There are many reasons why your baby would wake more often to feed at night. Regardless of what you find online or from well meaning family and friends, there is no specific, developmental weight or age when a child no longer needs to feed overnight. There is no scientific or medical standard or recommendations for when a baby no longer needs nutrition at night. Society also says babies shouldn’t need tended to at night time and that we should teach them, often from a ridiculously early age, not to need us at night. In reality, we are not in control and neither are our babies. We’re in a mutual relationship where we are learning what our babies need and when they need it. Reasons why babies wake to feed over night:
💡Growth spurts
💡Developmental leap
💡You were gone at work and they missed you, they want breast milk straight from the breast, they didn’t take as much from the bottle while you were gone
💡Teething
💡They were distracted during the day because the world is an amazing place to learn in and they’re making up for calories over night
💡Sickness
💡They had a bad dream or are scared without you
💡Because they’re human

Per current research, 78% of babies wake up at least once a night and 60% of waking to feed until 1 year (Brown, 2015). That’s NORMAL. Between 12-18 months your toddler may still occasionally wake to feed. Or they may just need an adult to help them transition back to sleep. It’s not until 24 months that the human baby has matured enough to not consistently need an adult to help them transition back to sleep over night (Paavonen, 2020).

It’s normal for your child to wake to feed, but if at any time it starts to wear on your physical, emotional, or mental health, don’t hesitate to reach out for a consultation. There are strategies to help with routines to find the balance between biology and sanity.

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