Do you find yourself offering your baby a feed every time they wake up at night, even though they have shown that they can go longer without one? This may be a sign that your baby is experiencing reverse cycling.
Reverse cycling is a term used to describe when a baby starts waking more frequently at night, for various reasons such as sleep regression, teething discomfort, new skill development, or needing a schedule tweak. (I see this occur a lot right around the 4 month sleep regression especially!)
As a result, parents tend to offer a feed at each waking, even when their baby has shown that they can go longer without one. This can lead to a weird distribution of calories, with the baby eating more at night and less during the day. It can also result in more difficult day feeds due to a lack of hunger and distraction.
If you find your baby stuck in reverse cycling, here are some tips to break out of it gradually:
+ Be sure that you are not using a feed to initially get baby to sleep at bedtime. How they fall asleep is often how they will expect to fall back asleep when they inevitably wake at night.
+ Start to gradually decrease the amount you offer overnight. You can decrease the number of ounces or minutes of nursing at each overnight feed.
+ Or you can hold off on a feed and help your child get back to sleep in a different way (holding, rocking, patting, etc).
+ In addition, you could try sleep training to give your child the skills they need to re-settle themselves back to sleep instead of being reliant on a feeding to fall asleep.
+ Most of all, it's important to understand that you cannot break out of this cycle by just offering an un-hungry baby more food during the day. You must also start to slowly decrease the amount of feeding at night too.
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If you are not currently experiencing your baby reverse cycling but are worried about getting stuck in it in the future, here are some preemptive steps you can take:
+ Pay attention to what your baby is capable of as far as night feeds go, and hold them to it.
+ If you have an off night or go through a regression, avoid adding in extra night feeds that your baby has shown they do not need.
+ Teaching independent sleep skills is another great way to help your child handle their night wakings without needing intervention from you. This teaches them to regulate their own sleep instead of being dependent on you to do it for them.
In conclusion, if your baby is experiencing reverse cycling, it is important to take gradual steps to break out of the cycle. By decreasing the amount of feeding at night and teaching independent sleep skills, you can help your baby get back on track with their sleep and feeding schedule.
Need more help navigating this process? I help tired moms who are overwhelmed by conflicting sleep advice to confidently sleep train. And I do it by providing a sleep training course that is clear, concise, and affordable. Check out my Sleep Coaching Crash Course here.