How to wean a child off night feeds

Perhaps he doesn't eat enough during the day, and at night he can't sleep because he's constantly hungry?

Yes, that's one possibility. My 10-month-old used to eat at around three in the morning. He had dinner before bed at 8:00 PM. The paediatrician said it was because he ate dinner too early. I started feeding him a hearty porridge at 9:00 PM, and now he sleeps through the night. Good luck.

Mine weaned herself at 6 months; she simply stopped waking up, that's all—at most, she'd lose her dummy and wake up. Try just giving a dummy and not feeding; they'll wean themselves. Mine is now 11 months old; I put her to sleep at 10:30 PM (she eats right before bed) and she sleeps until 9–10 AM, so she eats as soon as she wakes up.

It'll pass on its own, don't worry about it.

I was making a delicious dried fruit compote and gave it to her instead of feeding her. And a week later, she stopped waking up on her own.

I used to give kefir at night, but I don't remember when he stopped eating at night—he just stopped waking up.... Before bed, I would give him porridge....

You can feed formula from a bottle at night instead of breast milk. Usually, babies feel fuller with formula. You can even choose a formula with probiotics to aid digestion.

Is 1.3 months or years?

Mother's milk is digested quickly and doesn't burden the stomach – it's the porridges and soups that need a break.

Feeding in the early morning hours (3-5 a.m.?) provides hormonal support for lactation; without this feeding, lactation will soon cease.

A 6-hour night break from feeds for a baby over 3 months old is normal. Longer breaks aren't manageable for every child.

When the baby had a high fever, I fed by dripping milk from a syringe without a needle onto the inside of the cheek. The baby didn't have the strength to feed independently. This happened at night, after the paediatrician's visit.

You're not too old to quit; give it a year.

Of course, it's 1 year and 3 months !!!!

Unlikely that he's not eating enough! He has a good appetite! We follow a feeding schedule!

Yeah, mine also eats around the clock, and from two to four months he slept through the night, but then he started asking for food at night. But he's still not very big (8 months), I also wonder until what age he'll be eating at night?!

Well, then you've realised a bit late—usually, children wean off night feedings by two or three months.

Cool, and how many such children do you know?))))

My baby is 5 months old, I give him porridge at night around 10-10:30, but he wakes up at 2-3 asking to eat, then again at 6. During the day, he can go 5 hours without eating. I'm also wondering what to do about his nighttime appetite?

Well, at 5 months, that's completely normal!!!

They gave the child alcohol at night - that's why he slept well :)

In our family, it's mostly the same... then some water, and at night, two boobs :)

I started giving porridge at night from 7-8 months. It takes longer to digest. The child began eating once a night instead of twice, and from 9 months, I began simply putting him in my bed and giving a dummy instead of the breast. At first, he didn't like it. He fidgeted. He grunted. But after a while, he fell asleep. After a week, he started asking to eat at 6 a.m. instead of 4 a.m., and after another couple of weeks, he began eating at 8:30. Now, at 11 months, he lasts from 10 p.m. to 8-8:30 a.m. He sleeps in his own bed.

Do you give your child meat?
My son also used to ask for formula at night, but then I started giving him meat (at 11 months), and now he’s full and sleeps through the night.

But mine only wants formula at night. I tried giving her compote, kefir, jelly, and water – she won’t have any of it, spits it out and screams. During the day she happily drinks all of that, but at night she doesn’t want it, only formula. She’ll scream until you give it to her.

I read your post and was horrified)))
My little one is one year and five months old—not a big difference at all... We've been on normal human food for over seven months! I haven't even remembered what night feedings are like for ages, and what kind of feeding is that at 1:30 in the morning????
Author, why don't you give your child water to drink at night... Feed them a nice soup with a meatball at 10 p.m., or maybe some mashed potatoes with vegetables... Do they have teeth? If they do, let them chew on rusks, bagels, and the like...
For example, we eat absolutely everything... though we don’t consume dairy (absolutely hates it). No issues with development, digestion, or bowel movements...

