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| Baby-Sleep-Problems---Can-Feeding-Have-an-Effect |
by Chris Towland
New parents and even parents with several children, regularly find that their young baby may not be sleeping as well as he or she should.
Many parents look for the reasons for the problem, hoping to find a simple answer. This also leaves several parents wondering if feeding may have something to do with the issue.
The objective of this article is to probe deeper into the different aspects of baby feeding and consider the effects that feeding could perhaps have on a babys sleeping schedule and habits.
Firstly, we should list the individual feeding areas that we will be discussing. These are:
Mixing Breast-feeding and Bottle Feedings
Feeding your baby to sleep
What are YOU eating and may it affect your babys sleeping pattern?
Could solids help your baby sleep?
Mixing Breast-feeding and Bottle Feedings
It is believed that the crossing of bottle and breast in feedings could cause sleeping problems. There are a couple of different reasons for this when you are breast-feeding your young baby. With each having a feed, the breast is signaling to the brain that more milk needs to be produced for the coming feeding. When a bottle is incorporated into feedings, this process could be affected. The breast will begin to produce less milk due to the less frequent breast feedings.
Also, on the times you do breast-feed your baby, he or she will not get as full with the breast-feeding because of the reduction in milk supply. The result of this is that your baby will be needing a feed more often, which will mean his or her sleep patterns will be interrupted by the need for feeding.
Feeding your baby to sleep
Feeding your child until he or she goes to sleep may be causing a problem with their sleep patterns. Your baby will soon begin to understand that you feed him or her when it's time for bed. This will become something they depend on and expect. normally, this will be the case with each waking throughout the night as well.
There are of course, techniques you can use to stop your baby from depending on feedings to fall asleep.
Firstly, change the time or the amount of time you feed your baby when nearing his or her bedtime. Doing so will gradually remove the association of bedtime with having a feed.
Another thing you could do is feed your child earlier in the evening instead of as a bedtime routine. When you do these things your baby will not associate eating with bedtime. This will help your baby learn to fall asleep on his own accord.
What are YOU eating and may it affect your babys sleeping pattern?
The simple answer is yes. As a breast-feeding mom*, everything that you put into your body will affect your breast milk. If you aren't eating the right amount of foods and calories each day, your breast milk is affected greatly. It is important that you eat the recommended three meals each day and possibly a few snacks in between. Your milk needs to have enough calories in it in order for your baby to feel pleasantly full and satisfied. If it doesn't, he or she will want to feed longer until he or she is full.
You need to eat healthy foods and attempt to eat them more often, as well as drinking plentry of fluids throughout the day. This will help your
milk supply, therefore benefitting your baby and his or her sleep patterns. The fuller your baby feels, the better he or she will sleep.
Will solids help your baby to sleep?
Many people believe this will help, but numerous studies haven't associated any change in those babies who were fed by the breast or bottle and those who are fed solids. This has not been proven to help the baby sleep patterns at all. In general, Doctors recommend not adding solid foods prior to six months old.
Chris Towland
Chris Towland is the author of The Baby Sleep Solution. The 35 minute audio program that gives the simple techniques that will ensure your baby sleeps through the night, every night.
See more information at:
http://www.babysleepsolution.com/go.php?YOURCLICKBANKID&3
Note to webmasters: You are welcome to change 'YOURCLICKBANKID' ito your own ID when you use this article on your website or newsletter.
Just ensure you leave the &3 at the end of the url.
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