When Is Right Age for Night Weaning?

It is not normal for a 6 wk old to be sleeping through the night yet. Read the book "On Becoming Babywise". Then he will be a on schedule and start sleeping through the night around 8-10 weeks old. Good luck!

Both of mine started sleeping through the night at about 10 weeks. I admit that I am very lucky as I don't have the iron will that it takes to let them CIO for longer than 5 minutes of so. What I do believe really helped us was a very set schedule. Every night without fail we do a nice warm bath at 7pm, dim all the lights, swaddle, and feed right before we put them down at 8. We also started them in their own rooms at 2 months so they had quiet. I hated putting them upstairs at such a young age, but it really worked as far as their sleeping. My son needed (and still needs) to have his lullaby CD playing. My daughter loves her silence. She still sometimes wakes up around 5 (we put her down at 8). When that happens we let her fuss for 5 minutes or so and sometimes she'll go back to sleep. If not I go ahead and feed her. Don't underestimate the power of a schedule and their own rooms.

They should be able to sustain themselves overnight at around 10 lbs. If you son is still waking up that much does he sleep all day long? If so, I suggest its time to rotate his schedule so that he sleeps more at night.

I think six weeks is way too young to let him cry it out. Age doesn't really matter as far as eating at night goes, it has to do with weight. I think he still needs to know your going to come running when he cries, so he learns to trust that you will be there for him. I'm not a believer in letting babies cry it out at any age. I think if they cry then they need you for whatever reason and they are only little once. I know how tiring it can be, I have a 4 year old and a very beautful, sweet, but difficult 9 month old who I love dearly and didn't sleep through the night until almost 6 months. Congratulations on you new baby!

Have you considered keeping baby nearby? It may help with night feedings. Some moms keep baby in a co-sleeper or a crib pushed up against the big bed so you just have to roll over to feed baby. Breastmilk is digested very quickly (because it has exactly what baby needs, that's why it's so easy on the tummy) so little babies need to nurse at night.

Have you read "Baby Wise"?

It's a contravercial book but I swear by it. It will tell you all about how to get your baby in a routine, including sleeping through the night.

I'm reading the 2nd book in the series now.

I too recommend the book "On Becoming Babywise." It answers all of your questions. As a general rule, 12 weeks or 12 pounds and they can sleep longer. I was waking mine up to feed him and my cousin said, "Are you crazy?! Let him sleep! He's not going to shrivel up in the middle of the night." :) It was great advice because he slept longer, and so did I! Then they start sleeping longer and longer periods of time through the night. Each baby is different, but Baby Wise is a great reference.

I also highly recommend Babywise for the information about feeding schedules depending on baby's weight and age as well as teaching them to sleep thru the night. B'c your right about not wanting a 12 mth old to wake up 2x either. My baby has been sleeping 10-12 hrs at night since the age of 5 to 6 mths. Also since birth, our baby has always slept in his own crib in his own room, never with us. I don't think I could have stayed sane as a new mom without this handy little book b'c I had so many questions, and this guide helped me tremendously.

I have always been told 6 months. I would ask the pediatrician though. All babies are different.

Our son was on formula but once he started taking 6 oz. per feeding he then slept through the night. He was 10 weeks old and has slept well through the night ever since. He is currently 7 1/2 months old. Now he occasionally wakes up and cries out but typically only for a couple of minutes and he falls back asleep. I think this has more to do with him rolling around in the crib and waking himself up from the position changes.

Hi D.!
My baby is now 13 weeks old and she just LAST NIGHT slept through the night (from about 10:15 pm until 5 am) for the first time. She started sleeping 3-4 hours at a stretch when she was about 6 weeks old but would wake up to nurse around 2 am and then go back to sleep until about 4. Every baby is different, so it just depends on how much food your baby is taking and how much he weighs. My baby just hit the 10 pound mark (she was born at 5 lbs 15 oz) and it seems to be the magic number. I know the first weeks of having a new baby are completely exhausting, so keep plugging away. You'll be out of the twilight zone before you know it.

Take care,
Hilary

I think it definately depends on the baby. You need to follow your baby's lead. My oldest was sleeping through the night at 9 weeks, but it wasn't by my doing. Six weeks is SO young to think that you should regulate how much and when the baby should eat. I understand you not wanting to be up so often in the night when he is 12 months, but we're talking about a baby. 6 weeks is WAY too young to ween night feedings just so you can get more zzzz's. And definately don't let him CIO. Hang in there. It will come.

My doctor had told me a baby of average weight should be able to sleep through the night around 3-4 months of age. We finally broke our baby of the night breast-feeding(s) at about 5 months. That lasted about 2 months and now of course he still keeps waking up anywhere between 1AM and 5AM wanting to get in bed with us. So, question for you....when you were letting your 12 month old CIO, how long did he cry each night? Last night I tried keeping him in his crib but after an hour of crying between 12AM and 1AM, and caved and put him in bed with us.

