Night feeds are an unavoidable part of parenting a baby, however weaning from night feeds when your baby is ready may help them and you get more sleep. Different children will be ready to night wean at different ages, however most children will still need a feed over night for their first 6 months. Some methods to encourage night weaning include
- encouraging day time feeds
- cluster feed with several feeds before bed time
- get baby to bed before they become over tired
Other suggestions you could consider for night weaning your baby
- ensure your child does not feed to sleep, they tend to want to fall asleep the same way when they wake
- get another adult to settle baby at night
- for older children (aged 1 and over) explain that there will be no more night feeds
- swap feeds with a cuddle, pat or shhh
- ensure child is warm and not waking up too cold
Note that if this isn’t working, your child may not be ready to wean.
Community question: Night weaning baby
How old was your baby when you started night weaning. What way worked best for you to settle rather than feeding? Also, how long did it take?
- When they stop waking for a night feed is when I weaned them. I let them do it when they where ready not when I told them too. Hollie
- 11.5 months but he was breastfed. My eldest was around 6 months and he was formula fed. I waited until they were both ready. If a baby Wakes and wants to be fed feed them. Baby’s wake for a reason Chantelle
- Baby 1 was 7 months old & weaned herself. Baby 2 is now almost 4 & still wakes some nights for a drink (now just water) but stopped formula/milk feeds around 18 months. baby 3 is 8.5 months now & has just dropped to down to 1 feed around 2.30/3. When he wakes he is very clearly hungry so I feed him. But I believe in following your instincts and their needs, even if the bags under my eyes drag on the ground some mornings! My eldest is 14 & I now have the opposite problem (won’t wake up) so I know it won’t last forever lol! Sharon
- We stopped overnight feeds at two months cause she didn’t wake for them anymore but we did dream feeds around 1030 to 11pm until around 6 months. Claire
- I think I did around 10months. My son was waking at about 5 am would feed for maybe 5min then comfort suck for 45min. So instead of rushing in when he woke I let him cry (not hysterically, it was more of a whinge) for about 5min and 9/10 times he settled back to sleep himself! If he didn’t settle I offered the dummy which he took, so no more night feeds. Kintara
- I would have done it shortly after 1 if my son hadn’t started sleeping through by himself but luckily he did right on his 1st birthday. Don’t know how old your bub is but could be worth waiting a bit longer purely to save you the hassle of trying to resettle without feeds? Lucy
- 3 years old but it had evolved into a couple of bowls of weetbix a night around 18 months old. Kyra
- My 1st weaned herself from night feeds at 12 months and started sleeping through and then weaned completely at 14 months. Second im still feeding at 8 months . Nightime as well. Edited to add. Breastfed^^ Amanda
- My bubs stopped his night feed himself at 2 months and he settled pretty much straight away Deejay
- 10 months. She was waking 1-2 times per night for a feed. I made sure she filled up before bed and then when she woke I started sleep training. A technique a sleep consultant informed me of. She told me it would take about 4 nights before changes began. When she first woke I began the controlled crying and she was back to sleep in 10 minutes. Night 2 she slept 12 hours straight. We are now going on to night 3! Normally she would wake at 11 and then again at about 3. We have success!!!! Let me know if you would like to know the training method, happy to share Gaby
- I think it was around 3-4 months old, but at that stage he was fully formula fed. We did self settling. Janette
- My son is 20 months and I’ll be night weaning around his second birthday. Madison
- The moment my first slept through 3 nights on a row I stopped and only gave water if putting dummy back in didn’t work. That was at 5 months but would have started at 6 months. Second has started sleeping through he’s 3 months although if he starts waking I will give him a bottle unless it’s 5.30 am I will try get him sleep another hour and just let him get up at 6.30 for a bottle Tash
- I had been doing a dreamfeed at 10.30pm and bub was waking again at 3am for a feed. I decided to drop the dreamfeed and bub still woke at 3am for a feed. After doing this without the dreamfeed and just a 3am feed for about 4 weeks, I then reintroduced the dreamfeed at 10.30pm and bub now sleeps through until 7am without the 3am feed. I knew he didn’t need one of them after experimenting and once I knew he didn’t need in and would sleep solid for 7 – 10 hours I reintroduced the 10.30pm feed so I could sleep through from then and so could baby. Pip
- 19 months… Late bloomer I know! Self settling. If she stirs around 11 or 12 now I only offer a drink of water. Took my girl 2 nights to sleep through! 11 hours is very possible – I never used to believe it! Angela
- 13mths i didnt night feed until 4am. Had a few hard nights but then he was algood. But now he usualy sleeps through, hes 22mths now. If he does wake up cryn i give him a bottle. But will be weaning off the bottle soon after hes 2 and is settled into hs new big bed Tash
- Both mine ended up formula fed. My first was 7 weeks. I’d feed at 10pm and then again at 6-6.30. Second was around 4 months. Once they slept through once I never went back. Both now at 19 & 6 months sleep from 7.30 – 7.30. But all babies are different Emily
- We stopped the night feeds for our son not long after he was 1. When he woke up we would give him the dummy and wait 10 minutes, if he settled then that was that, if not we offered a bottle of water. Only took about a week and he stopped waking up for a feed Chloe
- She has always been a good sleeper and would settle if my partner lay with her on our bed at bedtime, in the end because she didn’t rely on the night feed to go to sleep made weaning so much easier. However I only have one baby who is quite good in this regard. We wernt strict and sometimes she would feed to sleep and sometimes not. She is 12 months now and we still lay with her to go to sleep. Screems if she goes straight to the cot. Merinda
- My son is just over two and I only just weaned him completely, my last ones to wean him from were the night ones. Took about four or five days I think. I really enjoyed breastfeeding him and only did it because no. 2 is brewing. Sophie