19/11/2025
Today we are talking NIGHTWEANING! Very important to read the caption below where I describe each step! If you want to read the full blog post on this topic, head to the link below!
https://www.weebeedreaming.com/my-blog/step-by-step-guide-to-nightweaning
šļøSchedule: we are aiming to avoid both an overtired and undertired baby to help with nighttime sleep. An excessive amount of daytime sleep or too short of waketimes/total waketime can contribute to nightwakings. Missing naps, too-long of waketimes/total waketime, and more than anything, too-long of a waketime before bedtime can contribute to nightwakings. Check out my post to see what we aim for at each age!
š¼Routine: removing any associations that baby cannot rely on *themselves* to fall back asleep is key. A pacifier that cannot be replaced independently, relying on nursing/a bottle to fall asleep, rocking, etc. We need baby to be connecting sleep cycles on their own, and relying on something external to fall asleep that is no longer present in the middle of the night to fall asleep will almost always lead to a reliance on that association to be 'repeated' for them through the night as well.
š¶š¼Age: expecting too-young of a baby to sleep through without a feed can lead to a lot of tears and frustration, so keep in mind that it's normal for a 0=3 month old baby to eat up to 3 times/night, a 4/5 month old baby to eat twice, and a 6-9 month old baby to eat once. While many babies can sleep through earlier than 10 months, if your baby is following this pattern and does seem hungry at night, they probably are!
š¼Daytime consumption: aiming for full, distracted-free feeds through the day is important, as a baby will only be able to sleep through once they can acquire their full caloric intake between morning and bedtime. For babies eating solids, 1 meal at 6 months, 2 meals at 7 months, 3 meals at 8 months, and at 9 months ensuring all food groups are offered at each meal (fruit/veg, protein, grain, fats in addition to milk feeds) is a good goal as well!
š¤Response at night: delaying the gratification at night can sometimes be enough to encourage a full night of sleep. Start by waiting however long you are comfortable before going in, and then add 1 minute onto that with a goal of waiting 10 minutes for a baby under 6 months, 15 minutes for a baby 6-9 months, and 20 minutes for a baby 10+ months of age.
š¤±š¼Nighttime consumption: this is where the 'active' weaning starts. For 2 nights, time your baby's feeds (for a breastfed baby) or note your baby's oz. (for a bottle-fed baby). Take the average of this and then cut off 3 minutes/0.5 an oz. Every 3rd night, reduce again until you are only feeding for 5 minutes/2 oz.
šEliminate feed: if you've completed all the above steps and baby is still waking, now we look at using our chosen sleep training method [checks, camping out/fading, etc.] when they wake. The goal is for baby to fall back asleep on their own, but if you need to intervene and hold/rock back to sleep, this is okay too. If your baby is ready to sleep through, it should not take more than 3-5 nights until they are doing just that!
