Why do some babies feed to sleep & STTN, & some wake every hour to feed?
Confusing isn’t it?
Some babies will feed to sleep, and not wake for feeds all night, whereas others will wake every 1-2 hours!
Let me explain why…
Before I do I need to let you know….
This is nothing you did wrong…..
This is not your fault…..
You are not blame…..
I work with a lot of babies and toddlers that wake up non-stop through the night to feed, and mum’s will always say, I know I caused this by feeding to sleep, or I know caused this never trying him on a bottle…….
There are few reasons I see babies feeding frequently
Number One
The most common reason is temperament, highly sensitive babies, will signal more through the night and need help getting back to sleep. There preferred settling method is usually feeding, and they need this at every wake to resettle. To reduce the frequency, the key really is helping them to settle in other ways, and working on bringing in the second caregiver, as often the parental preference is strong, especially if baby is breastfed. Research shows the biggest reduction in night wakes happens when a baby can settle with a different caregiver in a different way.
Number two
They have an underlying health issue causing the waking and feeding; the most common issues I see here are tongue tie’s, reflux, and low iron. In all three babies will feed frequently. So how do you know if this is your baby? Reflux has quite obvious signs, vomiting, gulping, fussy behaviour, difficulty laying flat. With a tongue tie you tend to see open mouth position during sleep, commonly clicking when feeding and reflux. With low iron, it is more tricky as signs can vary a lot, but common signs are restless sleep, sweaty sleeper, frequent split nights. I go into each of these in a lot more depth in my baby sleep guide, if you need more guidance on these areas.
Number Three
Less common, but I have seen this many times…. Low sleep pressure! If your baby is having more day sleep than their body needs, they will wake more at night and naturally need help getting back to sleep. Common signs are very frequent night wakes, frequent feeding, split nights, commonly waking on transfer.
I hope you found this guidance helpful, and you now have a good idea why your baby is feeding so much at night.
If you feel you would benefit from more personalised support with your baby or toddlers sleep, you can book a free 15 minute chat below.
