How to Night Wean

There comes a point where babies or toddlers don’t eat in the middle of the night. Sometimes they reach that point on their own (with little to no intervention from parents) and sometimes they need a little gentle nudging from their parent to fully wean from overnight feedings. 

There’s no right or wrong– I want to make sure we establish that before you go any further! Everyone feels differently about night feedings/how they handle the overnight feedings/any sleep deprivation. I may reach my “breaking point” for waking for overnight feedings before someone else and that’s okay! We all have different thresholds.

Remember- there are ways to manage your sleep while your baby is still waking for overnight feedings so you don’t have to choose between night weaning OR sleep! Check out this blog for more tips on getting sleep as parents (and obsessing less over baby sleeping through the night).

You can also check out this blog about sleeping through the night because some reframes may be helpful as well when you’re going through a period of overnight wakings!

Let’s dive in with these topics:

• is night weaning necessary

• is night weaning sleep training

• does night weaning work

• which night feed to wean first

• night weaning without crying it out

• does night weaning improve sleep

• when can you wean night feedings

• can night weaning affect milk supply

• does night weaning happen naturally

• how to night wean when co-sleeping

• when night weaning doesn't work

• when to night wean formula fed baby

• how to night wean breastfed baby

• weaning night feeds with water

• night weaning for fertility

is night weaning necessary

Let’s jump right in with this one and start with a resounding NO! Night weaning isn’t necessary– it’s not even the goal with 80% of parents I work with. At least, not in the “traditional” sense. Most parents are just looking for some semblance of consolidated sleep. Not to never wake up at night!

And it may not even be possible to night wean (ie a newborn or a baby who isn’t able to take in larger feeding during the day). Expectations and understanding normal infant sleep is SO important when it comes to night weaning and goals surrounding that.

Check out some research about babies and night time wakings in this blog!

is night weaning sleep training

When I define sleep training, I define it as changing habits and that can include changing habits around night time feedings. I always say sleep training isn’t synonymous with night weaning BUT night weaning does usually include some sleep training.

Because instead of feeding overnight, you’re going to change your response. They’ve been “sleep trained” to be fed back to sleep and now you might be rocking back to sleep. That’s still sleep training! Despite what you might hear on the internet. ;)

does night weaning work

This is where the definition of night weaning is really important and what it means to you. Because I would absolutely say YES night weaning works when I work with clients on that specifically when a child has signs of being ready and is capable of doing so.

But not every child will be ready and in those cases, night weaning won’t be successful. It’s always okay to stop and revisit later, maybe even just a few weeks later.

which night feed to wean first

Generally, the first stretch of sleep consolidates first. So if you have a pesky 10pm feeding in place, I recommend weaning that one first. Sleep pressure is generally higher so it can be “easier” than trying to wean one at 5am for example, when they have less sleep hormones or drive to sleep. 

Either way, I recommend weaning the earlier feeding and weaning down to one feeding after 2am, then weaning that single feeding last.

night weaning without crying it out

This one can definitely be tough! If you define cry it out as ANY amount of crying whatsoever, even being held, then nope, you’re not going to night wean without crying it out (CIO).

If you mean CIO as as in extinction/not responding, then you can absolutely night wean without that method. Most parents aren’t comfortable not checking in at all as we know babies do wake for all sorts of reasons overnight, and not just for feeding. 

does night weaning improve sleep

It can! This is a common scenario I see:

-baby consolidates feedings on their own, early on

-baby has maybe 1-2 feedings around 6-8 months old

-around 8-9 months, more night time wakings start creeping in and baby starts waking more often

In this case, I do recommend typically dropping to at least one night time feeding, if not all because you’ve had such a good sleeper, they don’t realize that they don’t get fed for every waking (which makes sense when they wake 1-2x a night, and not when they wake 4-5x a night 😂).

when can you wean night feedings

Generally, pediatricians agree that you can begin night weaning between 4-6 months; that may mean just transitioning some of those night time calories to daytime (because night weaning is NOT cutting out feedings/ounces, it’s simply shifting them more into the day time – which is why we always say night weaning isn’t always possible for weight gain issues (true weight gain issues, not assumed) and not possible for those who simply can’t take in more feedings/more in a single feeding).

You may also NOT see an increase in daytime feedings/calories, especially if your child is on solids as it’s natural for overall milk intake to decrease as they get older. So it may simply be that they lose those night time feedings as they start eating more solid meals (not that solids doesn’t necessarily improve sleep- it may just be an even switch from night ounces to solid feeds).

You’d need to bring this up with your doctor (if you need peace of mind) about your baby’s growth (ie are they maintaining their OWN growth curve? Small babies are FINE, just because they’re in a lower percentile doesn’t mean they can’t night wean). 

