Weaning nighttime feedings
Today we’re talking all about weaning night time feedings. This is often a tricky time for parents when trying to figure out the best time to wean their babies from nighttime feedings and how to do it.
When can I wean my baby from nighttime feeds?
This is a great question. I always recommend speaking with your pediatrician first to make sure your baby is old enough and at a good weight in order to wean night time feedings. Typically, babies can start weaning feedings as early as 12-15 weeks old, so long as they are at least 12 pounds and up, overall healthy and growing nicely and with your Dr’s permission.
While many babies keep nighttime feedings till much later (6 months to a year), some are ready to wean them much earlier. There is a wide range for when babies drop their nighttime feeds, they are all so different!
Do I wean night time feedings cold turkey or do I wean them slowly?
There are a couple of ways to wean night time feedings, either cold turkey or with a weaning process and there are times where one is more appropriate than the other.
Wondering if you should wean night time feedings? Ask yourself these questions:
Is my baby taking in a full feeding (or 2) in the middle of the night?
Is my baby taking in 2 oz or more?
Is my baby nursing more 2 minutes or more?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then yes, your baby will benefit from a gradual weaning process (usually done in about a week or so) depending on how fast or slow you wean them.
Wondering if you should go cold turkey with the night feedings?N Ask yourself these questions:
Is my baby a year or older?
Is my baby snack-feeding at night for comfort or out of habit?
Is my baby taking in 1-2 ounces or less each time he wakes?
Is my baby nursing for 1-2 minutes or less each time he wakes?
If yes, then you can go cold turkey! No need to wean feedings that aren’t actual, substantial feedings.
Here’s how to wean night time feedings:
You can start by simply subtracting one ounce for bottle-fed babies or one minute for breastfed babies per feeding until there are no more feedings left at night. If your baby is on multiple feedings at night, you’ll do this for each feeding.
EXAMPLE:
Night 1: Subtract 1 minute from a 6 minute feeding
Night 2: Subtract 1 minute from a 5 minute feeding.
Night 3: Subtract 1 minute from a 4 minute feeding, etc...
Night 7: No more feedings.
NIGHT 1:
Bedtime 6:30 pm
10:00 pm: 4 oz
3:00 am: 3 oz
NIGHT 2
10:00 pm: 3 oz
3:00 am: 2 oz
NIGHT 3
10:00 pm: 2 oz
3:00 am: no feedings
NIGHT 4
No more feedings
Weaning night time feedings and it’s relation to the circadian rhythm
One interesting aspect of weaning nighttime feedings is the role of the circadian rhythms in their hunger patterns. In case you forgot, circadian rhythms are internal biological clocks that regulate various physiological processes, including sleep and wake cycles, and they also influence feeding patterns.
Babies naturally have a tendency to consume more calories during the daytime and fewer at night, aligning with their circadian rhythms. As babies grow and develop, they often start to consolidate their nighttime sleep and consume less food during nighttime feedings. This shift is part of their gradual transition towards sleeping longer stretches at night without needing to wake up for feeds (and yes, sometimes they need a bit of a push to drop those feeds).
So during the weaning process, parents may notice changes in their baby's nighttime feeding habits as they become more efficient at consuming calories during the day and rely less on nighttime feedings for sustenance.
Understanding the interplay between circadian rhythms and feeding behavior can help parents navigate the weaning process and support their baby's evolving sleep and feeding patterns.
What happens if my baby still wakes up at night after they are weaned?
This can happen! So don’t panic if it does. Babies will often still wake up at night mostly due to a very strong body clock. If your baby was used to eating every single night at 3:00 am, it is likely that they will still wake up at that tie of out habit - it doesn’t necessarily mean your baby is hungry or in need of a feeding at that time.
You may go in there and try to coax your baby back to sleep when this happens. Try not to give in and feed or you will restart a habit of needing food at that time. If you have previously sleep trained your baby, you can go back to the method you used to sleep train to help your baby back to sleep. With the right and handling, your baby will wake up less and less until they are no longer waking at this time. Remember, their body clock is strong, and this can take anywhere for a few days to a few weeks to break.
What if your baby doesn’t actually need those night time feedings?
What if?
That your baby's nighttime feeding may not necessarily indicate a genuine necessity for that feeding. Your child might develop a perceived need for nighttime feedings simply by becoming accustomed to eating more during the night. In other words, you can condition their bodies to feel hungry at night and require food. This illustrates the influence and power of hunger patterns.
In other words, you can totally train your baby’s body to be hungry at certain times and require food at night even if they don’t really need it. It’s all about training and manipulating their hunger patterns.
You can also, however, easily reverse that cycle, reorganizing their hunger patterns to sync with daytime feeds as opposed to feeding at night.
Cool, right? Who would ever think that you had that much control over your baby’s hunger patterns?
So yes, even if your baby eats phenomenally during the day, taking in full feedings, they can still wake at night needing food if they’re accustomed to it. So if you’re worried about a hunger issue at night, ask yourself what they’re eating during the day, if they’re eating their fair share - then it’s safe to say they’re probably eating at night unnecessarily.
This is why I like weaning feedings at night because you are slowly training the body to need less food and not to be hungry at night, and essentially moving those calories to daytime feeds.
You need this one thing in order to wean night time feedings:
When it comes to weaning night time feedings, you need the confidence and certainty that your child does’t need to eat at night anymore. Without this you will constantly be second guessing yourself, you may change your mind in middle of the weaning process. You may not be able to stick to it if you’re unsure and you may even fall back into constant feeding habits when your baby wakes at night if you suspect even for one minute that your baby is hungry…
So, you need to be certain. Confident in your choice to wean and in your baby’s readiness to do it. No more second guessing yourself, no more wondering whether or not your baby actually needs those feedings at night. Be absolute sure and then go ahead and wean the feedings.
You need other things, too, like a weaning plan, your Dr’s permission, your motherly intuition, maybe a hand to hold. You may need a few days to accomplish this process, you will either need a bottle, formula, hot water, or maybe just a breast if you are nursing, you’ll need a timer to time the feeding/s, and You’ll need to commit to the process.
but most of all what you really need is confidence in your decision and confidence in the plan you set forth to wean nighttime feedings, and you will be successful!
That’s a wrap on weaning night feedings. I hope you’ve found this helpful.
