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Compare and contrast breast and bottle feeding
Breastfeeding vs formula feeding conclusion
Compare and contrast breast and bottle feeding
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Mothers sometimes wonder at what age their babies are ready to eat less at night or night weaning. There is no accurate answer because some babies aged four to six months eat enough during the day to last them several hours in the night while other older babies may continue to feed at night.
When to Night Wean Your Baby
Some experts believe that night weaning may begin when a baby is about four to six months old. However, you may notice that even if a baby is not hungry at night she may continue waking up and wanting to feed. This may be due to her habit of feeding several times in the night, and it may take some time for you to change this behavior.
This routine can cause chronic sleep deprivation for mothers, who may decide it is best to night wean their babies. Even if other mothers continue to nurse or bottle-feed their babies at night, babies usually give up feeding at night and sleep longer hours on their own.
It is also advisable to talk to pediatrician to help you decide if you can night wean your baby based on her growth and your own situation.
Is Night Weaning Good or Bad?
Child health experts have different views on night weaning. Richard Ferber, pediatrician and author of Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems, says that unnecessary feedings at night may cause some sleep problems. He believes that a baby may wake up several times at night to eat, which can lead to wet diapers or digestion problems. These may cause waking up several times and lead to vicious cycles.
On the other hand, Dr William Sears writes that night feedings strengthen the bond between child and parent. He advises that parents should not to rush night weaning as long as feedings are not too disruptive. His book, The Baby Sleep Book, offers strategies to make night feeding easier.
The decision to night wean must be considered based on what is good for the family, as with other parenting decisions.
How to Night Wean Your Baby?
Here are some practical tips to night wean your baby:
Start the night weaning process gradually by nursing your baby for shorter periods or by giving her smaller amounts of bottled milk at night. Prolong intervals between her feedings by comforting the baby with gentle pats until asleep.
Give your growing baby enough to eat during the day especially as she becomes more active.
Parents are expected to train their children to sleep alone in their cribs, in a separate nursery, from the time they are born onward. This practice stems from the belief that there are far too many risks involved in co-sleeping, but the truth is that there is little to no evidence suggesting that children who sleep with their parents are at any greater risk than those who don’t. In reality, according to James McKenna, a professor of anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Laboratory, co-sleeping is very beneficial for the child. He states: "Studies have revealed that co-sleeping babies often grow to be less fearful and more independent than their non-co-sleeping counterparts.
When/if I have a baby, I will not have him/her sleep with my husband and I in the same bed. I probably would be the same as my mother and not get any sleep and become paranoid with the risk of my husband or I rolling over our baby. When he/she gets older and has nightmares and needs that security I will let him/her sleep with my husband and I. In addition, I feel like the child needs to be able to be independent and sleep on their own. In my sources, I have learned many things. I was very surprised with the study of how early co-sleepers show more independence and self-reliance than children who sleep in the crib by themselves. I also learned that there could be some advantages to co-sleeping, like it is easier for the mother to breastfeed since the child is right next to the parents. If you feel like co-sleeping is the best choice, then that is your choice. You, do
Sara believed that it was important for the infant to establish a sense of security by sleeping in the same room as the parents early on, so that in the future when the child becomes old enough to sleep in a different room, the child will feel secure and be calm even when she is alone by knowing that her parents are just in the other room. One way to understand the link between Sara’s sleeping arrangements and her goal of making the infant feel more secure is to consider Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development (Erikson, 1963) The first stage of Erikson’s (1963) theory is trust versus mistrust, during which babies come to trust that their caregivers and other people will meet their physical and emotional needs or start to mistrust that the parents and other people will not take care of them. Sara hoped that by sleeping near her infant so that she could let her child see her when the child goes to sleep or wakes up in the middle of the night, the infant could feel more safe, or “trust,” that the infant’s needs would be tended to whenever necessary. The “trust” would then impact the child’s future development and especially when the time comes for the child to move to a separate room. The child, having received reliable
Cosleeping and Biological Imperatives: Why Human Babies Do Not and Should Not Sleep Alone." Neuroanthropology.net. n.p. 21 December 2008. Web. The Web.
The rapid physical growth of an infant which we talked about earlier is fueled by the nutrients that the infant receives. Without the proper nutrition,infants cannot reach their physical, and cognitive potential. It is important to breast feed your baby until they turn one, but if that’s not an option bottle feeding is widely accepted as
The advantages with bottle feeding can be share responsibility on the night feeding, this would appeal to mums, as the baby wouldn’t be attached to them at all times. Also feeding allows fathers to share the fed and helps the bonding between father and baby (Murkoff, 2008). The women would also feel she had more freedom if she bottle-fed; she would not need to worry about her diet. Babies will sleep for longer when formula is used (NHS, 2010).Bottle feeding is easier for baby to get started on than breastfeeding. In addition, for women who feel uncomfortable about breastfeeding there is no public display, when bo...
One of the issues with most parents of newborns is the amount of sleep their infant obtains and when the sleep occurs whether it is daytime or nighttime. An important goal for parents is ti eliminate the stress of their infants night awakenings by getting their infant to form early, healthy, and independent sleep habits. This is the goal of most parents specifically in western countries such as the United States which is why many are against co-sleeping. Sleeping through the night or settling is a misleading concept. Most adults and children periodically wake up throughout the night and fall back asleep without being aware of these awakenings, something infants cannot achieve right away. Parents of newborns cannot expect the baby to have eight hours of uninterrupted sleep especially in a room by themselves but they can expect gradual improvement. Wolfson, Lacks, and Futterman (1992) studies the effects of parent training on infant sleeping patterns, parents’ stress, and perceived parental compete...
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Women do not breastfeed long enough. Although healthcare workers try to promote the breast method, many women do not continue with it. Breastfeeding does come with challenges; however, the phrase “breast is best” is the role of the nurse in conjunction with education. A mother a...
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Newborn babies normally feed every few hours throughout the day and night and may therefore sleep a few hours then wake up again. Because of this, parents cannot begin training the newborn or impose a regular schedule for sleeping. One must quickly respond to the child's hungry cries and feed her to comfort her. Although you may also lose sleep because of of this, you can try napping whenever the baby sleeps to catch up with yur own sleep.
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For the families who are not in a state to spend a large amount on their child’s weaning process, they should keep in mind that when the child is introduced to food, it should be given nutrients rich food which is available at a low cost. Things like soya bean, jowar, porridge etc. can be of utmost benefit.