Weaning seems to be an eternal topic. The consultations we encounter in our work are not only how to wean babies for a few months, but also how to wean older babies.
If you haven't read what we've shared about weaning, we recommend checking out the link below to see if you might get some inspiration
Sleep on the left, night milk on the right, quit or not quit night milk, it's a question...
One day, no crying, no fussing, no isolation, no medicine, I have these weaning experiences to share with you
The baby can sleep through the night milk early? Night weaning is not a panacea
What exactly should I do with bedtime milk?
What we are going to share today is what if the baby is 3 years old and still needs to eat night feeding?
With the continuous updating of parenting knowledge and the increasing convenience of obtaining all kinds of information, some concepts and opinions that have never been heard of are also popular in the mother's circle. For example, "natural weaning".
Weaning, also known as weaning, is a process that all breastfeeding mothers go through together. Many people think of weaning as a day when they stop breastfeeding their children. But in fact, from the moment the baby adds his first mouthful of complementary food, he is already gradually weaning away from breast milk.
True natural weaning is to let the baby decide when to end and wean peacefully in a natural state. There is a lot of variation between individual babies, and from a global perspective, the time of natural weaning is usually 2~7 years old. Under the influence of such a concept, many mothers choose to extend the breastfeeding time, 2 years old is no longer the cut-off point of forced weaning, and some mothers breastfeed their babies until they are 4 years old before weaning.
Although breastfeeding has many benefits for the mother and the child, it can sometimes be inconvenient. For example, the problem of the baby's nighttime feeding affecting sleep is very real, and the lack of sleep affects the energy of work and study the next day, and will also have a negative impact on mood. Therefore, even mothers who are willing to let their babies wean naturally hope that their children will no longer be fed at night and will be able to sleep through the night.
So, what are some of the reasons that affect the weaning of children aged 3 or even older?
In fact, to put it simply, only parents are unwilling to wean at night, and there is no problem that children can't wean at night. Parents of a few months old children can wean off night milk ruthlessly, and the baby is already three years old, so what's so difficult?
First of all, it is necessary to make it clear that there are two main functions of night milk, one is to satisfy hunger, and the other is to soothe.
It is relatively easy to understand that feeding at night is relatively easy to understand, and if you are breastfeeding, it is easy to tell whether it is to satisfy hunger or comfort. When the baby is full of night milk, it is a "pause" to eat, and the soothing words are to suck for a while and then stop.
If you are bottle-fed or brewed milk powder, you can also tell by the amount of milk.
There is also a situation, which can also be regarded as hunger, that is, the baby does not drink plain water, and uses milk to quench thirst and replenish water.
Let's talk about appeasement.
The appeasement effect has the following manifestations:
1. Coax to sleep, for example, the baby is used to sleeping with milk.
2. Relieve teething discomfort, and the baby is relieved by drinking milk and sucking.
3. Emotional satisfaction.
Sleep is easy to understand, teething discomfort needs parents to see if the baby's 20 baby teeth are out. Generally, the baby teeth will come out at the age of 2~2.5, but if the child has been provided with soft and delicate supplementary food, if the chewing is not enough, coupled with some individual differences that the child may have, the molars may also erupt at about the age of 3. The strong discomfort before the eruption of baby teeth is easy to make the baby cry at night, and the child knows that sucking can be relieved when he is older, so sucking milk at this time also has a soothing effect.
Emotional needs are not met by every baby, but parents should still pay attention to whether there is a problem if night milk cannot be weaned. We have met a mother at work who is very busy at work, leaving early and returning late every day, and the baby has limited time to see his mother. The child constantly wakes up at night to feed, and gets emotional satisfaction.
In addition, there is a kind of reassurance, some families after having Erbao, if they do not pay enough emotional attention and satisfaction to Dabao, Dabao will have regenerative behavior. For example, imitating a baby who asks to wear diapers, must drink milk from a bottle, and of course, also asks to continue breastfeeding. I've seen babies who are 6 years old and still breastfeeding, and that's why.
If you want to wean at night, you must solve the above problems and meet them, otherwise the problem still exists if you are forced to wean, and parents will not be able to sleep all night.
First of all, parents should carefully observe and record the child's diet and work and rest for 3~7 days.
What time does the child go to bed, what time does he wake up, what time does he eat, what time does he eat outdoor activities, what do he do with three meals, what does the child eat, and how much he eats.
Through this continuous record, parents will find some of these problems:
1. Whether there is a problem of poor quality of dinner
If the baby has gone to kindergarten, eat dinner in kindergarten, eat some snacks, fruits, etc. after returning home, drink a meal of milk before going to sleep, and will wake up hungry at night, so you need to drink milk.
If you don't eat dinner in kindergarten, look at the quality of your child's dinner. Some families have a relatively simple meal for their children at night, a bowl of porridge or a bowl of noodles is a dinner. Porridge and noodles are well-watered, easy-to-digest foods, and children feel hungry soon after eating a bowl. If you drink a meal of milk before going to bed, you will still wake up hungry at night.
2. The baby gets up late in the morning
Is it true that the baby wakes up late and is related to night weaning?
If the baby is not woken up by the parents in the morning, he will generally wake up hungry when he sleeps until he wakes up naturally. If you are not hungry, you can sleep until you wake up hungry.
So if the baby does not go to kindergarten and gets up late in the morning, it means that the milk is full at night and has drunk enough.
I wake up late in the morning, and breakfast is either a meal of milk or steamed egg custard, a very simple meal. Either you have a full breakfast, eat less or no lunch, and drink milk instead. Drink milk or snack after the lunch break, eat simple dinner, drink milk before bedtime, and then continue to eat milk at night.
3. Insufficient consumption of outdoor activities
If your baby has a poor appetite during the day, you can take a look at outdoor activities.
Generally speaking, in the community, the duration of the activity can be guaranteed, but the exercise intensity may not be achieved. But as long as there is exercise, it is stronger than no exercise. If the baby is sitting and standing most of the time, the calorie consumption is low, and the appetite will not be too good.
4. There is a picky eating problem, and eating three meals poorly
If the baby has picky eating, picky eating and other eating problems, does not eat well during the day, or just maintains a half-full state, parents may have restrictions on the amount of milk during the day, but at night in order to sleep well, there is no restriction on night milk, the baby may also rely on night milk to eat.
If you find a problem, you need to solve it in a targeted manner. For example, try to keep the baby in a regular schedule, solve the problem of picky eating as soon as possible if there is picky eating behavior, and adjust the combination of ingredients if the quality of the three meals is not good, so as to achieve balanced nutrition.
In addition, the baby is three years old and can't wean off night milk, the child's needs are certainly one of the reasons, but the main reason is that the parents are not psychologically prepared, or because it is too difficult to coax the child, they are used to "feeding instead of coaxing".
Therefore, the most important thing is that parents are ready to wean their children at night, so that children can be weaned off at night.