Hmm... my 2 and 4-year-old... so he also eats at night... and not just once... before bed, he eats a bowl of soup and a cutlet, washes it all down with milk, and then three hours into his sleep, he asks for food again... and there's no way to break the habit. Neither doctors nor other mums have given a single useful piece of advice on how to deal with this (well, except for "let him cry for a week and he'll forget" & "then it's hernias, haemorrhoids...").

The same thing, at 2 and 4 years old, they have formula 2-3 times at night, eat normally during the day and have a late dinner. Could it be their metabolism? But the problem needs to be solved, I just don't know how! Please suggest a clever solution!!!!

I also dream of weaning off night feedings. We're almost a year old already.

Girls, what kind of talk about stopping breastfeeding can there be when the little ones aren't even a year old? We go to Niarmedica for check-ups, and the pediatrician there actually advocates for breastfeeding as long as possible and paying attention to your baby. After all, it's a form of bonding. And I'm very grateful that the doctor helped me establish lactation and gave useful advice. I breastfeed at night, my child is already 1 year and 2 months old, and I'm enjoying it. Even if I wake up at night, the child will grow up and this won't happen again. Don't rush to wean them off the breast.

My baby at 4 months stopped night feeds on his own, just drinks water and falls asleep. I read everyone's stories here and was horrified! Eating at night at 2.5 years old, that's an absolute nightmare! Does that mean you're standing at the stove heating up soup or cutlets for the child????

It seems to me that if it's required, then one must give. And there, perhaps a child isn't eating and just snuggles up to the breast.

We're already 1 year and 5 months old. During the day, we manage fine without breastfeeding! But at night, he demands the breast 3-4 times, even if just for 5 minutes (he opens his mouth in a half-sleep and searches for it) – he absolutely refuses a dummy! I feed him well before bedtime. I've tried water, milk, compote, and so on – my son just wakes up and cries! I really don't know what to do, and the doctors don't offer any proper advice either!

I've heard this advice, especially for breastfed babies, they simply crave their mother's attention, and her scent alone can soothe the baby. My friend placed her dressing gown in the cot, after which the child slept through the night.

I've tried putting my own clothes in, it doesn't help at all. My daughter is almost 8 months old and wakes up twice. If I give her water, she drinks it happily but won't fall asleep until I breastfeed her. I also want to sleep through the night already!

So what's the issue... you have to get up twice a night. Girls, what are you even talking about? Your child isn't sick, they're healthy and only wake up to eat. And it's our sacred duty to make sure they're full. So be glad they have an appetite. Don't look for ways to fix it. Let them eat to their heart's content. You can think about yourselves later. You'll catch up on sleep when you're retired. Mine is 1 year old—we eat 4 times a night. That's about 500 grams in total. Height 82, weight 11. Doesn't drink water.

Each of us has our own unique situation! I have twins, and both my sons wake up twice a night! I feed one at night, he falls asleep, then the other, he falls asleep too, then I try to sleep for a couple of hours, and it all starts over... It's very tough. We have a big dinner right before bed... I have no idea how to wean them off breastfeeding.....

That's exactly why, to preserve their health, they shouldn't eat at night. Yours, it turns out, is digesting food around the clock—imagine the strain on the gastrointestinal tract!!! Our sacred duty is to raise a healthy child, not to feed them 5 times a night!

I have a second child; the eldest used to eat at night until about two years old, and the little one also eats like there's no tomorrow (a litre of kefir overnight). I've tried everything—water, porridge before bed, compotes—but if I don't give kefir, there's a terrible tantrum! I'm so exhausted; neither my husband nor I have slept properly at night for 1.5 years. It's a nightmare! The doctors don't really say anything helpful! We don't even know how to have a proper wash. I haven't cooked a decent meal in 1.5 years; it's all been ready-made food. It's just awful!

My baby is one year old. I've weaned him off daytime breastfeeding thanks to walks; we come back from a walk, have soup + porridge, and the child falls asleep without needing the breast. He naps once during the day for 2–3 hours. But I don't know how to wean him off nighttime feeds. He eats well before bed and goes to sleep early at 8:30 p.m. (He's been sleeping at this time since birth). He doesn't take a dummy, bottle, or nipple shields, and the reason for weaning is severe nipple cracks that won't heal due to nighttime feeds. What should I do?

