How Do I Stop My Baby From Feeding Overnight?
- Adela
- Feb 25
- 4 min read
When baby turns six months old, there are fewer nutritional benefits from night feeds but more associations with comfort or habit feeding. This is why at six months of age, it is a great time to start thinking about how you will drop the remaining night feeds. Understanding the science behind how babies regulate their caloric intake will help you see the reasons why you might want to make the transition yourself and give you confidence that your baby is ready for this change.
1. Is it normal for babies to eat different amounts each feeding?
Babies are naturally able to regulate how many calories they need. Studies show that they can even recalibrate how much they consume based on how much they have already eaten and their energy requirements. When baby takes less milk or solids at one point in the day, baby can compensate by eating more at another time of the day. Crucial to a baby's growth and development, this innate ability helps a baby stay on their growth track.
2. The biology behind shifting calorie intake
The theory of shifting calorie intake is supported by baby's adaptive metabolic rate. During baby's first year, their metabolism is quite responsive. Baby will meet their varying energy demands by their varying feed patterns throughout the day (ie a mix of long, medium and short feeds). When we reduce the amount of milk/calories offered during the night, baby's body will innately adjust to consume and utilize more nutrients in the day. So to ensure baby is receiving overall adequate nutrition, offering daytime feeds consistently is crucial.
Every baby's energy demands will shift as they grown. Energy requirement per pound of body weight may decrease, but the overall volume of calories a baby needs will jump in increments as they get bigger and increase in physical movement. When baby turns six months of age, babies are often ready to start solid foods because of their sudden increased caloric requirements.
How do I get my baby to stop night feeding?
A) Push Calories from the Nighttime to Daytime
More often than not, sleep consultants will recommend night feeds are eliminated during sleep training. By doing this, we are ensuring that baby does not get confused (ie sometimes feeding to sleep and sometimes not) and learns to self-soothe instead of feeding overnight. This sends panic among parents, but baby's body will learn to make-up for the overnight caloric deficit by recalibrating and taking more during the daytime. Baby will push their night feeds into the day by drinking more volume per bottle, nursing longer per session or eating more solid food per meal. In essence, we aren't dropping the night feed, but we are reorganizing when baby takes the calories.
B) Allow More Opportunities for Daytime Feeds
To encourage the reduction of night feeds, try offer more feeding frequency during the day. This works for both bottle and breastfed babies, as well as offering nutrient-dense meals in the form of solids. Both softened foods (baby-led weaning) and purées work well in delivering nutrient-dense foods and can be offered even in combination.
C) Monitor and Adjust How to Feed Your Baby
Once you begin this transition, it's important to monitor your baby's response. Be flexible with your feeding schedule and experiment with when baby is more receptive to taking more calories. Learn to read baby's signs of hunger versus fullness. At the same time, keep in mind that baby's body needs time to make adjustments to the new changes.
D) Keep a Consistent Routine with Daytime Feeds
Once you've found a good rhythm of when baby feeds the best during the day, keep your feeding routine consistent. By doing so, your baby's body will adapt to expect food/calories during the day instead of leaving the task for nighttime. Ultimately, this will leave both baby and parents with far better sleep quality.
E) Ensure Nutrition Quality
As you transition baby's feeding to take place during the day, it is critical that baby receives a balanced diet. Not only should baby be introduced to a wide spectrum of foods, iron-rich foods are the utmost importance at the early stage of baby's development.
Conclusion
The reasons to move nighttime feeds into the day are not to simply just help parents sleep better. Having baby feed more during the day is developmentally their natural progression. The science behind calorie regulation and calorie shifting can help ease the transition so that baby will adequately receive the energy and nutrition they need for healthy development.
If you find yourself still struggling with night feeds despite trying to feed baby more during the day, remember, I offer a FREE 15-minute sleep assessment to discuss your struggles and help you determine if you need just a tweak or if my professional baby sleep coaching is in better alignment with your needs. Reserve your call today to hear how I work 1-1 with families to get better sleep. Subscribe to my newsletter and receive free sleep solutions bundle for more help.
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