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Phasing out night feeds

 
If you are helping your baby to consolidate his sleep during the night, then an important step will be to phase out night feeds.

From six months of age, babies who are developing well no longer need midnight snacks for their health or growth, which means it's ok to consider phasing out your child's night feeds.

Most babies can get enough milk and food during the day. However, if you are comfortable with continuing 24-hour room service, then there is no hurry to phase out night feeds.

When the time is right for you, here’s what you can do to help your baby make the transition away from night feeds. Changing your child’s sleep patterns has information and steps to help.

Breastfed babies

If your baby’s night-time feed is short (less than five minutes) you can consider stopping the feed altogether and re-settling her with the settling techniques described in Changing your child’s sleep patterns.

If your baby’s feed is typically longer than five minutes, you can gradually cut down the time spent feeding over 5-7 nights.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Time the length of your baby’s usual night feed.
  2. Then cut down on the time your baby spends feeding by 2-5 minutes every second night. For example, if your baby usually feeds for 15 minutes, you would feed for 13 minutes for two nights, then 11 minutes for the next two nights, then nine minutes for the next two nights, and so on.
  3. Re-settle your baby after each shortened feed with the settling techniques of your choice.
  4. Once your baby is feeding for five minutes or less, stop the feed altogether.

If you choose, you can cut down the time faster, for example by five minutes every two nights. 

Bottle-fed babies

If your baby is having 60 ml of milk or less during a night feed, you can stop the feed altogether and re-settle your baby with the settling techniques described in Changing your baby’s sleep pattern.

If your baby’s feed is more than 60 ml each night, you can gradually cut down on the amount your baby drinks over 5-7 nights.

Here’s what to do:

  1. Reduce the volume of milk by 20-30 ml every second night. For example, if your baby usually drinks 180 ml, you would give 150 ml for two nights, then 120 ml for the next two nights, and so on.
  2. Resettle your baby after each smaller feed with the settling technique of your choice.
  3. Once you get down to 60 ml or less in the bottle, stop the feed altogether.

You may also notice that your baby begins to feed more during the day after you cease the night feed. This improvement in daytime appetite may take another week to settle in.