5 Myths About Baby Sleep and Night Weaning
Baby sleep, night weaning, and baby wake windows can be very confusing. General statements about what baby sleep, night weaning, and baby wake windows “should” look like can make it all even more confusing—and also extremely frustrating.
Years ago I was so confused and frustrated that I shifted my career from elementary teacher to baby sleep consultant in an effort to figure out my own child’s sleep, haha!
And now, baby sleep is what I do—I help other parents figure out sleep problems in their babies.
A large part of my work is identifying baby sleep myths and explaining both where they came from and why they’re just myths. Here are some of the most common baby sleep and night-feeding and weaning myths I hear in my work:
Bottle-fed babies need fewer feeds and sleep better
This is definitely not true.
I do find that many formula-fed babies have fewer hunger wake-ups because formula is not as quickly digested as breast milk. This means that babies can be fuller for longer and thus any wake-up that would happen from an empty belly, takes longer to happen.
But this doesn’t mean that automatically a baby will sleep longer stay asleep better just because they have formula! Babies don’t only wake up from hunger. If that were the case, we would see a general trend of all babies waking up less as they grow older and can go longer periods of time at night without feeds. This, unfortunately, isn’t the case with all babies, because there are so many things that can get in the way of baby sleep.
Fun Fact: About 50% of the families I work with have babies who are bottle-fed, and we don’t get to fixing their sleep issues until we figure out the EXACT reason for their wakeups.
Working on a baby's sleep will ruin the breastfeeding relationship
This myth comes from the same people who think that the only way to work on sleep is to leave a baby to cry it out.
When they are tiny, putting your baby to bed at 7 p.m. and not going to them until 7 a.m. can be detrimental to the breastfeeding relationship. It can be detrimental to the mom’s supply and to the baby’s weight gain if we don’t follow a natural feeding pattern.
Working on sleep (and sleep training), however, doesn’t have anything to do with skipping night feeds just for the sake of more sleep. In fact, I never ever tell a parent to skip or purposefully wean a night feed until the parents come to me asking me how to night wean because the baby is ready and old enough and has proven that they don’t need as many feeds at night.
When we work on sleep we focus on finding the baby’s best schedule, breaking habits that are unsustainable, and implementing routines that help the baby get the best sleep. The focus is never on depriving a baby of their feed or even extending the time between full feeds.
Babies should be night-weaned by a certain age
Many people will cite 5-6 months as the time when a baby can officially go 12 hours without eating at night, but really it varies. There is no specific scientific research study that says you must night wean at any age, it really just depends on each child and on each family.
If your baby at 7 or 8 months is still having one night feed and that is working for your family… that’s ok!
Always work closely with your health provider and your gut to know when night weaning is appropriate for you.
Babies who are waking up to eat at night NEED to eat at night
This is the toughest one to answer clearly in a blog post, but I’ll try with a story.
When my first baby was born, my husband and I were total newbs to sleep deprivation. We didn’t know how to stay awake 3-4 times a night. But we do love cereal. So we started eating cereal at every feed. 11 p.m. wakeup? Cereal time. 2 a.m. wakeup? Cereal time!
It was obviously our brain trying to keep us awake with quick carbohydrates… and it honestly was a sweet bonding time for the three of us.
But then… after a few weeks, we started having stomach issues… our bodies aren’t meant to digest sugary cereal at night. We realized we really needed to stop, and so we said, “no more cereal at night feeds.” But guess what? Our bodies wanted that sugar rush. We were used to that food in the middle of the night.
So we had to purposefully “night-wean” our cereal.
It’s similar for many older babies who are 7, 8, 9, 12 months, or even 18 months and older who are just used to waking up once or twice for a feed. Do they need the nutrition and calories at night? Probably not. They can have those during the day. A night of uninterrupted sleep is extremely beneficial and sometimes the habit of waking up to eat can get in the way of that!
So if your baby is waking up and downing a bottle but you have an inkling that they really don’t NEED to be eating at night… you may be right! Talk to your care provider and listen to your instincts.
Feeding a baby at 5 a.m. is a bad habit that should be avoided
Can a 5 a.m. feed be a habit? Sure! Is that a bed thing? This may surprise you, but… nope.
Sometimes that 5 a.m. feed helps a baby sleep in till 7:30, which helps a parent sleep in a bit more or wake up early and get stuff done before officially starting the day with the baby.
Sleep habits aren’t “good” or “bad” all around. Habits are either sustainable or unsustainable.
If a 5 a.m. feeding is helping your lifestyle happen, hold on to it. If a 5 a.m. feeding is angering you, see if your baby can go without it!
Need help with baby sleep and night weaning?
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If you have a new baby, you might also benefit from my newborn course: an introduction to baby sleep. Understand the ins and outs of newborn sleep, get answers to questions like, “how much do they sleep?” And, “how do I get them to sleep by themselves?”
If your baby is 4-24 months and you are struggling with sleep, this is the baby sleep course you need. Understand your baby’s unique sleep, get help creating a schedule for their needs, and teach them independent sleep at your own pace. A customized experience… Use the code MALINA15 for 15% off.
Wishing you a peaceful night’s rest!
Andrea is a mom of three and a pediatric sleep consultant. For the last 7 years she has been working with parents from all around the world who want to help their baby sleep more in a holistic way. Follow her on Instagram at @babysleep.answers.
