other here or on the Medela Australia Facebook page.
Night feeding weaning
Weaning from night feeds and uninterrupted sleep throughout the night is the dream of many new parents. However, kids have completely different plans in this regard. Many of them continue to wake up to eat or drink, even at 3 years old. We understand why this happens and whether it is possible to wean a child to eat at night.
Why night feedings are needed
Night feedings are not a whim, but a necessity for the normal development of the baby. First of all, they are needed by the child, and then by the mother. The main reasons why a child needs to wake up at night include the following:
- physiological immaturity. Compared to adults, children's metabolism is very fast. This is due to the active growth and development of the baby. In addition, both formula and breast milk are absorbed very quickly - on average, in 2-4 hours.
- Features of lactation. The amount of milk in the mother is regulated precisely by feeding at night, since the hormone prolactin is actively produced at this time of day.
If a woman wants to breastfeed a baby, at least one nightly application is necessary. - evolutionary mechanisms. According to one hypothesis, night waking is an evolutionary mechanism that protects the baby from sudden infant death syndrome.
- Compensatory. If the mother removes daytime feeds, the baby may begin to wake up more often at night to compensate for the lack of daytime feedings. This is more relevant for children on breastfeeding one year old and older.
If night waking does not cause inconvenience to mother and baby, then there is no need to specially clean them. You can wait until the baby's nervous system matures and he refuses such feedings on his own.
� When the baby is ready to leave night feeds
The ability to sleep through the night without waking up for a night snack develops as the baby's nervous and digestive systems mature. Attempts to reduce nighttime feedings before this point can end in failure, exhaust the mother and cause sleepless nights for the whole family.
The following terms are considered physiological:
| Type of feeding | When do night feeds end? |
| breast | A breastfed infant stops eating at night around 18–24 months of age. |
| mixed | Depends on what kind of food (formula or breast milk) prevails in the baby's diet. Age can vary from 9 to 24 months. |
| artificial | Formula is considered a heavier product, so formula-fed babies may stop eating at night as early as 9-12 months. |
Some babies, whether breastfed or formula-fed or mixed-fed, may start sleeping without waking up for nighttime feeds as early as 6 months. If the mother has enough milk, and the baby is gaining weight normally, you do not need to specifically wake the baby to feed him.
Important! Night feedings are the key to successful lactation. If the baby of the first months of life does not wake up at night, you need to offer the breast to a sleepy baby. This stimulates the production of milk and will help to avoid problems with its quantity.
How to stop feeding your baby at night on EW
It is much easier to remove night feedings from a baby on artificial feeding than on breastfeeding. This is due to the fact that a baby on IV immediately gets used to the schedule, and with a greater nutritional value of the mixture, and less difficulty with its replacement. On average, babies who eat formula wake up only 2-3 times per night, so it will not be difficult to refuse such a number of feedings.
However, weaning from nighttime eating should begin no earlier than 6 months. By this age, the brain of children in general is ready to sleep without awakening from 6 to 8 hours. What can be done to reduce the number of feedings?
- If the mother practices co-sleeping, you should not combine moving the child to the crib and accustoming to uninterrupted sleep at night.
It is better to reduce the number of wakings first, and then move the baby to your bed. - If the baby has entered a clear mode, you can gradually increase the intervals between night feedings. You can move them no more than half an hour at a time.
- When the baby asks for food at night, offer him water first and only then formula. Perhaps he wakes up from thirst, not from hunger. This approach will help increase the intervals between feedings.
- After a year, a hearty dinner helps to improve sleep. Feed your baby porridge or porridge with meat 2-3 hours before bedtime. Such food is digested for a long time and will help the baby sleep better.
It is important to remember that the reduction in feeding should not be accompanied by tears and tantrums of the baby. Restless night sleep and discomfort will cause the baby to wake up more often.
Weaning from night feeds should not be a problem for the baby and other family members.
Our doctors will remotely advise on the features of children's sleep and help you choose the right moment for weaning from night feedings.
