When Do Babies Drop Night Feeds?

"Is she sleeping through yet?" is the question every new parent gets asked, usually by someone whose own baby did it in 1994. The honest answer for most babies under a year is no, and the research says that's fine: a large Canadian study found that at six months, 38 percent of babies weren't sleeping six hours straight and 57 percent weren't managing eight, and at twelve months the numbers were still 28 and 43 percent. The babies who woke were no worse off developmentally, and their mothers' moods were no different. So the question is when your baby is ready, and how to drop a feed without paying for it in supply.

What's normal, by age

In the first three months, night waking is the baby working as designed. The NHS says newborns invariably wake repeatedly for the first few months because they need to be fed, and the AAP notes they may sleep only one or two hours at a time and don't have regular sleep cycles until about four months. A breastfed newborn feeds roughly every two to three hours around the clock.

From three to six months the picture opens up. The NHS says babies need fewer night feeds as they grow and some sleep five to eight hours at night, with the caveat "but not all". The Mayo Clinic puts it as many babies sleeping at least five hours at a stretch by three to four months. Cleveland Clinic says most babies start sleeping through by six months, where "through" means five or six hours without feeding, which is a smaller thing than the phrase suggests.

From six to twelve months the NHS says night feeds may no longer be necessary for some babies, and the AAP calls it normal for a six-month-old to wake, settle and go back to sleep. Cleveland Clinic adds that waking once or twice, or as often as six times, is common across the first year, and that patterns change (the so-called regressions). La Leche League GB says plainly that many babies continue to need night feeds, comfort and closeness well beyond the first year, and that progress is uneven.

Why breastfed babies keep night feeds longer

Breast milk digests faster, so breastfed babies feed every two to three hours where bottle-fed babies stretch to three or four. And the Canadian study found that babies who didn't sleep six or eight hours straight were more likely to be breastfed, which the authors were careful to say is an association and not a cause. The hormone side matters too: prolactin, which drives milk production, is highest at night, which is why the NHS says night feeds are important in the early weeks and why dropping them early can cost you supply later.

What a dream feed does

A dream feed is a late-evening feed, usually between about 10pm and midnight, given without fully waking the baby, in the hope of a longer stretch afterwards. The evidence is thinner than the internet suggests. The best-known study, from 1993, took 26 families and gave half a "focal feed" between 10pm and midnight along with other changes (lengthening the gaps between night feeds with non-feeding soothing, and sharper day and night cues). By eight weeks all of the treatment babies slept midnight to 5am compared with about a quarter of the others, with no difference in total milk taken. The catch is that the dream feed was bundled with everything else, in a tiny sample, so nobody can say how much of the effect was the feed itself. It's worth a try if it suits your evening; it isn't a guarantee.

Signs a baby is ready to drop a feed

There's no official checklist, so this is a synthesis of what the AAP, NHS, Cleveland Clinic and La Leche League say. The baby is gaining weight steadily and has plenty of wet nappies. They're at least four months old, and more comfortably six. At the night feed in question they take very little and seem to be nursing for comfort rather than hunger, or they settle back quickly when you try comfort first. And it's not a growth spurt week. If any of that is in doubt, the AAP's advice is to check with the pediatrician before changing anything about night feeds, especially if weight gain has been slow.

How to drop one without hurting supply

La Leche League GB's approach is gradual and responsive: offer other comfort first (cuddling, rocking, patting), shorten the feed over several nights, and if that feels like a fight, wait a few weeks and try again. Keep the same plan every night, and keep the lights low and the interaction boring. Cereal in a bottle doesn't help a baby sleep, whatever a relative tells you.

The supply part is the one that gets missed. If you drop a night feed that your body was used to, you'll likely be uncomfortable for a few nights and your supply can dip, and the NHS warns that a sudden build-up of milk is one of the routes to mastitis. LLL's advice is to express at that time for a while, even just enough to be comfortable, and taper that off too. Dropping one feed at a time, with a week or two between, keeps both the baby and your supply on side.

Where a feed log helps

Dropping a night feed is a decision about a pattern, and patterns are hard to see from memory on broken sleep. A log that shows the first night feed has shrunk to four minutes for a week while the later one is still twenty is the evidence you need, both for yourself and for the pediatrician. MilkMode keeps that record with a tap and, once the longer stretches arrive, its reminders can be switched off or kept quiet overnight so the app isn't the thing waking you. Whatever you use, let the numbers make the case before you change the routine.

Quick answers

When should a baby stop night feeds? There's no set age. Many babies start managing five-hour stretches between three and six months, and from six to twelve months night feeds may no longer be needed, but a Canadian study found 28 percent of one-year-olds still weren't sleeping six hours straight, with no effect on their development.

Do breastfed babies wake more at night? Often, yes. Breast milk digests faster, so breastfed babies feed every two to three hours, and research found babies who didn't sleep six or eight hours straight were more likely to be breastfed. It's an association, not a problem to fix.

Does a dream feed help babies sleep longer? Maybe. The main study is from 1993 with 26 families and combined the late feed with other sleep changes, so the feed's own effect is unknown. It's reasonable to try; it isn't proven.

Will dropping a night feed reduce my milk supply? It can, because prolactin is highest at night. Drop one feed at a time, gradually, and express around that time for a while before tapering off, so supply and comfort adjust together.

Keep reading

• When Can You Stop Waking Your Baby to Feed at Night?
• How Often Should a Newborn Breastfeed?
• How to Increase Milk Supply: What Works and What's a Myth

This article is general information, not medical advice. Sources: NHS, "Helping your baby to sleep", "Breastfeeding: the first few days" and "Mastitis"; HealthyChildren.org (AAP), "Getting your baby to sleep" and "Sleeping through the night"; Cleveland Clinic, "Sleep in your baby's first year"; Mayo Clinic, "Helping baby sleep through the night"; La Leche League GB, "Breastfeeding at night"; Pennestri et al., Pediatrics (2018), via McGill University; Pinilla and Birch, Pediatrics (1993). If you have concerns about your baby's feeding or weight, talk to your pediatrician, midwife, or a lactation consultant.