4 Reasons Why Night Time Breastfeeding Is Good

Certainly, one of the most important reasons for breastfeeding at night is the reduction in risk of a sudden, unexplained infant death. An analysis of the results of eighteen studies have shown that the risk of sudden and unexpected infant death is significantly reduced for mothers who exclusively breastfeed and for a longer duration of breastfeeding. When you breastfeed at night, your body produces more prolactin (the hormone that promotes milk production), so night feedings help to keep up milk production. Click below to get the 4 reasons why night time breastfeeding is good : 4 Reasons Why Night Time Breastfeeding Is Good Even though you know it’s going to happen, the reality of being on-call 24 hours a day for your hungry infant can be a bit of a shock. No clocking out at 5:00 p.m., no settling in for eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, not when your baby needs your breasts. There are some good reasons why night time breastfeeding is good for nursing mothers.These are enumerated below . #1: Babies Have Tiny Tummies : Did you know that a newborn’s stomach can only hold approximately 20ml of fluid? If the fluid is human milk, then it’s digested in about one hour. It’s not until about day 10 that baby’s tummy is the size of a golf ball – or able to hold about 60ml. So, the one to two hourly feeding pattern many new babies adopt is likely pre-programmed and appropriate. But this means feeding more often at night, too. One benefit? The more feeding, the better the milk supply. #2: Babies Consume More Milk At Night: One study showed that babies take more milk during the nighttime feedings than at any other time interval – about 20% of their daily intake was during the night. The majority of infants in this study nursed at night (64%) and they nursed between one and three times during this period. For babies whose weight is faltering, nighttime feedings may make a huge difference since more feedings equals more calories equals better growth. #3: Breastfeeding At Night Helps Baby Sleep Breast milk contains tryptophan, a sleep inducing amino acid, more so in the evening than at other times. Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, which is the hormone that regulates mood as well as sleep cycles. Not only that, it improves brain development and function. You’re building your baby’s brain and helping him get to sleep by breastfeeding. #4: Nighttime Nursing Is Necessary For Lactational Amenorrhea LAM, or the Lactational Amenorrhea Method, is a form of birth control that is 98% effective as long as it’s used correctly. If your baby is younger than 6 months old, your periods haven’t returned, and your baby is receiving nothing but breastmilk, you can use LAM as birth control. Researchers think that prolactin and nighttime breastfeeding may be two factors for suppressing the return of menses in breastfeeding mothers. Read more, check here Image Source : Laura!3