Breastfeeding Months Four to Six: Benefits, Helpful Tips, and Schedules

Are you several months into breastfeeding your baby and wondering, “Is my baby getting enough milk? How much should my baby eat? And what is normal for my baby’s sleep?”

I’m a birth doula, mom of four breastfed babies, and survivor of a really challenging early breastfeeding journey with my first baby. I’m sharing this post today as an encouragement for moms in the intense season of mothering that is breastfeeding.

My hope is that this post will serve as a “visit with your village” of sorts, where a mom who has some experience under her belt in this area can come alongside you and support you in a few ways.

I am NOT a lactation consultant, and this post is not meant as medical advice. So please do proactively reach out to an expert if you are continuing to experience challenges in your latch, milk supply, or you have any concerns about your mental or physical health or the baby’s health and growth.

I’ve written a few other posts on breastfeeding that you may find helpful:

Early Breastfeeding: 7 Tips for the First Six Weeks
Breastfeeding the First 3 Months: Tips + Resources to Flourish
How to Survive Breastfeeding with Nipple Vasospasms (coming soon)
Breastfeeding Lifestyle: Helpful Gear and Systems to Support Life with Baby (coming soon)

I hope you’re able to gain some helpful insights, ideas, or just feel validated in your breastfeeding journey.

What Are the Benefits of Breastfeeding Until 6 Months?

The benefits of continuing to breastfeed until 6 months are numerous! The World Health Organization supports exclusive breastfeeding on demand until 6 months due to various health benefits.

In addition to those health benefits (which include immune support and the protective value of breastfeeding to both babies and mothers against disease later in life), continuing to breastfeed until 6 months provide the following benefits as well:

• Convenience: if you can get past the initial, often challenging learning curve of the first 6 weeks or so, exclusively breastfeeding a baby means much less (if any) bottle washing, bottle gear, and feeding paraphernalia. Breastfed babies are extremely easy to get out and do things with from a food/nutrition stand point.
• Bonding: as you begin to feel much more “normal” after having a baby and life resumes its sometimes busy pace, breastfeeding a baby multiple times a day ensures that you get to sit down (or stand, if needed!) and look in your baby’s eyes and cuddle them.
• Savings: continuing to breastfeed is a financially savvy choice to save the cost of formula.
• Ease of Clean Up: this benefit is a little niche, but if you use cloth diapers, exclusively breastfed babies have completely water soluble poo! So washing cloth diapers during those first six months when exclusively breastfeeding is actually really easy! Your washing machine does ALL the work.

How does Breastfeeding Months 4-6 compare to Breastfeeding Months 0-3?

Overall, breastfeeding months four to six have been a LOT easier for me than the first three months of breastfeeding.

The early days of breastfeeding are always marked by pain, frequently disrupted sleep, and feeling very “tied down” to the baby and our systems to support breastfeeding, such as staying well hydrated, getting plenty of rest, and having mountains of pillows to support the baby and me.

But once the baby starts to get just a little older, it feels like breastfeeding gets SO much easier.

Latching a baby – and doing so discreetly in public – seems to be easier. The baby’s sleep schedule seems to regulate and become more predictable, in my experience.

For me, the painfulness of breastfeeding, both with latching as well as with engorgement gets a lot better. And my own milk supply usually feels well established.

I’m not worried about whether my baby is getting enough food because by month four, I have plenty of evidence that the baby is growing well on breastmilk (including the rolls of chub on their thighs!).

What to Expect Breastfeeding Month 4:

By month four, your milk supply should be fairly well regulated by now if you’ve been exclusively breastfeeding up to this point. Of course, it is natural to have some up and down in supply, so continue to be aware of this. But you don’t usually need to stress about it.

If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, making sure you’re feeding the baby regularly, getting rest, and drinking plenty of fluids, you should be fine.

When you do experience a dip in supply (which you might notice from the baby wanting to cluster feed or seeming discontent after a feed), usually an intentional 24 hours of lots of fluids, a nap and/or an early bedtime, and lots of cuddling the baby and offering it feeds seems to turn things around.

At this stage, babies seem to start getting a bit more social. This can mean the baby gets distracted when nursing. I try to feed the baby in a slightly quieter setting.

