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Night Weaning

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Jacque Ordner BSN, RN, IBCLC, RLC 

Sleep is a sensitive and often sensationalized topic among so-called parenting gurus, authors, and creators of online sleep courses.  However, let me reassure you that if your baby nurses or takes a bottle to drift off and wakes to feed through the night, they are not broken….THEY ARE NORMAL!  In fact, research tells us that babies who sleep through the night at less than one year of age are closer to the exception than the rule.  New parents are often asked, “Is he a good sleeper?” or “Is she sleeping through the night yet?” when babies are barely out of the newborn stage. This helps perpetuate the myth that there is something wrong if babies under one are not yet giving their parents 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep.  Well-meaning advice givers often tell parents that their babies will magically stop waking if night feedings are cut-off.  In reality, early night weaning can lead to decreased milk supply and put baby at risk of receiving inadequate intake. At somewhere around six months of age,  you may begin to notice that your little one naturally stretches out the time between feedings and perhaps even stretches the time spent sleeping at night. While I recommend waiting until baby is closer to age one to start actively night weaning, there are some tips that parents can employ to encourage healthy sleep for their babies.  Since sleep is developmental, I recommend following your baby’s cues while eliminating obstacles to good sleep.  Find out more in our blog post, Newborn and Infant Sleep – What is Normal? 

While night weaning can help encourage an older baby or toddler to sleep longer at night, it’s not a guarantee of reduced night waking. This is because sleep is primarily developmental, and children wake for other reasons besides just hunger.  We, as parents, can help shape our children’s environment and behaviors to encourage sleep, but it is important to keep in mind that waking at night is normal even through toddlerhood.  Keep in mind that your child will eventually sleep through the night all on their own! 

Keep reading for our top tips for night weaning. 

Increase Daytime Intake 
When considering night weaning, it’s important to ensure your child is still receiving adequate calories.  Older babies and toddlers will often naturally shift to longer periods of sleep when their daytime intake increases.  Simply offering more nursing sessions or a greater volume of breastmilk via cup or bottle can be enough to encourage less need for night-time feedings.  Increasing solids is another way to get in more daytime calories.  Toddlers often do well with a bedtime “snack” that is nutritionally dense.  Foods that provide fiber, fat, and protein are often most satiating. 

Dream Feed Just Before Bed 
If your little one generally nods off before you’re ready to hit the sack, consider offering a dream feed to “top them off” just before you go to bed.  Babies will often rouse just enough to nurse or bottle feed without becoming fully awake.  This can give you a longer stretch before baby wakes for the next feed. 

Enlist Help 
If possible, ask your partner or another trusted caregiver to assist through the night during this transition.  This is especially helpful for nursing mothers.  If a non-lactating caregiver is present to comfort and soothe during night waking, baby may be less likely demand a feeding.  The old motto holds true…..Out of sight, out of mind! 

Increase Cuddles and Communication 
It’s not uncommon for toddlers to be anxious about weaning of any sort.  Reassure them with extra cuddles and clear communication about the night weaning process. Toddlers are perceptive and the often understand far more than we adults give them credit for!  Talk about night weaning during waking hours and let your child know when the process will start.  It’s ok to tell your toddler “no” when they ask for a night-time feeding, but follow it up by also letting them know when they can nurse again. For example, “We can’t nurse now, but we can nurse again when the sun is up”. Or “I’m just going to rock you for now, but we’ll get milkies when it’s time for breakfast”. Knowing when they will be allowed to nurse again, can bring an immense amount of peace to a worried toddler. 

Set Limits 
The counting method is often very effective with toddlers!  Let your little one know that they can nurse until you reach a certain number (whatever you are comfortable with).  For example, “You can nurse until Mommy gets to 20”.  Count out loud, going slowly for the first several nursing sessions.  After a few nights, begin to count a little faster.  As your toddler adjusts, you can reduce the number until there is no nursing.  If this approach is taken slowly and gently, it is not uncommon for toddlers to become uninterested in nursing at night. 

Don’t Be Afraid to Stop 
If you begin the night weaning process only to find that your baby or toddler is greatly distressed by it, don’t be afraid to stop and start again later.  If your child is hysterical each night and shows no signs of adjusting to night weaning, try again in a month or two.  There is no one-size-fits-all prescriptive timeline for any sort of weaning and it is rarely a linear process!  

Patience, reassurance, and planning are the keys to night weaning success! 

Tried all the tips and still struggling with night weaning?  You’re not alone!  Our International Board Certified Lactation Consultants (IBCLCs) have years of experience helping families navigate night weaning and many other sleep concerns.  We’re available 7 days a week for FREE CONSULTATIONS.  No matter where you are in your breastfeeding journey, we’re here to support you! 

 

Sources: 

Burnham, M., Goodlin-Jones, B., Gaylor, E., & Anders, T. (2002, September). Nighttime sleep-wake patterns and self-soothing from birth to one year of age: A longitudinal intervention study. Retrieved January 4, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1201415/  

Galbally, M., Lewis, A. J., McEgan, K., Scalzo, K., & Islam, F. A. (2013). Breastfeeding and infant sleep patterns: an Australian population study. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 49(2), E147–E152. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpc.12089 

Kent, J., Mitoulas, L., Cregan, M., Ramsay, D., Doherty, D., & Hartmann, P. (2006, March). Volume and           frequency of breastfeedings and fat content of breast milk throughout the day. Retrieved January 4,        2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16510619

To Sleep Or Not To Sleep?

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by: Bonne Dunham, IBCLC, RN

That is the question that so many new breastfeeding Mothers will ask when their babies start sleeping through the night, yet their breasts are overflowing with milk.

