When Do You Stop Feeding Infants at Night

Our first daughter was still waking up to nurse at night (around the same time every night) when she was 4 months old. At that point our pediatrician said that there was no medical reason for her to need to eat at that time and to break that habit. So, we let her cry it out. The first night I fed her after two hours of crying. The next night she stopped crying after two hours. The next night it got better and then she was sleeping through the night. We just had our third child and, I think it was at his one month well check (maybe the two week), we were told that since he had well surpassed his birth weight and was showing good signs of weight gain, that we didn't need to wake him up to feed him, just let him go as long as he would. He was sleeping 7-8 hours a night by 7 weeks old.

My son is almost 4 months old. He is and always was formula fed. I don't know what your circumstances are with your son (with the NICU stay), so I don't know if my "advice" would apply. However, at 2 months old, I discussed this with my peditrician. I was told that when he wakes up at night to give him up to 20 minutes of fussing/crying without going in to him and feeding him. They said to just see if he would go back to sleep on his own, and if he did, then he was just waking up out of habit (and that this was typical). So, I tried it. It was hard for the first few days, but sure enough by the 20th minute (if not sooner) he would be back to sleep. From 2 months to 3.5 months old, he would get a last bottle at 10pm and sleep until 6:00am. At about 3.5 months old he decided that he didn't want a bottle that late (he would take two sips and fall asleep), so I started making his last bottle at 7pm, bathe him, and he sleeps until 6:30am. So, in my case, he gave up night feedings at 2 months old. I hope this helps.

I think at least the first 6-9 months, if they are waking up to eat, they are hungry. He could be falling asleep with it in his mouth just bc he is that tired. But if hunger is waking him up, keep feeding him. At least for now. Maybe it would be a good idea to take the bottle out of his mouth after he falls asleep for the cavity thing. Good Luck.

The rule of thumb is that everything they do before the age of 6 months is based on need. If your little guy wakes for a bottle now, its because his little body needs it. After 6 months they are developed enouth to handle sleeping for 5 hours or more at a stretch and you can start cutting out feedings.

Bottle mouth is something to worry about if a. they have teeth and b. they're a year old or more.

Good luck.

My first child stopped eating through the night at eight weeks and my second and third (twins) stopped at 13 weeks. I would have to agree that by six months a baby should be able to make it all night. I personally could not have imagined still doing night time feedings into 8 or 9 months. But to each mommy her own! :-)

I nursed my son for an entire year and it was clear that he associated me at night with nursing before going back to sleep. I say just bear the responsibility of feeding your baby while he is still so young but once he is an older infant have your husband start going into his room at night to settle your baby back into sleep. My husband would lay down on the floor next to my son's crib to demonstrate that it was still time to sleep (also sing a lullaby for awhile). It quickly became less and less crying. Soon my husband would just walk into the room and my son would flop back down into his crib because he knew daddy wasn't going to cater to him. Babies sure do have particular expectations when it comes to the difference of care a mother and father give.

My son is 14.5 months old and still doesn't sleep through the night without eating once and I always make sure he has water so he can quench his thirst (he gets very thirsty at night). It's not something I push for since they are so little and 8-12 hours with no food is a long time for a baby. I would definitely say your four month old is way too young to sleep through the night with no snack. I honestly have no idea what age is considered normal for them to not need to eat at night. With your little one when you give him a bottle and he falls back to sleep, can you pull the bottle back out so it doesn't pool in his mouth and cause dental issues? I know some babies will wake up and demand a bottle again! Does he take a pacifier? Maybe you could make a trade?

Hi there! My doctor says you can stop night feedings around four months if they have been gaining weight properly. We just started ignoring our 4 1/2 month old at night (by ignoring, I mean that we let her cry for 10 minutes and see if she goes back to sleep -- it generally works) and she has switched her eating to the daytime. I am getting quite a lot more sleep on the average night, now, and it is heavenly.

Good luck!!!

My daughter stopped nursing at night around 3 months, but my son stopped at 6 weeks. I think they were both around 9 to 10 pounds when they stopped. I have alway heard once they reach 10-12 pounds is usually when they stop wanting to eat during the night. If you son is not eating very much then it is just become his way of soothing himself back to sleep. He needs to be able to do this without the bottle. It will be hard the first couple of days, but try and let him cry it out. My ped. told us that if we wanted to continue to feed our daughter in the middle of night be prepared to do if for a year. I soon realized I did not want that so I had to stop her feeding (she was only using me as a pacifier). The first night was horrible she cried for 20 minutes then would sleep for about an hour then it would start again. The next night was much better and by the 4 or 5 night she was fine. It will be very difficult on you, but hand in there you can do it :).

I had replied to the post you are talking about. Actually both of my kiddos (3 1/2 yrs and 17 months) both still wake up for something to drink at night, I just offer them water, they take a drink and go back to sleep. IMO 4 months is young to consider taking away the night time feedings unless he does it himself. If you think he is just doing it for comfort, and doesnt drink much anyway, just give him a few ounces of water, not too much a day though, my oldest sons pedi said that you can only give them so much water a day or they could get lead poisoning, im not sure if that is still true or not, as alot of things change all the time. If you are concerned about it ask both the pedi and a pedi dentist. I hope this helps you.

Every baby is different. It is very common for babies to wake up multiple times a night at least for the first 6 months. That being said, my youngest (breastfed for almost 10 months)did not sleep through the night until he was 11 months old. After about the first 4-5 months I thought he was still waking up out of habit. My twins had begun sleeping through the night & giving up night feedings at about 5 months or so. My youngest was just plain hungry. The more quickly I stopped fighting it, the happier everyone became. I hope for your sleep's sake that your sweet baby is able to give up some of those feedings soon!