Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Many parents may wonder when the best time is to wean baby off night feedings. Babies start developing well after six months. At this age they start getting sufficient nutrition from milk and solid foods during the day for healthy development and growth.
However, if you feel comfortable to continue with night feeds then you can wean your baby whenever you feel ready at a later stage. Whatever works best for the both of you. When the time comes to do so, here are some tips that could help you out.
Wean Baby Off Night Feedings
Breastfed Babies
If you do decide to attempt night weaning, your baby will still benefit from your breastmilk that he is getting throughout the day. If your baby’s feed during the night is short (less than 5 minutes) you can start phasing out nightly feeds by stopping the feeds altogether and res-settle your little one with the techniques of your choice. It might take a few nights for your baby to get used to his new routine. If your baby feeds for longer than 5 minutes, you can slowly cut down on the time spent feeding him for five to seven nights. This will help your baby to adjust to the transition easier.
- Check the time of your baby’s usual night feed.
- Start cutting down on the time your baby feeds with two to five minutes every second night going forward. For instance, if he feeds for fifteen minutes, then feed him for thirteen minutes over two nights, then move down to eleven minutes for two minutes, and so forth.
- Use the settling techniques that you prefer to re-settle him after every shortened feed.
- Once he is feeding for 5 minutes or less, then you can stop the feeds entirely.
If you prefer to cut down his feeds a little faster, you can decrease his feeding times by cutting them with five minutes every second night.
Bottle-fed Babies
If you want to get started on phasing out night feeds for your bottle-fed baby who is having 60ml of formula or less each night, you can stop the feeds entirely and re-settle him with your chosen settling techniques. If he feeds on more than 60ml every night, you can slowly cut down the amount of formula he drinks over five to seven nights.
- Start reducing the amount of formula by 20-30ml every second evening. For instance, if he drinks 180ml, give him only 150ml for two nights, then go down to 120ml for two consecutive nights, and so forth.
- Every time you give him less formula, re-settle him by using your chosen settling techniques.
- As soon as you go down to 60ml or less, you can stop the night feeds entirely.
After you have stopped his nightly feedings, you might notice an increase in feeds during daytime. This increase in daytime appetite may last for another week or so before he starts settling in.
Conclusion
I hope this post has been helpful to you and that it will be useful to wean your baby off night feedings in no time at all.
Is this also applicable to toddlers? My daughter is 13 months and I tried decreasing as mentioned in the post but nothing helps. She doesn’t take much milk during the day since baby stages. So at night she takes 2*300ml of bottles. I really want her to stop feeding at night
My daughter was also on 2 – 3 bottles of milk a night as a toddler Kamo and it makes life so much easier when you finally get them off the night feedings, especially if you want to do night time potty training! Eventually I told my daughter that she is going to have to stop night bottles and I told her we are going to take her to the shop to choose a special cuddly toy that will keep her company at night. We did that and she cried for the first night, it was a very long night sitting with her, but it very quickly got better.
It’s not an easy process to stop night feedings, but once you have done it you will see how much better she sleeps!
Thank you so much for these great tips. I am expecting and want to do things differently this time around when it comes to night time weaning. This technique will help so much.
Wow! This article has been so enlightening and helpful. Thank you
#WinWithKaboutjie
Great tips! Vert interesting read.
We learn everyday Thank you so much ❤️
This is so informative. Thank you Kaboutjie as I am in the process of weaning my little boy off his night time feeds.
Weaning can seen like such a mission sometimes thanks for making it seem abit easier.