For our home, this means I’ll nurse the baby in the room where the baby has napped after they wake up before taking them out to the rest of the household’s busyness.

Babies also seem to feed very efficiently at this point, so feeding sessions don’t take very long. Typically 10 minutes is plenty of time for my babies to get a full feed.

Month 4 Feeding Frequency:

Like during the previous months, I’m still trying to feed the baby 6-7 times during a 24 hour time frame. If the baby sleeps through its normal night waking, I don’t worry about it too much. But I also keep trying to hit 6 times to make sure the baby is getting enough and my supply is being stimulated. And if there is an extra night feed, I figure that helps support the milk supply.

A normal day looks about like this:

7am – wake and feed and diaper change. Afterward, floor time.
8:30am – diaper check, if struggling to settle, offer a quick nurse session, down for a nap.
10:30am – wake, feed, and diaper change.
12:15pm – diaper check, if struggling to settle, offer a quick nurse session, down for a nap.
2:30pm – wake, feed, diaper change.
4:30pm – diaper check, carrier nap
5:15pm – wake, feed, diaper check.
7:30pm – diaper change, jammies, full nurse session. Usually baby is falling asleep
8:00pm – asleep in bed
1am – wake and feed, if poopy, diaper change – otherwise, just back to bed ASAP
4am – wake and feed, if poopy, diaper change – otherwise, just back to bed ASAP
7am – wake and start a new day

Month 4 Sleep Patterns:

One head’s up: a baby’s natural sleep pattern is maturing about this stage, and a lot of time, this becomes obvious in what is known as “the four month sleep regression.” This may result in a change in their sleep patterns.

I usually see this change in a few ways:

• If the baby was sleeping a longer stretch at night (such as from 8pm to 4 or 5am), when the regression hits, the baby often will start waking just after midnight again.
• The baby’s sometimes struggles to get solid 1.5-2 hour naps, waking after 45 minutes to an hour.

Sleep regressions are definitely a bit of a curve ball, and they can feel rough! I definitely make sure to start practicing “le pause” (a concept I learned from the book Bringing up Bebe). The idea of “le pause” is to give your baby a chance to self-soothe during sleep times.

If the baby is waking during a time that I don’t expect (ie: early in their nap cycle or early in the night), I try to wait and give them a chance to settle. Usually I can tell from the sound of their fuss/cry within 1-2 minutes whether they are going to escalate or calm back down.

Breastfeeding Month 4 Tips for Surviving and Flourishing:

Tip 1: Prioritize a consistent sleep/eat/wake cycle. Having experienced how helpful it is to have a baby on a solid routine with solid naps, if I had a baby that wasn’t on a consistent routine, I would personally work hard at this point to get my baby in a solid cycle of sleeping, eating, and wake time.

I’m not sure which one you are “supposed” to tackle first, but I’d start with eating. Make sure the baby is getting really good, full feeds. I would also offer a “top up” feed again before naptime to help support getting a full 1.5-2 hour nap.

Tip 2: Utilize a sound machine and black out curtains. I didn’t use a sound machine at all with our first baby, and then implemented its use (as a white noise app on a phone) with our second baby to help cover our toddler’s noise.

We got a real sound machine and black out curtains with our third baby, and both our third and fourth babies have been better nappers and sleepers than our first two.

Although it is extra paraphernalia, I would invest in a sound machine again. In fact, we use our “big” sound machine in the kids room at night, and I use this portable sound machine for the baby’s naps out in the sleepout. I like having both!

Tip 3: Find quiet, non-distracting places to feed a social baby. I like to feed the baby in the room where they napped with the sound machine still going when they first wake up from a nap to ensure a good, non-distracted, full feed. The white noise from a sound machine or an app can be really helpful for social feeders to muffle out distractions for the 10 minutes you’re nursing the baby!

What to Expect Breastfeeding Month 5:

By this point, breastfeeding feels like it is established and in a nice rhythm. The baby knows what to do, and the momentum of the work from the previous months feels like it is carrying us.

For social babies, paying attention during breastfeeding sessions can be a challenge. But if I need to, I try to adjust my position and sitting to let the baby be able to see as much as they can while still staying latched.

