Breastfed Babies - 3 to 5 feedings per night. Formula-fed Babies - 2 to 4 feedings per night.
Breastfed newborns' longest sleep periods are generally 2–3 hours — this is about how long their small bellies can go between feedings. If newborns do sleep for a while, they'll probably be extra-hungry during the day and may want to nurse more often.
Our resident infant sleep expert, Dr. Natalie Barnett, says yes if your baby is 4-6 months old. “Many, though not all, babies are able to make it through the night without food at 4 months. By 6 months, almost all healthy babies are physically and neurologically able to go 12 hours without food.”
Baby is at Least 12 Weeks Old
Baby needs to be old enough to go 4 hours between feedings both for the length between feedings and also because going 4 hours between feedings means dropping the number feedings in a day.
A newborn should be put to the breast at least every 2 to 3 hours and nurse for 10 to 15 minutes on each side. But rather than worry about duration, it's important to know that the best way to ensure that the baby is getting enough breast milk is by feeding frequency, wet and dirty diapers, and weight gain.
As a rule of thumb, a truly hungry baby will rarely choose sleeping over eating. So, if your baby falls asleep in your arms without taking a full feeding, it's likely he was tired — not hungry.
The first few days: Your breast milk coming in
The hormones will get you on track with starting to produce milk. Around day three after your baby's birth, your breast milk 'comes in' and your breasts may start to feel noticeably firmer and fuller.
Bottle-fed babies tend to feed less often, about every 3–4 hours. Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks.
For breastfed children, night weaning might be an option from 12 months. For formula-fed children, you can consider phasing out night feeds from 6 months.
Stretch out night feedings
Newborns need to feed every two to three hours, but she'll slowly stretch out the time between feedings. Use this shift to your advantage by offering a feeding right before you go to bed so you know she's full when your head hits the pillow.
Understanding the Role of Prolactin
Interestingly, prolactin levels have a typical 24-hour cycle — just like the human body's circadian rhythm. Prolactin peaks in the early morning hours around 2-5 a.m., while the lowest prolactin levels happen in the late afternoon to early evening.
Summary: While breastfed babies initially awaken more during the night for feedings, their sleep patterns -- falling asleep, staying asleep and total sleep time -- stabilize in later infancy and become comparable to non-breastfed babies, according to new research.
Will it really matter? “Missing just one feeding shouldn't affect a mom's milk supply,” registered nurse and lactation consultant Andrea Tran, RN, IBCLC, tells Romper. “If her milk supply is not established, missing the same feeding a couple of nights in a row can, though.”
Generally, newborns sleep about 8 to 9 hours in the daytime and about 8 hours at night. But they may not sleep more than 1 to 2 hours at a time. Most babies don't start sleeping through the night (6 to 8 hours) without waking until they are about 3 months old, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds.
To make sure your newborn is growing, developing, and maintaining proper weight gain, it's important to wake them for nighttime feedings. This also helps breastfeeding moms keep up with the pace of their milk production. However, this feeding schedule changes as they grow.
Your baby may want to eat as often as every 1 to 3 hours. Frequent feeding helps increase your milk supply and gives your baby practice at sucking and swallowing. You may be able to hear your baby sucking and swallowing the breast milk.
So if your baby really is hungry, they usually won't go back to sleep very easily until they've been fed. If they nod off after five or ten minutes of crying, that's a pretty reliable sign that they were just looking for some help getting back to sleep and not actually in need of a feed.
Another great time to change your newborn's diaper is before or during feedings. If you're breastfeeding, as you switch from one breast to the other, take the time to check her diaper, and change it if needed. If you're bottle-feeding, check her diaper right before you give her the bottle.
Newborns will wake up and want to be fed about every three to four hours at first. Do not let your newborn sleep longer than five hours at a time in the first five to six weeks.
For the purpose of this outline, understand that we refer to your baby's "nighttime" as a 12-hour period, such as 7 pm - 7 am. Additionally, you'll see that breastfed babies will need to eat more frequently than formula-fed babies as a general rule.
Milk production is a demand and supply process. As milk is removed from your breasts, your body is signalled to make more milk. The more frequently and thoroughly the breasts are emptied (though breasts are never truly 'emptied'), the faster they try to refill.
One of the signs milk is coming in is your breasts become fuller and firmer. This swelling is not just caused by the greater quantity of milk, but also by increased blood flow and extra lymph fluids in your breast tissue.
Breast Storage Capacity
The maximum volume of milk in the breasts each day can vary greatly among mothers. Two studies found a breast storage capacity range among its mothers of 74 to 606 g (2.6 to 20.5 oz.) per breast (Daly, Owens, & Hartmann, 1993; Kent et al., 2006).
Even if you are experiencing short naps, the EWS cycle will still be helpful. Feed your baby every time they wake, and focus on making it a full feed. The more they eat during the day, the less likely they are to wake to eat overnight.