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Stop showing your baby ioff7/31/2023 Trusted Source KidsHealth From Nemours Breastfeeding FAQs: Supply and Demand See All Sources Night weaning for bottle-fed babies Pumping milk at night can relieve some of the pressure if your breasts start to feel full before you’re ready to go to bed, or in the middle of the night. Instead, focus on dropping just one feeding at a time, stretching out the time between feedings and shortening the feeding by a few minutes per night. It can cause your milk supply to take a dip too. Trusted Source Centers for Disease Control and Prevention How Much and How Often to Breastfeed See All Sources (After that, five to six feedings a day becomes the norm.) Go slowlyĬutting off multiple overnight feedings in one fell swoop is a recipe for uncomfortably engorged breasts and an increased risk for mastitis. Breastfed babies under 6 months who haven’t yet started solids should eat every two to three hours during the day, for a total of eight to 12 feedings over 24 hours. The more calories your cutie takes in during the daytime hours, the less she’ll need overnight. Here are some tips for making the transition as smooth as possible for breastfed babies: Make sure your sweetie is eating enough during the day But if you’re nursing, night weaning can also be an adjustment for your body and milk supply. Night weaning for breastfed babiesīoth breastfed and bottle-fed babies can take some time to adjust to not eating during the night. Keep trimming things back bit by bit, and over a week or so, your baby will (hopefully) realize that waking up to eat is no longer worth it. You can also try making each feeding shorter by cutting back the amount of time on each breast or putting fewer ounces in your baby’s bottle. Hopefully, your baby will start to sleep longer and longer, until eventually, she stops waking to eat altogether. One common way to do this is to simply stretch the time in between each night feeding, tacking on an extra 15 to 30 minutes every other night. Gradually moving her away from that habit will ease the transition for everyone, and if you’re breastfeeding, result in significantly less discomfort for you. After months of midnight noshing, your baby has learned to expect that you’ll come to feed her when she wakes up. While it’s possible to stop night feedings cold turkey, experts agree that you’re better off taking a gentler approach if you can. And as your baby gets older, getting her to (happily) give those comforts up could prove more challenging. Keep in mind that by 5 or 6 months, a baby who is waking to eat overnight is probably not really hungry (unless she isn't eating enough during the day) - she’s just used to the snacking and snuggles. (In that case, it may be worth offering more during those feeds so that your baby is less likely to reawaken due to hunger.) If you’d feel more comfortable, waiting a little longer or just cutting down to one or two feeds per night is okay. Know, too, that you don’t have to night wean between 4 and 6 months. No matter what, you should always get the green light from your pediatrician first before you start night weaning. Some parents begin when they feel like it’s time to start reclaiming their sleep, while others look to their baby for cues - like shorter overnight feeds or waking less often. In this age range, most babies reach the 12- to 13-pound mark, the weight where they no longer metabolically need nighttime feedings.Īs your baby reaches the right age and weight, exactly when you decide to drop the night feeds is up to you. When to start night weaningįrom a developmental perspective, babies are able to sleep through the night - defined as a six- to eight-hour stretch - without eating when they're between 4 and 6 months old. Here’s how to wean your baby from those night feedings so you can all start getting some more sleep. But more often, you’ll have to give your little nosher a nudge in the right direction. Do babies ever self-wean from night feeds? In some lucky cases, yes. It’s normal for babies to move away from overnight feedings as they get older and their tummies can hold more food.
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