3 Tips for Night Weaning
Night feedings can become exhausting! We all expect our newborns to wake multiple times overnight, but what about when your baby turns 15 weeks old. . . or even 6 months old, should you still expect to be feeding in the middle of the night?
Let’s talk about expectations as we kick off this topic. I know, I know there are soooo many sleep consultants and authors or experts out there who suggest babies can, or even should, sleep through the night by 12 weeks old. I must admit, I disagree with this recommendation! With the expectation that if your baby naturally starts sleeping through the night early on, I think that’s wonderful, my point here is that I do not want any family to set that as their expectation. Our expectations are the downfall for how we really feel about our babies' sleep.
If you expect your baby to sleep 12 hours through the night by 12 weeks old, and they simply can’t, you’re going to be sorely disappointed, and likely frustrated! Yet if you expect to hold onto one night feeding until about 5-7 months old, then you’re going to be very pleased when your baby IS capable of that, or even more pleased if they drop their feeding(s) before 5 months!
If you’re considering trying to wean a night feeding (whether it be one of many night feeds, or the only night feed) consider these tips.
First of all, notice the overall number of ounces or feedings within 24 hours that your baby has. Remember that night weaning does not mean reducing your baby's overall ounces within a 24 hour period. For example, if your baby normally drinks 30 ounces and 6oz of that is during a night feed, the goal is not to take away 6oz, but rather to move the 6oz to daytime.
If you are exclusively breastfeeding then it is harder to know exactly how many ounces your baby drinks in a day, so you'll want to take the time to slowly wean. Slowly weaning gives your baby the opportunity to gradually increase the ounces they are drinking during the day. Even with bottle feeding, I still recommend a slow weaning process.
My second tip is: don't let your baby cry too long before deciding its feeding time!
I'm not a huge advocate for a “soothing ladder” type technique, although I know it's popular with some other sleep experts. My advice is that if your baby wakes up crying, decide quickly whether or not it's feeding time. My professional experience has taught me that allowing your baby to cry more than about 15-20 minutes (even if you're intervening with other soothing techniques) can send the message that they need to cry harder and longer in order to be fed. You don’t want to send your baby that message. Many babies can be very persistent, meaning they’ll learn to cry for a long period of time because they expect it will eventually result in being fed. The goal of any sleep training method or soothing technique is to teach your baby that it is time to fall back asleep, not be fed.
My 3rd tip is to check with your pediatrician about night weaning. It's important to check your baby's weight gain, quality of daytime feeds, and even get your pediatrician's approval before weaning all night feedings. In my experience, many babies by 4 months old don’t need more than one night feeding, but it is always best to get the opinion of someone who knows your baby’s medical history and can evaluate how they’re doing nutritionally.
So what is a “normal” amount of night feedings for your baby?
Before 15 weeks night feedings may still be every 2.5-3 hours.
4-5 months I expect only 1-2 night feeds
6-7 months down to only 1 night feeding (if nutritionally necessary)
And by 8-9 months 0 night feedings!
If your little one is over 9 months and still hanging on to one night feed, that's alright too! Unless there is a medical concern, it is most likely out of habit and you can wean it.
Do you need more help navigating your baby’s night wakings and/or multiple night feeds? You can schedule a free 15 minute consult call with me to help decide if my sleep programs are the right fit for you!