My smallest baby and lowest percentile actually night weaned herself the earliest out of my 3 kids!

Night weaning shouldn’t result in a weight loss for your kiddo. If so, you’d need to bump up day time feedings or add in a feeding overnight. Weight gain DOES slow down, but that is normal and doesn’t mean you can’t night wean. I would say weight gain ebbs and flows for babies!

can night weaning affect milk supply

It absolutely can- every milk supply is different. Going a long period of time without stimulation (ie overnight) can negatively affect milk supply.

When your baby weans overnight feedings, you may need to add a pump before you go to bed or in the early morning to continue telling your breasts to make milk. There’s no “magic” amount of removals that EVERY person needs. It’s based on your storage capacity and how long you can go between feedings where the feedback inhibitor of lactation doesn’t get triggered.

For most people with normal supplies or older infants, this is not always going to be an issue. 

does night weaning happen naturally

There are practices that you can put into place to allow this to happen naturally (I’ll outline what I do below), but also, so much of this is also temperament (or even short lived if it’s around the 2-3 month mark when a baby begins to “sleep through the night” which also has a wide range of definitions) but sometimes, it takes some gentle nudging from parents in order to make it happen!

These are the things I implement early on with my babies that has allowed me to not have to “formally” night wean any feedings:

• I didn’t assume every waking was for hunger

• I paused before responding and didn’t respond to mild grunting/fussing, etc, only continuous crying

• I (or my husband) offered soothing first (half heartedly if it was around their normal time to eat, more persistent if it wasn’t) which allowed them to accept OTHER responses at night

• I held them to their personal best after 3-4 months of age (meaning if they consistently made it to 2-3am for a feeding, I didn’t offer a feeding any earlier than that if they woke up earlier)

• They put themselves to sleep at bedtime without feeding or other props so I knew they could go back to sleep at night without feeding or other props

Again, these are just the things *I* did that helped to encourage my babies to drop their night time feedings without my actually having to sleep train through them.

how to night wean when co-sleeping

My favorite resource is Jay Gordon’s night weaning plan. It isn’t something I utilize to the T or even that often with families I work with, but you can certainly give it a shot and see if it works for you!

when night weaning doesn't work

If night weaning isn’t working, it’s important to look at the WHOLE puzzle! It’s not as simple as just deciding to night wean in order to improve sleep. Important puzzle pieces include:

• Age appropriate schedules

• Routines that don’t include feeding associations before sleep

• Environment that is conducive for sleep (pitch black, pure white noise, etc)

After that, you want to consider the consistency in your overnight response and plan to commit to responding consistently for at least 1-2 weeks.

when to night wean formula fed baby

I find formula or combo feeding families have an “easier” time weaning overnight feedings because they’re more confident that their baby isn’t waking hungry overnight. They can physically see how much their child is eating throughout the day.

Confidence in that is a HUGE factor in night weaning. If you’re constantly second guessing if your child is hungry, you’re going to be inconsistent in your response overnight which will impact night weaning success.

When you’re ready to night wean, you’ll want to ensure they’re getting the minimum amount of ounces they’d need in 24 hours during the day. You can slowly remove ounces from overnight feedings and add them slowly throughout their day time feedings.

how to night wean breastfed baby

When you’re ready to night wean (breastfed or not), here are some ideas you can try (BUT first and foremost, it will be MUCH easier if they’re falling asleep without feeding at bedtime to start the night):

• You can replace feeding with rocking (sometimes easier if a non-breastfeeding partner does this) as it’s a less desirable association and MAY result in them not waking since it’s “less desirable” but that’s not guaranteed. From there, you can rock for less and less time to put them down more and more awake in the middle of the night

• You can wean the minutes you’re feeding starting with the first feeding of the night by a few minutes until you’re down to 2-3 minutes then discontinue offering the feeding

• You can replace feeding with a sleep training method

• Ensure you put down awake after a feeding at night

weaning night feeds with water

For older infants/toddlers, some parents may choose to offer water in a cup or bottle as opposed to nursing for every waking. This isn’t usually a strategy I recommend, unless you have a plan in place for weaning out the water as well. Also, this typically works better if a non-breastfeeding partner offers it instead!

night weaning for fertility

Nursing your baby can delay ovulation, which then delays your period and overall can affect your ability to get pregnant. Note that nursing IS NOT a reliable source of birth control and if you are using it that way, there’s a very specific protocol for doing so (and still isn’t recommended as a way to 100% prevent pregnancy). 

If you are trying to get pregnant and are still nursing, it can make your cycles more irregular or you may not have a cycle at all and weaning may be the answer for jump starting everything. 

Always check in with your doctor for specific medical advice!

If you’re ready to tackle night time weaning and you’re not sure where to start, check out my 1:1 packages here!