How to wean a child off night feedings

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

Yes, that could be one possibility. My 10-month-old used to eat around three at night. He had dinner before bed at 8:00 PM. The pediatrician 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.

My baby weaned herself at 6 months—she just stopped waking up, that's all. At most, she'd lose her pacifier and wake up. Try just giving a pacifier and not feeding; they'll wean themselves. Now mine is 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 will pass on its own, don't worry about it.

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

I gave kefir at night, I don't remember when he stopped eating at night, he just stopped waking up.... I gave porridge before bed....

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 a break from cereals and soups.

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 nighttime break from feedings for a baby over 3 months old is normal. Longer breaks aren't manageable for every child.

When my child had a high fever, I fed by dripping milk from a syringe without a needle onto the inside of the cheek. They didn't have the strength to eat on their own. This happened at night, after the pediatrician'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 feed him on a schedule!

Yeah, mine also eats around the clock, and from 2 to 4 months he slept through the night, but then he started asking for food at night. But he's not very big yet (8 months), I also wonder until what age he'll be eating at night?!

Well, then you're a bit late to realize—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 PM, but he wakes up at 2-3 AM asking to eat, then again at 6 AM. During the day, he can go up to 5 hours without eating. I'm also wondering what to do about his nighttime appetite?

Well, at 5 months that's 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 baby began eating once per night instead of twice, and from 9 months, I began simply putting him in bed with me and giving a pacifier instead of breastfeeding. At first, he didn't like it. He tossed and turned. He grunted. But after a while, he fell asleep. After a week, he started asking to eat at 6 AM instead of 4 AM, and after another couple of weeks, he began eating at 8:30. Now, at 11 months, he lasts from 10 PM to 8-8:30 AM. 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—there's not much of an age difference.... We've been on normal human food for over seven months now! I haven't even remembered what nighttime feedings are like for ages, and what kind of feeding happens at 1:30 AM????
Author, why don't you give your child water to drink at night instead... Feed them a good soup with a meatball at 10 PM, or maybe some mashed potatoes with vegetables... Do they have teeth? If they do, let them chew on crackers, bagels, and the like...
For example, we eat absolutely everything... Though we don’t consume dairy (he 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 moms 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" — "and then a hernia, hemorrhoids...").

Same thing, at 2 and 4 years old, they have formula 2-3 times at night, but during the day they eat normally 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 smart 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 babies aren't even a year old? We go to Niarmedic 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 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.

My baby at 4 months stopped night feedings 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 is a total nightmare! Does that mean you're standing at the stove heating up soup or meatballs for the child????

It seems to me that if it's required, then you have to give. And there, maybe the baby isn't eating but just snuggling 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-asleep state and searches for it). He absolutely refuses a pacifier! 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 concrete advice either!

I've heard this advice, especially for breastfed babies, they simply need their mother's attention, her scent alone soothes the baby. My friend placed her robe in the crib, after which the child slept through the night.

I've tried putting my own clothes in there, and 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 really want to sleep through the night!

What happened... You have to get up twice a night. Girls, what are you even talking about? Your child isn't sick, he's healthy and only wakes up to eat. And it's our sacred duty to make sure they're full. So be glad he has an appetite. Don't look for ways to fix it. Let him eat to his health. You'll think about yourself 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 exhausting. We have a big dinner right before bed... I have no idea how to wean them off breastfeeding.....

Actually, to preserve their health, they shouldn't be eating at night. Yours, it turns out, is digesting food around the clock—imagine the strain on their digestive system!!! Our sacred duty is to raise a healthy child, not to feed them 5 times a night!

I have a second child; my older one ate at night until she was about 2 years old, and the little one is also eating like there's no tomorrow (a liter of kefir per night). I've tried everything—water, porridge before bed, compotes—but if I don't give her kefir, she throws a terrible tantrum! I'm so exhausted; neither my husband nor I have slept through the night for 1.5 years. It's awful! The doctors don't really say anything helpful! We don't even know how to take a proper shower. I haven't cooked a decent meal in 1.5 years; everything is just processed food. It's just a nightmare!

My baby is one year old. I weaned him off daytime breastfeeding by going for walks—we come back from the walk, have soup + porridge, and the baby 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 feedings. He eats well before bed and goes to sleep early at 8:30 PM (he’s been sleeping at this time since birth). He doesn’t take a pacifier, bottle, or nipple shields, and the reason for weaning is severe nipple cracks that won’t heal because of nighttime feedings. What should I do?

I also felt sorry for my daughter and waited for her to stop eating at night on her own, but it only got worse. If at 2 years old she drank 2 bottles of formula at night, by 5 years old it was 1 liter of kefir!!! Even though she ate perfectly fine during the day and in the evening. I had to forcibly take the bottle away and throw it out. She cried for a week, but then she calmed 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 eating every two hours, and by three months, every three hours. She stopped waking up at night on her own; her last feeding was at midnight, and she’d wake up at 7 a.m. Otherwise, you might as well throw in the towel—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.

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

My baby is one year old. For dinner, he already eats like an adult :) For example, a steamed patty 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. Would I really leave my child hungry?

No, no! It's not a sacred duty to keep them from being full! Mom, there are many more responsibilities, and quite practical 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. On-demand feeding shouldn't go beyond certain limits. I'm also looking for answers here based on experience, but some (like "let them eat, nature is guiding them") 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 11-12 PM doesn't help))))))

Experts assert that this issue should be addressed strictly on an individual basis, and it is not advisable to forcefully wean a baby from "nighttime feedings" at any age. Some infants are capable of sleeping through the entire night as early as 6 months. Meanwhile, other children continue to drink milk at night until they are 2–3 years old, which is considered normal. In some 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 baby (1.4 years old) has gastrointestinal issues. At 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 baby was waking up from discomfort, and I would give him the breast... and it would start all over 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????

My baby 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 sleep myself, but he wakes up again at 2–3 a.m., then at 6 a.m. We have a schedule with about 3-hour intervals between meals, and breakfast is at 11 a.m.... If I replace the nighttime 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 the crib, so I can’t do what’s recommended ("let him cry it out alone for a few minutes"). Tell me, is all this normal, and am I worrying for nothing? Should I just let him keep eating at night? If not, please share your experience—what would you do and how?

I'm going to get pelted with stones for saying this, but the only thing that worked 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 without any issues. The baby would wake up a couple of times a night, eat, and fall back asleep in their own crib. But then they figured out it's much nicer to sleep with mom, nursing every half hour. My nerves couldn't take it anymore, so I introduced a schedule: sleep-feeding-play. On the very first day, the baby slept for 8 hours straight at night. True, they cried for about 40 minutes before falling asleep, and I went in every 10 minutes to hug and comfort them. By the third day, they fell asleep on their own in 5 minutes. Now, before bed, they just fuss for about 2 minutes, not even crying. They sleep from around 10 PM to 6 AM, eat, and then sleep again until 9.