Tips and Tricks

Breastfeeding: Frequent awakenings and night nursing

Nighttime breastfeeding is completely normal. Get inspiration for good breastfeeding positions at night and possible solutions for the many times your baby wakes up during the night. Breastfeeding consultant Sara Degn helps you with your baby's frequent nighttime awakenings.
Have the frequent nighttime awakenings, where the child wants to breastfeed, become a kind of habit? Yes, it is very possible that breastfeeding has become a habit and that it is the only way to get the child to fall asleep again. It is up to you as parents to decide whether it is a bad habit. In the next section, I will cover frequent awakenings and breastfeeding.

October 3, 2024

Sara Degn

Sara Degn

Sara Degn is a certified lactation consultant specializing in establishing breastfeeding and the first days with your baby. She is passionate about creating calm and security during breastfeeding through personalized counseling and professional guidance for new mothers.

<p>Frequent awakenings and breastfeeding at night</p>

Frequent awakenings and breastfeeding at night

It can be extremely tough if your baby wakes up many times during the night. Some babies wake up once an hour, and that is very draining for the parents. In this case, it is actually best if you can continue to get your baby back to sleep using the methods you are already using. This is usually the easiest, fastest, and most effective way, both for you and for your baby.

Example: If your baby wakes up once an hour, and the only thing that works is breastfeeding the baby back to sleep, then you should continue to do so. If you start trying to find other ways to get the baby to sleep again, it can be incredibly frustrating for you. This is typically because it takes you longer to get the baby to fall back asleep.

Possible solution

If it is primarily the mother who is responsible at night, then she must ensure that she gets enough sleep and rests a lot during the day.

  • Rule out that the baby is waking up because the baby is snoring (a cold), if there are any health-related reasons, or if there are problems with breastfeeding, reflux, stomach problems after starting solid food, allergies, or anything else.
  • Make sure to have the baby in the same room, as it can reduce the need for you to get out of bed. The mother can potentially let the baby sleep next to her in bed. The partner can possibly sleep in another room for a period, so that one partner gets some sleep and can have that extra energy during the day.
  • Ensure you establish a good bedtime routine.
  • Make sure to get outside during the day. It can be good to go for a long walk with the stroller.
  • Ensure you eat a healthy and varied diet.
  • Sometimes it can help to change the naps slightly during the day, or to put the baby to bed at night a little later.
  • If you have a partner, the partner can occasionally take over. This way you can get a good long nap, preferably for a few hours.
  • It may also be possible for the partner to take your baby in the morning so you can get some sleep.
  • If it is difficult for your baby to be put to bed later, you can let the baby have a late evening nap. After the evening nap, you can let the baby out on the floor, or play and move around, depending on their age. Afterwards, after a few hours, you can put your baby to bed again. Here, you do not need to go through the bedtime routine again.

Possible breastfeeding positions at night

  • Lying on your side
  • Laid back
  • Lying on your back
<p>Has breastfeeding become a habit for my child?</p>

Has breastfeeding become a habit for my child?

Have the frequent night wakings, where the child wants to breastfeed, become a kind of habit? Yes, it is very possible that breastfeeding has become a habit and that it is the only way to get the child to fall asleep again. It is up to you as parents to decide whether it is a bad habit. In the next section, I will address frequent wakings and breastfeeding.

How you can gently cut down on nighttime nursing

If your child is over 6 months old and is still nursing once an hour, or if it has become problematic for the mother (here I mean that the mother is completely exhausted and cannot go on much longer), you can try to gently cut down on the nursing sessions.

However, you should be aware of the following:

  • You should check if there are any issues with breastfeeding. Does your child have the correct latch, and is your child gaining weight as they should?
  • Does your child have any health issues that cause them to wake up many times during the night to nurse?

  • Do you want to cut down on nursing sessions because it has become too difficult, or is it pressure from the outside that makes you no longer want frequent night nursing? Many mothers are told that it is abnormal for a child to want to nurse once an hour.
  • If you want to cut down on nursing sessions because you think it will give you more sleep at night, I am sorry to disappoint you, but it will most likely not change the frequent awakenings.

If you feel that cutting down on breastfeeding suits your family best, I will briefly touch upon what you can try to work with.

  • When your child wakes up, you can try to cuddle with them instead of offering the breast.
  • If your child uses a pacifier, a comfort blanket, or something similar, you can offer that to your child instead. It may also be necessary to get up and walk around with your child. If your child starts to cry, I recommend that you put them to the breast to feed. NB: be aware that milk production may decrease.
  • Let the other parent (if there are two of you) take the child when they wake up.
  • Make the breastfeeding sessions shorter. This can be particularly useful if the child breastfeeds for long periods at a time during the night. Here, you can take your child off the breast after, for example, 10 minutes, and hold your child close, rock a little from side to side, and kiss your child. Your child will most likely settle in your arms. After a few days, you can take your child off after 5 minutes, a few days later after 3 minutes, and so on.

  • Before you go to bed yourself, you can give your child a dream feed, where you breastfeed your child while they are sleeping. For some children, this is very effective, while for others it does not help at all.
<p>Would it help to give a bottle before the baby goes to sleep?</p>

Would it help to give a bottle before the baby goes to sleep?

Have you also been told that your child will sleep better if you:

  • Give them an evening bottle.
  • Stop night breastfeeding and give a bottle instead.
  • Start them on porridge to help with their sleep.
  • Give your child a large meal right before bedtime to help with their sleep.

I have met many families who are very frustrated, both because they are struggling a bit with sleep and because they don't feel their little baby is ready to start eating solids yet. But will giving porridge, a bottle, or stopping night breastfeeding actually help with the child's sleep? No, not really.

One study has shown that babies who are bottle-fed formula from a very young age may sleep in slightly longer stretches than breastfed babies. This is because the child typically consumes more milk at a time, and because formula is slightly harder to digest than breast milk. However, the study also showed that once babies reach about 3-4 months, there is no longer this difference in sleep between babies who are formula-fed and those who are breastfed.

This difference in sleep between breastfed and formula-fed babies is a matter of maybe a few minutes. We are not talking about a difference of hours. Parents whose breastfed child has trouble sleeping are often told that if the child is given a bottle instead, they will be able to sleep through the night. That is not entirely true. Another study set out to investigate whether the introduction of solid foods would make babies sleep for longer stretches or sleep through the night. The study showed that there is no correlation between the introduction of solid foods and sleep.

To this day, parents are still advised to give their baby formula or cereal in a bottle before bedtime. This is still recommended even if the child is only a few months old. I would not recommend you do this, as it has no effect on sleep, and there is a risk of the child choking.

It turns out that babies who are introduced to solid food before 6 months of age may have more difficulty sleeping at night. This frustrates parents, as they were specifically told that introducing solid food before 6 months could help with nighttime sleep.

A third study has shown that mothers who breastfeed generally get better sleep at night than mothers who feed their child formula. It has been shown that they get up to 45 minutes more sleep at night than mothers who use formula. How can that be?

It is easier and quicker to put the baby to the breast at night. If a mother has to get up to make a bottle, she has to get all the way up and spend time preparing the bottle. This means the mother's sleep is more interrupted. Some of the mothers who breastfeed at night often do not realize they are breastfeeding at night, or cannot remember it the next morning. In most cases, the baby also falls asleep while being breastfed at night.

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