Typically, most babies post 12 months of age do not need to feed in between the night and post one last feed at bedtime. If your toddler’s weight gain is satisfactory as per your pediatrician and they are active during awake times and have enough intake of solids during the day, they may not need nighttime feeds.
However, some babies may feed frequently at night time. Especially, if the child is not with the mother in the day time and doesn’t breastfeed during the day and consumes solids, the child may feed more in the night time on the breast. This is called ‘reverse cycling’ because feeding during the night could cause reverse consumption of calories meaning the toddler could end up consuming more calories during the night and less in the day.
Some babies may feed at night, just to get into sleep. They will wake for a couple of minutes in the night, suck on the breast and sleep again. They are using breastfeeding as a way to get sleep.