Since feeds don’t take very long, even 5 minutes sometimes seems to be enough for me. And the other option is to try to find a quiet spot away from most distractions to feed the baby.

My babies tend to become much more aware of screens and phone use around this time. So if I have a habit of using my phone while feeding, I usually need to curb it around this point.

I don’t want my babies looking at screens. And I also want to be clear in my actions toward the baby that they are more important and interesting to me than my phone!

Month 5 Feeding Frequency:

I still maintain a schedule feeding the baby about 6 times per 24 hours.

Since the baby’s wake periods are usually about 2 hours at this point, I try to consistently offer a full feed when the baby wakes up from a nap, and then a top up just before putting them down for a nap.

For the full feed, I offer both sides, and for the top up, I usually just offer the side the baby nursed off of last.

They tend to get very drowsy and start falling asleep during the top up. When their eyelids start to flutter close, that’s when I put them down for their nap. I make a point to try to get a good burp out while walking to the hammock where the baby will sleep.

A typical day looks like this:

7am: wake and nurse both sides, diaper change
9am: diaper change, short nursing session one side, down for nap
11am: wake and nurse both sides, diaper change
1pm: diaper change, short nursing session one side, down for a nap
2:30pm: wake and nurse both sides, diaper change
4:30pm: diaper change, short nursing session one side, down for nap
6pm: wake and diaper change
7:30pm: feed both sides, heading to bed

Month 5 Sleep Patterns:

Naps are typically 1.5 to 2 hours long. For the first nap of the day, I often have to wake the baby up once it goes past the 2 hour mark.

Sometimes, my babies have had a few nights about this point where they sleep for 10-11 hours straight. But it is also as likely that they will have some nights where they wake up two or three times after settling into a more consistent routine of one or two nighttime wakes.

I sleep trained one of my kids at this point, following the Taking Cara Babies strategy. However, with our home set up, having a bedroom dedicated to exclusively be the baby’s room for sleeping isn’t convenient.

To be really honest, between the collective four kids, we’ve been all over the board with sleep at this point! The vast majority of the time, my babies have continue to wake for a nighttime breastfeeding session once or twice regularly at 5 months.

I have had to figure out (the hard way!) how much sleep disruption I can handle and still feel like I’m coping. I’ve also had to figure out what to do when it feels like getting sleep becomes a torturous experience and I’m NOT coping well.

With Thad at this stage, I started debating with myself about sleep training. We’d have a good night or just one wake up, then a rough night with three, then a couple good nights, then another rough night. I wanted sleep, but I didn’t want to have to do the work of sleep training!

So while I debated, I tried to be really disciplined about getting to bed early so that I could get adequate chunks of sleep, even if he woke up two or three times per night.

Breastfeeding Month 5 Tips for Surviving and Flourishing:

Tip #1: Put your phone away during breastfeeding sessions to maximize connecting with your baby and minimize the baby’s distraction.

Face to face bonding is so important for baby’s neurological development. Even just smiling at a baby helps their brain grow.

Breastfeeding sessions are one of my best opportunities to focus on the baby and have quality time with lots of eye contact and smiles.

Tip #2: Offer “top up” feeds just before nap time to try to get longer naps.

Since a well rested baby is most often a happy baby, and a happy baby means a lot less stress in the household environment, I want my baby to get good naps!

One of the things that seems to help at this stage is to offer a top up breastfeed session just before the baby goes down for a nap. A baby with a full tummy seems to be easier to settle and stays asleep longer.

Tip #3: If sleep is challenging, do your best to go to bed early to get enough sleep!

I know at 5 months, I’m starting to feel like I want to get back to my normal life, including sometimes staying up late to socialize or zone out or work on projects.

But when I make sure to get myself off to bed shortly after the baby has gone to bed, then whatever sleep the baby is getting, I can maximize my own sleep during that time.

The difference between three 3-hour chunks of sleep and only two 3-hour chunks of sleep is pretty significant!

What to Expect Breastfeeding Month 6:

Month six seems to be a milestone month. Not only have you made it to the halfway point to a year, but this is also when babies can start eating solids! It’s fun to begin to introduce your little one to the world of taste and textures.

