While some babies may start to sleep through the night early on, it is biologically normal to still have 1-2 overnight feeds up until they are around 9 months of age once they are fully established on solids 🥰
Therefore, if you have been feeding your baby to sleep and are finding that they are habitually waking or appear to be genuinely hungry, we can aim to reduce and eventually eliminate their overnight feeds 🍼
This process can be done by gradually reducing time at the breast by 5-10 minutes every few days. Once the night feed has been reduced to 5 minutes, you can cut it entirely and implement your chosen settling method when or if they wake. If bottle feeding, you can gradually dilute the formula or decrease the volume of their night feeds by 30-50mL every few days. Once the feed has been reduced to 30-50mL, you can cut the feed entirely and implement your chosen settling method when or if they wake 🥰
Note: It is important to simultaneously increase ⬆️ your baby’s daytime feeds and calorie intake to compensate for the reduction in their overnight feeds, preventing them from waking due to genuine hunger 🥦🌽🥑.
We also want to ensure that before* reducing any overnight feeds that your baby is thriving and hasn’t experienced any significant drop in percentiles since birth 🆘. Additionally, ruling out any oral ties or medical concerns that may be impacting their ability to have a full feed ⚠️
If despite these changes your baby is still catnapping, resisting sleep, or waking frequently overnight, book a consultation or download our Sleep Essentials Guide at www.settletosleep.com.au so we can support you in restoring sleep for you and your family 🩷🌸💫