Night Feeding in Babies
For babies, night feeding is about far more than physical nourishment. Sucking soothes a baby. It helps them cope with the pain of teething. A baby uses the breast, and their mother, as a way of reconnecting with a mother who has gone back to work or has been busy during the day. During periods of separation anxiety and developmental leaps, it meets their need for comfort and for feeling safe.
Contrary to what people think, night feeding is not a "bad habit".
Because hunger is not the only reason a baby wakes, stuffing your baby full during the day will not change their night waking.
Research has found that babies who are not fed at night wake just as often as those who are. So the question comes to mind: is it really the promise of the breast or the bottle that encourages babies to wake so often, as we are told? Should I feel guilty because I feed my baby every time they wake at night, because I fall asleep cuddling them, because I take them into my bed? How long can I withstand the pressure from those around me? Am I supposed to end my baby's night feeds in the end, at a time when neither they nor I are ready?
And what if I listened to my instincts instead? What if I shut my ears to what everyone else says and observed the mammals in nature?
About the author
Clinical Psychologist Orlit Linet Haklı — After completing a double major in Psychology and Sociology at Koç University, I graduated from the Clinical Psychology programme at Bahçeşehir University. For three years I worked with the Solidarity Association with Refugees and Migrants, a UNICEF project, conducting individual psychotherapy and group art therapy sessions with refugee children and adolescents. I currently provide parental counselling at a private practice in Kadıköy on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, working with children, adolescents and adults using psychodynamic psychotherapy, play therapy and art therapy.