D.,
I would say that 6 weeks is too young to wean yet. But, I do know what you're saying about waking up at 12 months 2x/night. He will do that for as long as you let him. I would talk to your doctor about when it's okay to drop a night feeding and go from there. I used a pacifier with my twins (now 12 mos. old) to take the place of a feeding, and it worked - eventually.

You definitely have a lot of varying answers, but mostly yes stick to your gut, don't worry about being tired, it's the way of that time in your life and don't rush it, believe it or not the day will come when you wish these times were here again. My only wisdom to give, and I didn't read any of the books, (I didn't know about them, so i can't comment on them,) is to train your baby to be awake during feedings. I only nursed my youngest and I didn't want him to use nursing as THE way to fall asleep. I tried my best to keep him awake and nurse him before he fell asleep, then rocked him or other to help him get to sleep. Of course at 6 weeks old thats not going to happen with your baby, but you can start working on that. I kept him close by at night and he was sleeping pretty solid 6 hours in no time. Try the mega feeding someone else suggested toward the end of the day and keeping baby awake in the evening as much as possible, but I wouldnt do the CIO scenario til he's at least 9 months or older. Make sure that he's not really needing you when he cries, (I think it's hard to tell that with babies much younger than nine months.) I used to rock my 3rd to sleep then lay him down in bed. This worked till about 9 months, when he would suddenly wake up EVERY time I put him down. I spend two- three days sitting outside his door in torment listening to him cry his lungs out, but he stopped waking up after I put him down to bed. I didn't stop rocking him and didn't wean him till he was a year old. But since I wasn't using nursing to get him to sleep I worked on dropping feedings starting in the evening until we just had the morning feeding right after he woke up in the morning. We had about three busy days, where I had to get him up and get going and he never knew better. I didn't get to say goodbye to the nursing, because I didn't plan it that way, but it was not traumatic in the least to him to be weaned that way. If I'd had any more kids that's the way I would plan it. Best to you and many blessings!! I know that you are tired right now and that it is a tasking job to be who you are, but these are truly the BEST years of motherhood, (IMO), and if I could have them back I would gladly have them!

Many Blessings!!

Hi D.,

May I suggest a book called "The no-cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. It helped me solve the problem of night time weaning and it helped me get my first born to sleep through the night. With my second baby, I started the no cry sleep solution program when he was just a few weeks old, and by the time he was 4 months old he was sleeping 10 hours straight at night (with no night time feedings). It was a real help to me. I hope that it will help you too.
-S.

You know, my baby is 4 1/2 these days. I can't remember for the life of me what the time line looked like back then. BUT, we just found out that baby #2 is on the way, so I know that I will be busting out my copy of Babywise to catch up again. I know that there is a lot of good advice in that book. I was able to get my first one on a good schedule and by about 6-7 weeks, I was sleeping from 11 to 4 or 5 in the morning. He was a bottle feeder, but I don't think it takes very much longer with breastfeeding. You might check it out. It's called On Becoming Baby Wise: The Classic Sleep Reference Guide by Gary Ezzo, Robert Bucknam. I hope this helps. :0)

My youngest will be 10 weeks tomorrow. Last Thursday, he slept from 9 pm to 5 am. It was wonderful and luckily not a fluke! Since then, he has slept at least 7 hours straight at night. I can finally get some decent sleep. Hang in there - it is coming soon for you also!
Good luck!
~D.

I know that some of the people responding are saying that weight of the baby is important in being able to sleep through the night. However, both of my children are huge and still needed to eat in the middle of the night. Personally, I like to put my kids to be early so that I can have a free evening. So, my kids (as babies) go to bed at 7PM. My son woke up regularly in the middle of the night and at around 4 months/5 months (he was 22 lbs then), I started to wean him. When he woke up at 4AM, I offered him a 4 ounce bottle for a couple of days. Then, I offered him a three ounce bottle for a couple of days. Then, 2 ounces and then 1 ounce and then he slept through the night. It took about a week to wean him.

With my daughter (who is currently 4 months old), it's a little different because I am still breastfeeding her. I'm not really sure how to wean her while breastfeeding because I am not sure how much she is drinking. But, I am thinking about giving up the breastfeeding soon and I will use the same method to wean her at night as well.

Hi D.!
How much do your children weigh?
Best,
A.

My daughters' pedi says 4 months. I have done this with each kid at 4 months. CIO (crying it out) is not easy, but it was the best solution for my family in the long run. I have 3 happy, healthy girls: 6, 4, and 10 mos.

Thanks,
P.

I was told that by 4 months MOST babies can sleep through the night w/o feeding and by 6 months all (healthy) babies can. If your child was a preemie that might not be true so I'd check w/ his doc in that case.

Well, I'm sure you will receive a lot of varying advice on this one! With my first child, the pediatrician told me that by 4-5 months she didn't really need the middle of the night feeding, but she was still waking up. So we let her CIO and within a few days she was sleeping through that feeding time and I was finally able to get 7-8 hours of sleep. Thankfully my other two children transitioned on their own, right around 4 1/2 - 5 months old. Any earlier than that I think is too soon. Some babies my do it on their own earlier, but I wouldn't force it before 4 1/2 months.

