How to wean baby off of night feedings?

My baby gets up around 1:30 am every night. The doctor told me to start weaning him off so that he’ll sleep longer. He gets up at 1:30 and at five Ish. Any advice on how to get him to sleep through the 1:00 AM feeding?

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If your baby is only 4 months I would not withhold night feedings - often pediatricians say things like this but it’s contrary to lots of advice from lactation consultants, etc. it’s very normal for babies to need to feed overnight for at least 12 months. Unless baby is dropping feeds on their own it’s not recommended to night wean until 12 months.

There’s also no guarantee that a baby will sleep longer stretches if they’re not feeding overnight.

Only getting up twice per night at that age is great.

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Thank you

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Echoing the first comment - very very normal for a baby under 12months and beyond to feed at night. Removing night feeds under 1 year could be detrimental to the baby’s health. It is really hard to be woken up every night but it will improve in time! At that age many parents are woken like 5 times every night…

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We night weaned around 11 months and it was easy. I can't imagine doing it at 4 months. Baby can't even drink water at that point, they can get dehydrated overnight, I would wait at least until they can have a drink of water instead of milk.

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My LO is 11 months and still wakes twice to feed at night. That’s totally normal

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I've only just night weaned at 14 months, so I think you're a long while off yet. They can get dehydrated and low blood sugar, so follow their lead and feed when they wake. If they sleep through on their own that's fine

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We are in the same boat with our 11 week old- keeping the feeding so at least its predictable. Mom's on call says once baby is 12 lbs they can go overnight without feeds but if they want the feed keep it

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Only twice a night sounds amazing!! I would look into getting a new doctor. It’s very strange that he/she would say that.

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We did the same around 4-5 months old, following pediatrician advice and it worked amazingly for my daughter. At this age, baby's body is mature enough to sustain longer stretches between feeds at night and at the same time, night sleep is so important for their development (and your well being). Please don't feel guilty for considering it 😊 When is the baby's last feed before 1:30am? We did a dream feed just before her dad and myself went to bed and then fed the baby again when she woke up. So basically we waited for her body to tell us when she's hungry, rather than us waking her up to feed her in the middle of the night. Our daughter naturally and gradually started taking longer longer to wake up for a feed and eventually dropped the 1am feeding all together. She also started drinking more during the day to substitute the milk she wasn't having at night. Eventually it's all about how much they drink in 24hrs anyway. Please let me know if you want any further advise, you are doing the right thing 💙

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