4 Reasons to Wean Your Baby’s Night Feedings
Time to get rid of the milk and sleep through the night
* From The Happy Sleeper online class for babies 4-24 months
Feeding and sleep are closely intertwined in the newborn months. So much so that we often miss the signs our babies are ready to move on from night feeding. Parents tell us a version of this all the time: their no-longer-a-newborn baby is waking, seems hungry, and is seemingly unable to fall asleep again without a feed. Parents feel stuck.
Usually, we can spot the issue. In most cases, we make the case for using our approach to very gradually wean night feeds, once baby is 5 months old, because, well, it’s better for sleep, better for baby, better for parents and best of all: IT WORKS.
Here are 4 reasons to gradually wean all night feedings at the same time you start the Sleep Wave method:
Readiness
Babies 5 months and older can get all their nutritional needs met during the day. For most babies, if you feed them at night, they’ll just drink less milk during the day and vice versa: once you gradually wean all night feedings, they transfer those calories to the daytime.
From 5 months on, babies wake up hungry because their tummies are used to being fed during the night. Imagine you consistently ate a sandwich at 2am, eventually you would wake up with a grumbling tummy at — you guessed it— 2am.
This is also why we don’t want parents to go cold turkey on feedings, but acclimate their baby to gradually less and less milk with the gradual weaning approach. We don’t want tummies to feel hungry.
2. Better sleep for baby
Yes, it’s true - the quality of babies’ sleep improves. The best sleep occurs when the body, including the digestive system, is at rest, like a mini hibernation. Drinking milk is alerting; it wakes up the digestive system, which then has to process that milk. Tummies are activated, diapers get soaked… all of this is compromising sleep.
Remember, this is when babies are at least 5 months of age. When they’re newborns, yes an empty stomach and a frequent need for soothing and feeding can wake them in the night. That feeding-on-demand system in the newborn months is key to establishing attachment and milk supply if breastfeeding. But babies change fast!
3. Boosts Sleep Wave success
The consistency of the parents’ response when using the Sleep Wave (which is key to its effectiveness) is super charged once the night feeds are weaned. Otherwise, babies can wake up at any point during the night, wondering if it’s time for a feed (they don’t know what time it is!). Once the night feeds are weaned, they sleep more deeply and wake less often because they don’t have this unhelpful sleep association anymore.
4. Better for parent’s sleep (which is also better for baby)
At around 5 months, it’s time for parents to start getting a full night’s sleep so they can begin to heal from the sleep deprivation of the early months. Those sleepless nights don't need to go on any longer. Parents constantly tell us the Sleep Wave saved their sanity (and we’ve heard from many that it saved their marriage) because they now feel confident, in control and well rested. That means more resources and positive energy to be the parent you want to be.
Yes, of course, there are exceptions
We always work with parents if they have a concern about baby’s growth, any medical issues, supply questions – of course there are nuanced situations when weaning all night feeds isn’t indicated. But overall, for the majority of babies, weaning after 5 months (including dream feeds) is key to a successful Sleep Wave and sleeping through the night. We find it works amazingly well to start our very gradual weaning approach for night feeds at the exact same time you start the Sleep Wave. Now, both baby and parents can reap the myriad benefits of optimal sleep. Win-win.
“Felt like a dream. We’re so proud of our baby. We wish we’d done the Sleep Wave sooner!”
4-24 Month “Sleep Wave” Class
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Have a question about your specific baby? Maybe you read the book or watched the class and you want to ask about your unique situation? Or you want us to walk you through the whole process, start to finish? We’ve got you!
After watching this class, you will have a clear sleep plan for your baby to sleep through the night. If you implement the Sleep Wave in an organized and consistent way, night sleep often improves in 2-7 nights.