Night Weaning to Improve Baby Sleep: When and How | Sleep Consultant Tips
Discover when and how to night wean your baby with expert sleep consultant guidance. Learn how phasing out night feeds improves sleep for your baby — and you.
Written by Chloe Roche, Certified Infant & Child Sleep Consultant
You’re in a deep, peaceful sleep when you hear it. At first, it’s a little whimper, then it builds until your baby is crying at full volume. In an instant, your nervous system is alert, and you’re running through the same questions every tired parent asks at 2am:
Are they really hungry?
Should I feed them just to get everyone back to sleep?
How long has it been since their last feed?
How will I ever know when it’s the right time to stop feeding overnight?
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Night waking and night feeds are some of the most common concerns parents bring to me as a baby sleep consultant. In this post, we’ll explore how night feeds affect sleep, when it’s safe to night wean, and how phasing out night feeds can improve rest for your whole family.
Feeding Your Baby to Sleep
In the newborn stage, feeding to sleep is completely natural. Your baby may drift off while breastfeeding or after a bottle, or even while being rocked or patted.
Breastmilk at night contains melatonin, the sleep hormone, which helps babies return to sleep more easily. Another hormone, cholecystokinin, is released in both mum and baby during night feeds, promoting calm and drowsiness.
In other words: newborns are built to feed to sleep. But as babies grow, so do their tummies, and by around 8 weeks, biological rhythms (like melatonin and cortisol) begin to emerge. This often leads to longer stretches of sleep.
Sleep Associations and the Four-Month Regression
At around 4 months, your baby’s sleep cycles mature. Many parents notice what’s often called the “four-month sleep regression,” when babies who were sleeping long stretches suddenly start waking every 2–4 hours.
Why? Sleep associations. If your baby has learned to fall asleep through feeding (breast or bottle), they’ll naturally expect the same thing every time they wake between cycles.
The key is to gently teach your baby to self-settle, so they can link sleep cycles and achieve longer stretches of sleep — without always needing a feed to get back to sleep.
When Is It Time to Night Wean?
Before considering night weaning, always look at your baby’s age, health, and growth.
Newborns: Night feeds are essential. Their tiny tummies need frequent refuelling.
6 weeks+: If baby is thriving and gaining weight well (per WHO growth standards), you can encourage longer stretches between feeds by using hands-on settling techniques.
3–6 months: Babies may still need 1–2 feeds overnight, as solids aren’t yet fully established.
9 months+: Once babies are on 3 solid meals a day (with protein at lunch) and still having 3–4 good milk feeds in the day, night weaning becomes realistic for many families.
Phasing Out Night Feeds
Night weaning doesn’t need to be abrupt — in fact, gradual change works best for most babies. Here are some strategies I use with families:
Create a small degree of separation between the last feed and bedtime (e.g. feed, then book and cuddle, then into bed).
If your baby has two night feeds, reduce the milk volume of the second feed over 4 nights, then resettle instead of feeding.
Use settling techniques (patting, shushing, reassuring presence) for any wakes outside of an agreed feed time.
Why Midnight Matters
If your goal is night weaning, I often encourage parents to avoid feeding before midnight. Why? Because the early-night hours are when your baby experiences the deepest, most restorative sleep (non-REM sleep), which supports:
Brain development & memory consolidation
Physical growth & cellular repair
Stress recovery
Protecting this early stretch of sleep can make a big difference to your baby’s rest — and yours.
Confidence, Practice & a Plan
Night weaning usually happens naturally as babies:
Learn to self-settle and link sleep cycles
Take in more calories during the day (milk + solids)
Rely less on feeding as their only sleep association
The process works best with a step-by-step plan tailored to your baby’s temperament and your parenting style. Some families prefer a very gentle approach, while others are comfortable with a bit more structure. Either way, consistency is key — and support makes it easier.
Expect Setbacks (and Don’t Stress!)
Life with little ones is full of twists and turns — illness, travel, developmental leaps. It’s normal to offer feeds again temporarily, even after night weaning. This doesn’t mean you’ve failed. With consistency and support, you can always get back on track.
Final Thoughts
Night waking and frequent feeds can feel exhausting, but you don’t have to navigate it alone. If you’re ready to:
Move away from feed-to-sleep associations
Support your baby in learning to self-settle
Enjoy longer stretches of rest for everyone
…I’d love to guide you through a personalised plan.
✨ Book a Sleep Again Signature Package for a fully tailored approach, or try a Quick Fix Consult if your baby sleeps well but still feeds frequently overnight.
Sleep is possible — for you and your baby. Let’s get you there. 💛