Of course, as mothers, we spend those first few months of motherhood dreaming about the day more sleep will arrive.  Yet, when that shift comes, we often start to worry about how this chunk of hours when baby is not breastfeeding will affect our milk supply. We put so much time into building and protecting that milk supply, nursing every two to three hours around the clock, even when our heart and soul and body would love to be sleeping, in the wee hours of the night. Rest assured (no pun intended!), that with a little understanding of how milk production works and adjusts to your baby’s growth and development, you can both have a sound sleep at night and plenty of milk to meet your child’s needs.

It may take a few weeks for your body/breasts to adjust to your baby’s new sleeping pattern, but it will.  Initially, most women will wake to find themselves in a pool of breast milk, or hard, swollen breasts, only to find that their baby is sound asleep and not in need of a breastfeeding snack at this moment. Most women will find that they wake naturally in those first few weeks, either because of the sensation of very full breasts, or just because their body rhythm has been doing so for several weeks or months.  To help your body adjust, to protect your milk supply, and reduce the risk of getting a plugged duct or mastitis, it is a great idea to relieve that pressure by pumping or hand expressing. The following tips will help you through this new stage of breastfeeding your baby.

1.)   It’s ok for you to harvest a little more sleep during this transition. If you are accustomed to feeding your baby every 3-4 or so hours at night, it is fine to sleep a couple of more hours before you relieve some of that milk by pumping or hand expression.  Keep in mind that going longer than 4-5 hours does result in the milk making hormone (prolactin) to lower in your blood which can result in less milk produced. What you remove from your breasts is what you will make. So, ultimately when you stop nursing or pumping at night your body starts the weaning process.

2.)   To help your body make this adjustment to producing less at night, you need only to express milk until your breasts are soft if your baby is not nursing during this time. Often, this looks like about 2-5 minutes of expression.  Longer than this time does result in elevating your amazing milk making hormones to continue to produce. Remember, after just two to three weeks of doing this, you will likely not experience swollen or leaking breasts at night, and can, therefore, stop expressing and start sleeping!

3.)   Babies are amazing creatures, and will adjust themselves by either nursing more frequently during the day, or taking in more milk per breastfeeding session. Starting around 3-6 weeks postpartum, babies drink an average of 30 ounces of milk per day, right up until solids are introduced. This average doesn’t really change much during those months, however, babies do become more efficient feeders as they grow, taking in more ounces per feed, and may space the feedings out depending on their needs.

4.)   It is wise to keep a watchful eye on your baby and your perception of your milk supply as you make this adjustment to less breastfeeding at night. If you suspect that your milk supply has decreased, there are ways to balance it out during your waking hours. You may benefit from speaking to a lactation consultant about your concerns, or to get extra stimulation on your breasts from a daily pumping session.

5.)   You got this!!!

 

If you missed the Live Q&A, don’t worry!  We got you covered.

…Sweet Dreams

Returning to Work: Planning and Pumping

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by Bonne Dunham, IBCLC

The prospect of returning to work after your baby is born can be a very frightening and overwhelming prospect for some Mothers, but with a little extra planning and knowledge about how to do this, you can smooth out this transition quite a bit.

In case you didn’t already know, there are several benefits to combining work and breastfeeding.  Knowing this might help give you a little bit of extra strength to leap over some of the more common hurdles that women face when re-entering the workforce AND taking care of a baby!  It’s not easy, but you got this!

Here are some benefits of combining work and breastfeeding:

Benefits to Baby:  Making the decision to supply breastmilk to your baby while you are working provides protection from ear infections, respiratory infections, allergies, colds, viruses and diabetes to name a few.

Benefits to Mother: Reduced risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer; decreases the risk of osteoporosis and allows for precious time to reconnect with baby.

Benefits to Your Wallet: One-day absences to care for an ill child occur more than twice as frequently for women who formula feed their infants as compared to those who breastfeed. And if you haven’t checked out the cost of formula…it isn’t cheap!

Setting Goals and Planning Ahead Will Reduce Stress

  •    Speaking with your supervisor about your plans for pumping at work BEFORE maternity leave is a great idea. If not before, than as soon as possible.
  •    Locate the lactation room in your workplace; does it have a fridge to store your pumped milk or will you have to bring a small cooler?
  •    Order you pump BEFORE your baby is born and understand how it works. While you are at it, gather your other pumping supplies ahead of time; collection bottles, storage bags and cleaning supplies.
  •    Plan your day: how will pumping fit into your workday? Consider making a mock-up of what your day will look like, from the moment you get up to when you step back through your doors. When and where will you pump? For most moms, pumping every 3 hours or so when separated from baby, for much of the first year, will help to keep your milk supply up and running.

Introduction of Pumping & Bottles

Week 1-4: Avoid pumping. Take this time to be with your baby! Allow the infant to naturally ‘program’ and establish your milk supply.

Week 4-6: Begin pumping once a day for 10-15 minutes and introduce a bottle. Adding this pumping session in during the morning or evening can be the best for when your milk supply is at its peak.

Weeks 6 and Beyond: Pump daily to store your milk or to have ready for your workday.

Milk Storage Strategies…The best tip I ever received!

The freshest is the bestest! Ok, bestest is not really a word, but I bet you get the picture: Always try to give your baby the freshest milk you have on hand, it will be highest in nutritive quality and deliver the most health benefits. Think “first in, first out”.

However, it’s also a good idea to rotate your frozen stash a bit too. Here is a way to do that: On Sunday night, take a days’ worth of frozen milk out of the freezer to thaw overnight in the fridge to feed baby on Monday. The milk you pump for Monday while at work will feed baby on Tuesday; Tuesdays’ pumped milk feeds baby on Wednesday, etc. No need to freeze this milk in-between, just keep it cool in the fridge.

Remember: Take a deep breath, take care of yourself too, and ask others for help. Leave us a comment about how you returned to work while breastfeeding and pumping.

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