This is also the month when three of my four kids have popped their first tooth. My babies have wanted to chew on things, sometimes they bite me when nursing, and they may want to nurse for comfort sometimes.

And this is also typically when my babies start sitting up on their own (with a lot of pillows and/or support around for when they topple over). The world seems to change when babies can sit up and view what is happening!

Month 6 Feeding Frequency:

I am still feeding my babies 6 times per 24 hours until we start to get solid food going well.

When I start to introduce solids, I initially do it very slowly. Usually I’ll just offer a little something from the family’s dinner to the baby.

After a week or two of that, I start to offer a little solids to the baby at breakfast as well. After another week or two of breakfast and dinner solids, I’ll add in lunch.

I will also put the baby in their high chair with some food to chew on (such as a slice of bell pepper or a green been) to entertain the baby in the kitchen with me while I’m cooking dinner.

A typical day looks about like this:

7am: wake up, nurse both sides, diaper change
8:30am: offer solids
9am: diaper check, down for nap
11am: wake up, nurse both sides, diaper change
12:45pm: diaper check, nurse one side, down for nap
2:15pm: wake up, nurse both sides, diaper change
4:15pm: diaper check, nurse one side, down for nap
5:30pm: wake up, diaper change
6pm: offer solids
7:30pm: diaper change, nurse both sides, heading to bed

Breastfeeding Month 6 Sleep Patterns:

With my sleep-trained baby, I would do a dream feed about 10pm, and then the baby would usually sleep until about 5 or 6am.

For my non-sleep-trained babies, sometimes I do a dream feed before I head to bed if I’m up late, but most of the time, I’d just try to get to bed by 8:30 or 9pm. Usually the baby wakes once between 1am and 4am to nurse. Sometimes the baby will wake up twice.

Naps are usually about 2 hours in the morning, then 1.5 hours for the second nap, and the third nap is often between 45 minutes and just over an hour.

Breastfeeding Month 6 Tips for Surviving and Flourishing:

Tip #1: Don’t stress about introducing solids!

With my first and second baby, I remember being really stressed about what to offer, when to offer it, and having food for the baby at every meal right at six months. For babies 3 and 4, I’ve taken a much more relaxed approach.

Introducing solids is a gradual, somewhat sporadic, natural transition for us these days.

Start offering the baby solid food when you’re eating, but don’t worry about getting 3 meals a day right at 6 months. Keep your solid offerings really simple. My favorite foods to offer kids at this stage are naturally really soft food: roasted sweet potato, bananas, avocados, oatmeal, beans, and plain yogurt.

Also, I usually just offer water in a sippy cup when I’m offering solid food.

Tip #2: Keep breastfeeding like you have been to maintain supply and encourage calorie consumption during the day.

At this stage, breastmilk is still the main source of nutrition for your baby. The solids are mostly just to introduce flavor and texture and give the baby practice at swallowing. Solid food will gradually become more nutritionally necessary over the next six months.

Tip #3: Expect that teething will throw some extra hurdles into your schedule.

My kids have all been pretty good teethers, but even so, it’s normal for babies to be a bit extra clingy, want to nurse more, or just be a bit more grumpy for a day or two when they are teething.

I’ve had several friends who find the amber bead necklaces to be really helpful for teething babies. I love this pretzel teether. It has been a big hit with all four of my kids. And these teether necklaces have also been popular with all my kids.

You’ve got this!

I hope this overview of my experience breastfeeding my kids months 3 to 6 has been helpful for you to gain some ideas and insight from if you are looking to continue breastfeeding through six months.

Of course, I realize EVERY mother-baby dyad’s experience is unique and different, and if your breastfeeding experience has varied from mine, that’s totally OK!

I really believe each child and mother are meant to be together, and whatever your personalities and strengths, you have what it takes to figure out how to make the best of your unique circumstances.

For me, breastfeeding has been a positive experience overall. But if that isn’t the case for you, I really hope you are able to gain resources and support to help turn it and make it positive, or feel freedom to change and adjust and find an alternative option for feeding your baby.

Let me know in the comments below if you’ve got questions or have found something helpful in this post. I’d love to hear from you!