When can you wean your baby from night feeds? This question varies from person to person. There are not many angel babies who can sleep for 8 or 9 hours at full term, but most babies need more than 2 night feeds within 6 months. Different sleep genres differ in the amount of time they need to sleep through the night. Conservatively, after 6 months of age, babies can have sleep training and after 9 months of age, babies no longer need to eat at night. Why we need to wean from night milk 1. Night milk affects baby’s sleep Babies wake up at night to seek food and continue to sleep after eating milk, which in itself does not destroy the integrity of sleep and does not affect baby’s growth and development. However, the situation of waking up to eat, eating once an hour, sleeping with the nipple, and waking up numerous times during the night needs to be corrected. 2. Nighttime milk affects the mother’s sleep There are differences in the sleep ability of adults, some mothers feel no pressure to have 3 or 4 nighttime milk and sleep in seconds after eating; while some mothers may be exhausted or even fall ill because of nighttime waking, at this time the mother can reduce nighttime milk or break nighttime milk as appropriate. Mom’s state is also an important part of the parent-child relationship. 3.Night milk increases the risk of tooth decay Breast milk itself does not cause tooth decay, but breast milk mixed with complementary food residue is more likely to cause tooth decay than sugar water. The premise that breast milk does not cause tooth decay is oral hygiene guarantee. The formula milk night milk will cause tooth decay, whether or not supplementation is added (according to @AlianxinMama). Generally speaking, not many domestic mothers can clean their mouth thoroughly, so night milk may increase the risk of tooth decay. Weaning from night milk and weaning from breast milk are two different things Breast milk is the best food for children, and we encourage breastfeeding as much as possible when conditions allow. For breastfeeding mothers, weaning from night milk is just quitting breast milk during nighttime sleep, not the need to completely wean from breast milk. Weaning night milk does not need to be achieved by weaning from breast milk. In addition, it is normal for children who go to sleep between 19 and 20 o’clock to wake up at 4-6 o’clock in the morning to drink milk (usually we call it morning milk). Drinking a little milk at this time can make babies sleep longer and adults can rest better, it is not necessary to wean them off. The premise of weaning from nighttime milk is to avoid irregular parenting. During the day, follow the Easy mode of eating-playing-sleeping, with a feeding interval of 4 hours after 4 months of age, and no snacks in between. Take in enough calories during the day and increase food before bedtime to avoid waking up at night because of hunger. The baby does not wake up during the night, not really “not waking up”, but “at the end of a sleep cycle, he or she can move smoothly from semi-awake to the next sleep cycle without help”, that is, as we often say, the baby can “pick up” on his or her own. “pick up the sleep” (according to @small earth big orange). The development of baby’s sleep ability should be carried out in many ways, on the one hand regular naps during the day to avoid overexertion, sleep well during the day usually sleep well at night. The first thing you need to do is not to rely too much on milk to fall asleep at night, and not to give milk as soon as you wake up, but to soothe your baby in other ways to see if you can fall asleep again. Make sure that you are really not hungry Even after a period of time after weaning from night milk, you may wake up occasionally and want to eat milk, such as too much exercise during the day, too little food before bedtime, too much growth and development, etc. Mothers can handle this at their discretion, it is not necessarily impossible to eat. Several ways to wean off night milk and reduce night milk Don’t nurse until you fall asleep For breastfed babies, if you don’t nurse to sleep and reduce the interaction with the baby before bedtime, you can solve the problem of frequent night waking very well, and babies who can fall asleep on their own have a better and more stable sleep. Separating the two things of breastfeeding and sleeping as much as possible and avoiding the mere association of breastfeeding-sleeping can effectively reduce your baby’s need for breastfeeding during the nighttime pick-up. Early wake up method to break habitual night wakings Gently wake up and go back to sleep (not full awake) one hour earlier than the point where your baby is usually going to wake up, which can break habitual night wakings. Nian Gao is a child with a high demand for night milk, and Gao’s mom decided to reduce night milk after he turned 9 months old. I woke him up gently at 10:15 for 3 days in a row, and he opened his eyes, rolled over, moved a few times and went back to sleep. This successfully delayed the first night waking until after 12:00. For children who wake up at regular intervals, you can also take this method in the second half of the night (but I was too sleepy to get up at that time). The long interval method Gradually delaying the first milk is the most common method and one of the methods used by Gao’s mother. The first step is to resolutely not give milk before 12:00. Children will cry (my family is still very stubborn, sweat), but give up after a few times. After a few days of being able to wake up steadily after 12:00, the feeding time was delayed until 2:00. The midnight hour is a very tiring time with the child, he may have an hour of sleep, grunting, from time to time howling two voices. If not for the fact that the long pain is better than the short pain, it is really better to feed some milk, we all sleep well to enjoy. Each point is not good, but get over it, is the spring. Slowly, you will be able to delay until after 4:00. Gradually reduce the amount of feedings to get your baby used to “no more snacks”. Breastfeeding mothers should watch the clock and shorten the length of feedings, for example, start with 10 minutes, reduce it to 8 minutes, and then after a few days reduce it to 6 minutes, 4 minutes, 2 minutes, and finally no milk and other soothing ways to fall asleep. Bottle-fed ones gradually reduce the amount of milk, or mix water with the milk to gradually reduce the milk content. In addition, the transition with warm water is also a way, babies sometimes feel thirsty after crying for a while, some water is both comforting and will make the baby more comfortable. This method was also used by Gao’s mother when she was stretching the interval, and the child continued to cry as soon as he saw the cup, but after a while he was willing to drink (the idea was that there was nothing else, so it was good to quench his thirst first). Changing caregivers This is an old method of weaning from night feedings. The mother stays with the baby as usual during the day, but the father or grandmother is the caretaker for the night sleep. The baby will definitely cry when she wakes up and finds out that the wrong person is there, but it’s okay to cry a few times once the idea is broken. No matter which of the above methods you use, you have to make sure that your baby really doesn’t need nighttime milk anymore. The specific method will depend on the characteristics of your baby. Usually you can see significant results in about a week, not necessarily a complete weaning, but the frequency should be reduced. If you persist for 1 week and still no progress, your baby may really not be ready yet and you have to wait a little longer. There is no 100% gentle way to wean from nighttime milk, and it is normal for babies to resist and cry when changing their habits. Therefore, you should communicate with your family (especially the elderly who live with you) before taking action, because “not being able to hear a single cry” will not work. Gently and firmly implement, give comfort to the baby, rather than let him or her cry alone, will not cause psychological damage to the baby.