I also felt sorry for my daughter, waiting for her to naturally stop eating at night, but it only got worse. If at 2 years old she drank 2 bottles of formula overnight, by 5 years old it was 1 litre of kefir!!! Even though she ate perfectly well during the day and evening. I had to forcibly take the bottle away and throw it out; she cried for a week, then settled down.

Reading this, I understand the consequences of the modern belief in feeding on demand. I fed my daughter that way initially in the maternity hospital—she ate every 20 minutes, even at night. But after discharge, she started feeding every two hours, and by three months, every three hours. She stopped waking up at night on her own; her last feed was at midnight, and she’d wake up at 7 a.m. Otherwise, you could end up completely exhausted—no sleep day or night, nerves frayed. The stomach needs rest; after all, you don’t eat at night yourself, and a child isn’t born from aliens.

Mum, please stop reading all those magazines and listening to all those advisors! Listen to your own child!

My little one is a year old. For dinner, he already eats like an adult :) For example, a steamed cutlet and mashed potatoes. I make all of this myself, starting from buying the veal and potatoes, but it's already a full dinner that my husband and I eat too. So, half an hour after a plate of such dinner, the one-year-old only falls asleep after emptying a bottle of formula. Well, am I really going to leave my child hungry?

No, no! It's not a sacred duty to keep them from being full! Mum, there are many more responsibilities, and quite down-to-earth ones. Helping to understand that the little one is full when they think they need to eat more. Making a decision and acting according to common sense, not the instincts of a beloved child, who might be mistaken for some reason. Feeding on demand shouldn't go beyond certain limits. I'm also looking for answers here based on experience, but some (like, let them eat, nature tells them so) is just shirking responsibility.

It won't pass. We're two years old. We eat two full 250ml bottles every night. :) The last time we eat porridge and even meat at 23-24:00 doesn't help.))))))

Experts assert that this issue should be addressed on a strictly individual basis, and it is not advisable to forcibly wean a baby off "nighttime feeding" at any age. Some infants are capable of sleeping through the night as early as six months. Meanwhile, other children may continue to drink milk at night until the age of 2–3, which is considered normal. In certain cases, this habit may persist even longer, and it is not necessarily a symptom of pathology. A healthy child will gradually give up nighttime feedings on their own.

My little one (1.4 years old) has issues with his gastrointestinal tract. At the Morozov Hospital, the gastroenterologist said to wean him off night feedings because there shouldn't be any strain on the digestive organs at night. It turned out that the child was waking up from discomfort, and I would give him the breast... and it all started again, up to five times a night. BUT... he only falls asleep with the breast. He screams like crazy if I don't give it to him. HOW DO I WEAN HIM OFF????

He is 7 months old and already eats everything... We bathe, eat, and go to bed at 9 p.m., and I feed him ready-made porridge (Frutonyanya) at that time! During the day, he eats human food, but specially prepared for him! Then I feed him at midnight, before I go to bed myself, but he wakes up again at 2–3 a.m., then at 6 a.m. The schedule is about every few hours between meals, and we have breakfast at 11 a.m.... If I replace the night feeding with water, as everyone advises, he doesn't cry but lies in my arms, and I have to carry him for at least an hour! He won't lie alone in bed so that I can do as advised ("leave him to cry alone for a few minutes"). Tell me, is all this normal, and am I worrying for nothing? Should I let him continue eating at night? If not, please share your experience—what would you do and how?

I'm going to get pelted with stones for this, but the only way I managed to teach my baby to sleep through the night was the infamous 'cry it out' method. We're breastfeeding, and the baby is 5 months old. Until about 3 months, we fed on demand quite peacefully; the baby would wake up a couple of times a night, eat, and fall back asleep in her own cot. But then she realised it's much nicer to sleep with mum, latching on every half hour. My nerves couldn't take it anymore, so I introduced a routine: sleep-feeding-play. On the very first day, the baby slept for 8 hours straight at night. True, she cried for about 40 minutes before falling asleep. And I went in every 10 minutes to hug and comfort her. By the third day, she fell asleep on her own in 5 minutes. Now, before sleep, she just grumbles for about 2 minutes, doesn't even cry. She sleeps roughly from 10 PM to 6 AM, eats, and then sleeps again until 9.