Why Night-Time and Early Morning Breastfeeding is a Game-Changer for Your Baby

 

If there’s one thing new parents know all too well, it’s that sleep becomes a whole new ballgame once your baby arrives.

The late-night wake-ups and early morning feeds can feel exhausting, but here’s something that might help you push through—those night and early morning feeds are packed with benefits that go beyond just satisfying your baby’s hunger.

In fact, the milk you produce at night contains something magical: melatonin.

Here’s why night-time and early morning breastfeeding is not just important—it’s a game-changer for your baby’s health, sleep, and development.

 

Melatonin: More Than Just a Sleep Hormone

 

While melatonin is often referred to as the “sleep hormone,” it’s actually more of a circadian rhythm regulator. Think of it less like a lights-out switch and more like a dimmer that helps transition the body from daytime activities to nighttime mode. It doesn’t put you to sleep as much as it signals your body that it’s time to wind down and get into a nighttime rhythm.

But here’s the interesting thing: circadian rhythms aren’t just about sleep. These internal clocks regulate many other critical functions in your body, including digestion, hormone release, metabolism, and even immune system responses. So when your baby’s circadian rhythms are supported by the melatonin in breast milk, it’s not just helping them sleep better—it’s also helping them maintain balance in these other important systems. And melatonin itself has health benefits beyond regulating the circadian rhythms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The powerful effects melatonin has beyond its role in circadian rhythm:

• Cancer Suppression: Melatonin activates tumour suppressor genes and has oncostatic (cancer-inhibiting) effects, modulating hormones and the immune system to help protect against cancer.

• Bone health: Melatonin receptors in osteoblasts (bone-forming cells) suggest that melatonin helps in bone growth and development.

•Metabolic regulation: It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and helps regulate lipid and glucose metabolism, making it important for managing metabolic disorders.

• Cardiovascular support: Melatonin shows anti-hypertensive effects, helping to lower blood pressure and support heart health.

•Gut health: In the gastrointestinal system, melatonin reduces inflammation and oxidative stress, contributing to better digestive health.

•Neuroprotection: Melatonin helps activate pathways that promote brain cell survival and may protect against neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.

•Mental health: Melatonin receptor agonists, like the drug Agomelatine, are used in Europe to treat depression and anxiety due to their calming effects on the brain.

•Pain management: Melatonin has anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain-relieving) effects, making it helpful in managing pain syndromes.

(Savage et al. 2024)

Given how important melatonin is in the body, it’s easy to see how night-time and early morning breastfeeding, which deliver this powerful hormone directly to your baby, is about much more than sleep!

 For newborns, this signal is critical since they don’t produce their own melatonin for several months (Häusler et al 2024).  Babies rely on the melatonin in breast milk, especially at night, to help them develop those rhythms and figure out when to sleep, digest, and manage their overall growth and development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Night-Time Milk Supports Your Baby’s Sleep

Here’s how night-time breastfeeding helps your baby:

• Regulates their circadian rhythm: Babies aren’t born with a fully developed circadian rhythm (their internal sleep-wake clock), and melatonin helps guide this development. By giving your baby night-time feeds rich in melatonin, you’re helping them learn when to sleep and when to wake, and also supporting the broader systems that rely on circadian rhythms for balance, like digestion, hormone regulation, immune function, growth and development.
• Creates a sense of calm: Breastfeeding at night helps relax your baby. Not only does melatonin support their sleep, but breastfeeding also provides comfort, safety, and warmth—creating the perfect environment for sleep.

 

Why Early Morning Feeds Are So Important

While night feeds get a lot of attention, don’t underestimate the power of those early morning feeds. Between 02:00 and 03:00, melatonin levels in your body are at their peak, meaning the milk you produce in these early hours is packed with even more of this amazing hormone.

These early morning feeds can give your baby an extra dose of melatonin, which can keep their body in the nighttime mode while giving enormous growth and well-being benefits.

 

More Than Just Sleep: The Health Benefits of Melatonin for Babies.

Beyond helping your baby develop a circadian rhythm for sleep better, melatonin delivers a wealth of health benefits. Here’s what your baby gets from those late-night and early-morning feeds:

• Boosts the immune system: Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant and acts like a natural protector in the body. It helps reduce inflammation, prevents cell damage, and supports the health of the body’s energy centres. Melatonin also boosts the immune system by helping important immune cells stay strong and active, especially in colostrum. This makes melatonin a key player in protecting babies from infections.
• Supports brain development: Melatonin is thought to support brain growth. In newborns, most brain activity happens during REM sleep (the sleep stage where most brain development occurs). Nighttime and early morning breastfeeding are thought to help with this brain development and boost the growth of new brain cells.
• Protects against colic: Babies who are breastfed at night tend to experience fewer episodes of colic. The calming effects of melatonin on the digestive system may help reduce discomfort and ease symptoms of colic, making night feeds even more valuable.

