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Breastfeeding & Bottle Feeding | Weaning | Bottle | Breast | Nighttime

Weaning from Nighttime Feeding

This article discusses the following about weaning from the night feeding:


Age to Wean
In general, most research recommends you can wean the baby from night feeding between 6 - 9 months. According to Weissbluth, in the sleep maturation process by nine months there is no longer night waking for a feeding (15). According to the Disney article, most babies can sleep without waking to eat according to the following schedule:

Age Time Before Waking to Eat
3 weeks - 4 months Range (2 - 6 hours)
4 months 6 hours
5 months 9 hours
6 months 12 hours

Remember, that the above schedule is the "norm" for most babies. Each baby is an individual and if "your child was a preemie or has acid reflux, he'll likely need to eat more often..." (Disney). We were very fortunate with my son and daughter in that overall they slept fairly well. I think it was a combination of our nighttime parenting, their temperaments, whether they were teething or not, and how much they were able to eat during the day. My son and daughter slept at night according to the following schedule:

Baby's Age My Son's Time Before Waking to Eat My Daughter's Time Before Waking to Eat Total Sleep Time*
Newborn 4 hours 4 hours 14 - 18 hours
1 months 4 - 6 hours 4 - 6 hours 14 - 18 hours
2 months 6 - 8 hours 6 - 8 hours 14 - 18 hours
3 months 8 - 10 hours 6 - 8 hours 14 - 16 hours
4 - 6 months 8 - 12 hours 6 - 8 hours 14 - 16 hours
6 - 7 1/2 months 4 - 6 hours 10-12 hours 12 - 14 hours
7 1/2 -10 1/2 months 4 - 6 hours 5-12 hours 12 - 14 hours
10 1/2 - 13 months 12 hours OPEN 12 - 14 hours
13 - 15 months 6 - 8 hours OPEN 12 - 14 hours
16+ months 12 hours OPEN 12 - 14 hours

*The total sleep time is the time for the entire day including naps according to Sears (357). My son and daughter generally slept the "average" total sleep time. As indicated in the table above, my son slept great until he was around 6 months. My daughter slept well although she started to wake up again around 7 1/2 months. Most research warns to eliminate the night feeding so the baby does not depend on a bottle or breastfeeding to fall asleep. Both of my children could initially fall asleep on their own without breast or bottle but when they woke up in the middle of the night it was easiest to just give them breast or bottle.

For more information about "My Family" please refer below. For more information on sleep please refer to "About Sleep" and "Sleep Amount."
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Dilute Bottle with Water
If the baby is drinking an adequate amount of breast milk or formula during the day and the baby wakes at night wanting a bottle some parents dilute the bottle with water and gradually increase the amount of water until the bottle is all water. Some babies will decide it is not worth waking up to get a bottle of water (Sears 364).

If my son was drinking enough breast milk/ formula during the day then I would have considered diluting the bottle with water. Since my son historically did not drink enough nutrients during the day, I was happy to give him a bottle of additional formula/ or whole milk (milk was given once he was 12 months) before bed or in the middle of the night.
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Ask Spouse to Help
If your breastfeeding and the baby has frequent nightwakings to breastfeed you may want to involve your spouse in the process. For me, my baby slept great the first six months and thus I did not have to worry about frequent nightwakings. I was also very fortunate that Erik helped out a lot which is why I enjoyed being able to both breastfeeding and bottle feeding my first baby.

Even if you are exclusively breastfeeding, if you feel your baby truly doesn’t need to eat again (he’s receiving adequate nutrition the rest of the day) then your spouse may be able to get up with the baby and try to comfort the baby back to sleep without you having to feed the baby. It is usually hard for mom to refuse feeding the baby (when the baby knows she has an automatic feed valve) versus dad who may be able to calm the baby by giving the baby a pacifier or just rocking her back to sleep. For more information please refer to the “Weaning from Breastfeeding” article.
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Pacifier Use
When my son was young (around 6 months old) if he woke in the middle of the night, we first gave him his pacifier. Sometimes this was all he needed. Although, generally, when he wanted his pacifier it really meant he was hungry and would awaken a couple hours later demanding a bottle. Thus, giving the pacifier usually just stalled him. My daughter never used a pacifier and did not have a strong sucking need.
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My Family
Even when my son was 20 months old I would occasionally give him a night feeding both before bed and in the middle of the night if needed. As indicated, my baby slept great until he was around 6 months; following the ideal schedule of sleep without waking to eat:

During the period of 6 months – 10 ½ months when my son was waking at night a bottle was definitely needed due to his acid reflux since he wasn’t able to eat enough during the day. Once my son was over a year and he was obtaining more of his nutrients from solids and thus only needing the approximate 18 ounces of milk, his night waking feeding was not as necessary. (Please refer to the "How Much" article.) And many nights he would sleep the entire night without waking. At 16 months my son still depended on the feeding before bed in order to get the average 18 ounces milk for the day. Fortunately, even though we continued to provide my son a night feeding he was not dependent on a bottle to go to sleep.

After giving my son a bottle we would make sure we kept him up for the recommended 20 minutes to try to prevent tooth decay. According to Dr. Greene, before the baby is 18 months it helps to “keep him awake for 20 minutes after his last feeding or to give him a little bit of water right after the feeding. ” We usually read stories during this time. We generally would also brush my son’s teeth after drinking his last bottle of milk before he goes to bed or at least give him some water to wash the milk off his teeth.

When my son did wake in the middle of the night and it was evident he wanted a bottle (he would make the milk sign) I generally still gave him a bottle. I would remind him during the day that he needs to eat well during the day since he is a “big boy” now and “big boys don’t drink a bottle in the middle of the night. ” My son actually was eating solids exceptionally well at this age (16 months) during the day and usually drinking well but still some nights he woke up hungry and so I gave him a bottle.

Overall, I would say I haven’t had to do night feeding weaning. I've always followed my son’s schedule and if he needed to eat then I gave him a bottle. Since I believe my son developed good sleep habits and could consistently sleep 12 hours through the nights on the rare occasion he did wake, I preferred to go in and comfort him and if he needed some milk then I give him that. We weaned my son from his bottle around the age of two. For more information, please refer to the "Weaning from Bottle" article.

For my daughter, she's been primarily breastfed and at 10 months old she may wake up one or two times a night or sleep the entire 12 hours without waking. When she does wake, it is easiest for all of us for me to breastfeed her and she goes immediately back to sleep. I found when my son or daughter were teething they tended to wake more at night and occasionally wanted a bottle/breast.

For some, night weaning must be done. As always, you have to do what works best for you and your family. If you continue to give a baby a night bottle, then please make sure you are aware of the risk of tooth decay. Overall, only you and your baby will know when it is time to have nighttime weaning. For us, I guess I never had to wean either of my babies. For me, I preferred to feed them when they occasionally woke in the middle of the night.
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Works Cited

Disney. "Parentpedia: Nighttime Feeding. " Disney Family Parenting. 8 Dec. 2009.
<http://family.go.com/parentpedia/baby/sleep/baby-nighttime-feeding>.

Greene, Alan M.D. , and Cheryl Greene. "Nighttime Feedings. " drgreene.com. 7 Dec. 2009.
<http://www.drgreene.org/qa/nighttime-feedings>.

Sears, William M.D. , Martha Sears, R.N. , Robert Sears, M.D. and James Sears, M.D. The Baby Book:
Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby - From Birth to Age Two
. New York: Little, 2003.

Weissbluth, Marc M.D. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child: A Step-By-Step Program for a Good Night’s
Sleep
. New York: Ballantine, 2003.

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Last Updated: August 2011; December 2009