How to remove night feedings with breastfeeding
The regimen of children who are exclusively breastfed is different from the regimen of children who are fully or partially artificially fed. For children on IV, night feedings, rather, are a consequence of the characteristics of the child's psyche and metabolism. For children on breastfeeding, they are rather a necessity.
It is at night that the hormone prolactin is produced, which regulates the production of milk in the mother. If you do not feed your baby at night or leave such feedings too early, this will directly affect the amount of milk and, as a result, the development and growth of the baby.
It is believed that during weaning, night feedings are the last to stop. However, you can reduce the number of nightly attachments before the mother decides to complete breastfeeding.
What can be done for this?
- If the mother practices co-sleeping, moving the baby to her crib will help reduce the number of nightly attachments. At first, you can put a baby bed with the side removed to the parent one and shift the baby after he falls asleep. Then the side rises, and the bed moves away.
- After a year, giving up or reducing the number of night feedings helps a hearty dinner and a bowl of water instead of breastfeeding at night. You can also give kefir or a mixture at night.
- The number of nightly attachments is also affected by daytime feeding. If the mother cancels too many daytime attachments and severely restricts the baby, he can compensate for the lack at night. Therefore, if the mother does not plan to completely cancel breastfeeding, it is better to allow the toddler to apply during the day.
If the mother does not plan to stop breastfeeding in the near future, then it is better to postpone weaning from night feedings to a more suitable time for this and wait for the moment when the baby himself refuses nightly feedings.
After a year, you can teach the child self-attachment. In this case, neither the baby nor the mother practically wakes up at night.
Read also What kind of breastfeeding is considered prolonged
FAQ
How many times does the child eat at night?
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The number of night feedings depends on the age and type of feeding. Formula-fed babies wake up 2-3 times a night on average. Breastfed babies may wake up more often.
When do children wake up at night?
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The baby's brain is not adapted to a long night's sleep. This is believed to be an evolutionary mechanism that protects infants from sudden infant death syndrome. The child begins to sleep more than 6 hours in a row after a year, and all night - closer to three.
What can I do to stop my child from eating at night?
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You can reduce the number of nightly feedings by moving the baby to a separate bed, starting to feed a denser dinner and gradually increasing the intervals between nightly attachments.
When should a baby be weaned?
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The World Health Organization recommends breastfeeding or formula feeding until two years of age if it is comfortable for both mother and baby. If a woman decides to wean the baby from the breast earlier, you need to replace the breast mixture.
Is it necessary to wean the baby from the breast if he does not sleep well?
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Weaning does not guarantee that the baby will sleep through the night. For this to happen, his nervous system must mature. Weaning, especially through tears, can cause restless sleep and frequent waking.
Expert opinion
Night feedings are necessary for the normal growth and development of the child. On average, children self-refuse by the age of 9-24 months. However, this does not mean that the child stops waking up at night. The brain fully matures for this only at the age of 3 years.
To wean a child from waking up at night, you need to feed him more densely before bedtime, move him to his crib and offer water at night instead of breast or formula.
We publish only verified information
Article author
Pruzhinin Mark Yulievich pediatrician
Experience 30 years
Consultations 1572
Articles 104
An experienced pediatrician with extensive experience and clinical experience in various medical organizations in the field of general pediatrics, resuscitation and anesthesiology and neuroinfection.
Works with leading experts, attends international and Russian conferences. How to wean a child from night feeding
November 13, 2021LikbezLife
There are cases when this is not worth doing.
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0Is it necessary to wean from night feeding at all
Doctors have no unanimous opinion on this matter. For example, American pediatrician Richard Ferber, founder of the Center for Children's Sleep Disorders at the Children's Hospital in Boston and author of the bestselling book Child's Sleep. The solution to all problems, warns Baby sleep training: Night weaning / BabyCenter: if the baby no longer needs night food, the habit of feeding him at night can cause sleep disturbances.
The connection is simple: when a child eats, the digestive tract begins to work actively. This means that after eating and falling asleep, the baby will quickly wake up due to an overflowing diaper or discomfort in the stomach.
