When can I cut night feedings?

When do we know when our babies are ready to drop their night feedings?

If we google this – we will encounter a plethora of results…feed on demand, cluster-feeding is normal, cut night feedings whenever you feel comfortable, never cut night feedings. AHH.

What is right?

Well firstly, I want you to know that if you’re not ready to cut out night feedings – then don’t. We want you to feel comfortable with the sleep changes we’re making, mama.

But, let’s get clinical. If your baby is 6 months (or older), gaining weight according to their growth curve, and your doctor gives you the “ok” to drop night feedings, then you are in luck!

Get ready for your first 12-hour sleep, mama!

That doesn’t really answer your question though…If you’re thinking, “my baby fits all of these categories, but they’re still eating through the night” - what do you do? Well I mean – I’m sure you’ve googled this and checked out MANY opinionated websites. If these criteria were all you needed to know to stop night feedings, then they would have stopped long ago.

Chances are – what you’re really asking is, why does my baby still wake for a feeding at night when I know they can sleep all night long? Are they waking out of habit?

So let’s talk about WHY. Why does your baby continue to wake up at night and demand food if they’re supposedly ready to give up their night time feeds?

The reason is actually pretty straight forward – the feeding is how they get themselves to sleep.

Breastfeeding and/or bottle feeding to sleep is the #1 most common sleep prop. People don’t usually think of it as a sleep prop because of how natural and necessary it is. “Sleep Prop” is usually associated with rocking, patting, shushing, or using a pacifier in order to fall asleep. But a sleep prop is really any external thing that your child relies on in order to fall asleep.

So, if you’re still feeding your baby to sleep at bedtime, or feeding them until they become super drowsy, then that’s where we need to make some changes.

“But I’m not!” I can hear you saying. “I put him to bed while he’s still awake, and he falls asleep independently! No props, no nothing! But he still wakes up three times a night looking to eat!”

Although it’s a less common scenario, I do see this fairly often. Mom is doing everything right at bedtime, but is still feeding baby to sleep when they wake up in the night.

Some babies are just habitual nighttime eaters. It’s not that they’re hungry or in need of calories, they’ve just managed to disassociate bedtime sleep with waking in the night. If Mom’s still willing to give up some breast milk in the night, SCORE!

The bad news is that you’re going to have to break this association by giving up night feeds. That’s going to mean some protesting, which won’t be fun for anyone.

But the good news is that, since your baby has learned to sleep without props at bedtime, that means he’s already got some strong sleep skills, and the protesting should be over within a couple of nights.

So - what’s the strategy for this? The same as it is for quitting just about everything else. Cold turkey. Stop tonight and don’t start again. The sooner your baby learns those skills, the sooner he’ll be sleeping through the night. That’s great news for you and your partner; but it’s even better news for baby! More uninterrupted sleep means baby’s mind and body get more of those glorious restorative effects that take place during the night, making for a happier, healthier tomorrow!

As always, if you need support while cutting out night feedings, I’m your gal. I love working 1 on 1 with families.