How Do I Drop Night Feeds?

Most healthy, full-term babies are physically capable of going all night without a feed somewhere between 6 and 9 months, once they’re gaining well and eating solids — but check with your pediatrician first. The gentlest way to drop night feeds is to reduce them gradually over one to two weeks rather than stopping cold.

Your pediatrician confirming readiness for your specific baby isn’t optional, and it’s the first thing I ask families about. Once you have the green light, here are the three approaches that work:

Gradual reduction, my usual recommendation. If you’re nursing, cut 1 to 2 minutes off each night feed every two nights. If you’re bottle feeding, reduce by half an ounce every two nights. When you’re down to about 2 minutes or 2 ounces, the feed has stopped being about calories and you can stop offering it. This takes 10 to 14 days and is the least disruptive for milk supply and for your baby.

Push the clock. Move the feed 15 to 30 minutes later each night until it merges with morning. This works well when there’s only one feed left.

Drop one, keep one. If your baby feeds twice a night, keep the one closest to morning and wean the earlier one first. Babies protest the 10pm feed far less than the 4am one.

Three things make this go smoothly. Add the calories back into the day — offer an extra nursing session or bottle during daylight hours so the total intake doesn’t drop. This is the step most people skip.

Separate feeding from falling asleep. If your baby still needs to nurse or take a bottle to fall asleep at bedtime, night weaning will be much harder. Address bedtime first, then night feeds.

And send someone else in for a few nights if you can. A baby who can smell milk will ask for milk.

Night weaning and sleep training are two different projects. You can do one without the other, and for a lot of families it’s easier to space them a week or two apart.