To calm down, the baby will eat again, and the situation will repeat itself. If you do not break this vicious circle and do not stop night feedings, the opportunity to sleep for both parents and the baby will not be presented for a long time.
On the other hand, renowned pediatrician William Sears, author of Your Baby From Birth to Two Years, How to Put Your Baby to Sleep, and others, urges parents not to rush to give up nighttime feedings. Unless, of course, it exhausts the whole family. According to Sears, night feeding helps the baby feel safe and strengthens the bond between him and his parents.
When not to stop feeding at night
American Medical Resources Experts HealthLine Night Weaning: How to End Middle of the Night Feeds / HealthLine and BabyCenter Baby sleep training: Night weaning / BabyCenter list situations when to refuse night feeding definitely not worth it, so as not to cause unnecessary stress in the baby.
- The child is sick or teething.
- Baby is not gaining weight well.
- The baby is going through a growth or developmental spurt. For example, learns to roll over, sit, or rapidly stretches.
- The mother recently went to work and the baby sees her less during the day. In this case, he may ask for a breast or a bottle more often than usual in order to feel connected to his mother again.
At what age can you start weaning from night feeding
Preferably no earlier than six months. Until this age, babies are fed almost exclusively on breast milk or formula. Although these are high-calorie foods, the stomach is still too small to stock up on them, and the feeling of hunger quickly returns.
According to experts, breastfed babies should eat Feeding Your Baby: The First Year / Cleveland Clinic 8 to 12 times a day. On artificial - from 6 to 10 times. Thus, the average child under the age of six months will feel hungry every 2-4 hours. Including at night. So night feeding is inevitable.
At about six months, the situation changes: the stomach enlarges, and solid food appears in the diet. Cereals and vegetable purees take longer to digest, and satiety periods become longer.
So by the age of six months, two out of three babies can sleep Infant Sleep / Stanford Children’s Health all night and not wake up hungry. For some children, this happens a little earlier, starting at three months or when they reach a weight of about 5.5 kg. For others, interrupted nighttime sleep lasts up to a year, and sometimes longer. But six months is a good benchmark for parents to finally think about the opportunity to get enough sleep.
How to wean a child from night feeding
Here's a strategy to make it as comfortable as possible.
1. Be patient and be prepared to take it step by step
Slowly reduce the duration of nighttime feedings, each time taking the breast a little earlier. Or, if you are formula feeding, reduce the amount of formula in the bottle.
And to make the baby fall asleep easier, stroke him, sing a lullaby or shake him.
2. Make sure your child gets enough food throughout the day
Growing babies are active and curious. Sometimes, having played too much, they may refuse to eat. If this happens several times a day, at night the baby will try to replenish the calorie stores, again and again demanding a breast or a bottle.
Therefore, make sure that the baby eats during the day. At least once every 3-4 hours, take breaks from games or walks, turn off cartoons or music, put away toys and invite your child to rest in your arms, relax and have a thoughtful snack.
If you are following this recommendation, but you are not sure that your child is getting enough food, keep track of his height and weight: they should be within the limits of age. Your pediatrician will tell you about them. Height and weight above or below the norm indicate that you need to adjust the number of calories.
3.
Plan your bedtime Without food, an infant older than six months can sleep for up to 8 consecutive hours on average. This means that if he falls asleep at 20:00, he will inevitably get hungry by a maximum of four in the morning. Plan your daily routine in such a way that the child goes to bed (and, accordingly, wakes up) at a convenient time for you.
4. Delegate night feeding or motion sickness to dad or another family member
Sometimes a baby will ask for a breast or a bottle just to smell the mother. Try to break the link "I eat - it means my mother is near."
The easiest way to do this is with the help of dad or another close relative: let someone else, and not mom, take care of the baby at night for a while - offer a bottle, shake it, stroke it. Pretty soon the child will get used to the fact that food is not connected with the mother.
5. Be prepared to take a step back
Babies usually adapt quickly to new environments. They may cry for a night or two (you have to pet and lull them to sleep) and then get used to being without a breast or a bottle.