I don't think you want to hear this, but it is important... It has nothing to do with age and more to do with size of your baby. The smaller the baby the longer they need to be fed every 3 to 4 hours. There are some studies that show that babies who slept through the night early are more likely to end up with ADD or ADHD. It is due to the blood sugar levels in the brain. When they are really little and do not have enough fat stores, the body will actually feed off of the brain to make up for the lack of food. I know that is not the technical explanation, just the easy one. Anyhow, I would say to feed them when they are hungry. Although, if they are eating every 6 hours during the day and waking up every 2 - 3 hours at night, they probably aren't needing food, just comfort. You gotta go with your gut mom! All in all you know whata is the best for your baby!
Blessings,
C.: mom to two by birth and five foster children....
PS My son has a growth disorder and is very sensitive to blood sugar levels and so this is a sensitive subject for me... They are only babies for such a short time!

As you can see from the responses you've received so far, there are lots of books at there about "Sleep." Wouldn't it be nice if all babies followed the same schedule and would sleep thru the night easily?!?! My 2 kiddos have been very different in all aspects, especially sleep. My 1st was a great napper and slept long stretches at night. Now my 11 month old daugther still wakes at least 2 times and nursing is the only way to soothe her back to sleep...no matter what the pedi and other mommies suggest, the "Cry It Out" method just didn't work for her. And I, too, read all of the books others have suggested. My little one just doesn't fit the "typical" baby, she's the exception (not sure that makes much sense). So basically, I'd say follow your motherly instincts and when he's a bit older and you feel he shouldn't be waking, then maybe try one of the recommendations for sleeping through the night. Best of luck to you and looks like you have a few books to read about feeding schedules and sleeping :)

YOu need to get a copy of the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child." It teaches you how to sleep train your child. There are tricks to get them to sleep through the night and how to nap better because if they don't nap well then they won't sleep well at night. We started the sleep trainign with my daughter at 6 weeks old and by 8 weeks, she slept from 9 at night until 7 or 8 in the morning. So you can begin to wean within the next few weeks and actually get some sleep. My daughter is now almost 3 and still takes great 2 hour naps and goes to bed at night at around 8:30 pm and wakes up at 8 in the morning. It is a great book that I HIGHLY recommend!

I weaned both of my girls at 6 to 7 months from night time nursing. i did have to do cio with both.

D.,
You may need to try the method I used. I would feed the baby formula, or in your case can be breast milk mixed In a bottle with rice cereal with a touch of Karo syrup. It kept their tummies full for a good 6-7 hours a night. I wold only give it to them before bed time. This helped. Or even put a tab of fruit in there with the rice cereal. Doctors don't usually like this, but you know, they slept, they are all grown up healthy children with kids of their own, and we did theirs the same way, and the Doctors tell them he was amaze how good they looked and were. When they told him they slept all night at 4 weeks old, he was amazed.
Shirley

I know it is hard to wake a sleeping child but the best advice I ever got was to wake my babies every 2-3 (depending on age) hours during the day and then when they can go 7 hours it will happen when you don't wake them up (i.e., night). My daughter was routinely sleeping 6-7 hours during the day at a few months old and I thought it was so neat and just would be quiet as a mouse not to awaken her. Then she would wake up several times during the night hungry. As soon as I started being sure she got her regular and frequent feedings during the day, she switched her long stretches to night. Good luck.

Generally 6 mos. is the age they should start sleeping through the night.

I have twin girls. They slept "through the night" from 10pm - 5 am by 8 weeks. From 4 weeks to 6 weeks they slept 10 -2 am and then 2 am - 6 am between feedings. From about the 6 week mark until 8 weeks, I had them next to my bed and when they woke up I would pop their binks back in their mouths, sometimes hold them in their for them for a minute until they realized I was not going to feed them right away. It usually bought me 15 - 30 minutes at a time and stretched them to go longer and longer until we reached the golden marker of sleeping through the night! :) I did the same thing with my son who is older than the girls, but since he was a singleton, he slept through the night by 6 weeks. All my kids were on a 4 hour feeding schedule by 2 weeks though and I think that helped. Good luck!

Mine started sleeping 5-6 hours at night without feeding when he was about 4 months old, and then 7-8 hours a night when he was about 6 months old. We never did the cry it out thing for feeding. If they're hungry, they're hungry.

Check with La Leche League on line or give them a call. I nursed my children until 18 mos. My daughter didn't sleep through the night until a year and my son was earlier but it seems it wasn't until after I introduced solids at about 6 months.

Blessings to you! Don't rush this beautiful time. I know it's exhausting, but now my kids are 9 and 4.5 and trust me it FLIES by. When I see tiny babies, it blesses me so. I go down memory lane.

Blessings!
L.

I was able to wean my kids from night feedings at 5 and 7 weeks. I would keep them up after 6PM and then cluster feed them from 6-11PM (nurse more frequently to fill them up), give them a nice warm long bath and nurse one more time and put them down for the night at 11PM. They would sleep until about 5AM. When they would sleep past 5AM, I would put them to bed earlier, within another month or two, they would be sleeping form 7PM-7AM.

I hope this helps!