 

Night-Time Breastfeeding and the Gut-Brain Connection

Ever heard of the gut-brain axis? It’s the connection between the gut and the brain that plays a crucial role in overall health. Breastfeeding at night, with its higher melatonin, helps nurture your baby’s gut health. This, in turn, supports their brain development, immune function, and digestion—systems that all rely on healthy circadian rhythms. 

Melatonin in breast milk helps establish a healthy microbiome (the community of bacteria in your baby’s gut), which is essential for digestion and immune support. By feeding your baby at night, you’re not just nourishing their body—you’re setting the foundation for a healthy gut, brain, and immune system for years to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pumping at Night: Does It Still Work?

If you’re pumping to give expressed milk at night or in the early morning, can you still take advantage of the melatonin boost?

You might have heard the advice to label the milk with the time it was pumped, so that when you give it to your baby, they’re getting the right milk at the right time. Milk pumped at night will still contain those higher levels of melatonin, making it just as beneficial when given during night or early morning feeds. However, we are not sure whether pumping and storage of breastmilk alters the melatonin component.

Pasteurising expressed milk can significantly drop the melatonin levels however, pumping and freezing straight might be okay.

One small study of  13 healthy breastfeeding women, found that if breastmilk is frozen immediately after being pumped and stored for up to 4 months when thawed and used within 24 hours, the melatonin levels didn’t show much difference compared to fresh breastmilk (Molad et al, 2019).

So it probably is a good idea to match the time of day that the milk was pumped with the time it’s fed to your baby. For example, if you’re feeding milk that was pumped at night during the day, your baby will be getting melatonin at a time when their body is naturally meant to be awake. This could disrupt your baby’s developing circadian rhythm and other processes that rely on melatonin, like digestion and hormone regulation.

Additionally, night-time breastfeeding also plays a crucial role in boosting milk production. During the night, the hormone prolactin—which is responsible for milk production—reaches its highest levels. Prolactin isn’t just for milk production though—it’s also a sleep-promoting hormone, which means it can help both you and your baby settle back into sleep more easily after a feed. By breastfeeding at night, you’re not only increasing your milk supply but also benefiting from prolactin’s sleep-enhancing effects.

Breastfeeding also triggers the release of cholecystokinins in both mum and baby. These hormones can indirectly help with sleep regulation by promoting relaxation and a sense of fullness. This combination of hormones working together during night-time breastfeeding makes it an incredibly effective way to support both milk production and better sleep for you and your baby.

While pumping at night can help maintain this supply, directly breastfeeding offers additional benefits, like the release of oxytocin, which promotes relaxation and helps both you and your baby fall back asleep faster. Plus, if you’re already awake at 3 a.m. to pump, why not make the process smoother and nurse directly, ensuring a stronger bond and more restful sleep for both of you? Direct breastfeeding during the night is an efficient way to support both milk production and the overall breastfeeding experience.

By breastfeeding directly during the night, you might find that your sleep is less disrupted than if you get up to pump, freeze, and then return to bed. This creates a smoother, more restful experience for both you and your baby, while still ensuring they get the full benefits of melatonin-rich milk at the right time.

Why Supplementing with Melatonin Isn’t the Answer

With all the buzz around melatonin and its benefits, it’s understandable why some parents might consider giving their baby a melatonin supplement to help with sleep. But here’s where it gets tricky: melatonin is not just a simple sleep hormone—it has effects throughout the body. While it plays a key role in regulating sleep, melatonin also impacts various systems in ways we’re still trying to fully understand.

What makes synthetic melatonin risky is how we often take it in doses that far exceed what the body naturally produces. Typically, our bodies produce melatonin in tiny amounts—around 40 micrograms over the course of eight hours. Yet, many melatonin supplements are sold in doses that are thousands of times higher than what our bodies need or can possible handle. This massive discrepancy could cause unintended consequences, especially in babies whose systems are still developing.

Part of the confusion around melatonin supplements comes from how they were introduced, particularly in the United States. Melatonin was marketed as a dietary supplement. By labelling melatonin as a dietary supplement, manufacturers didn’t have to meet the same high standards for safety, efficacy, or dosage that medications are required to meet. This loophole led to widespread availability and use, despite the poor regulation and oversight. (Swan, 2024)

While melatonin is now more tightly regulated in places like Australia, the initial lack of oversight has left a trail of poor-quality research. There are thousands of studies on melatonin, but many don’t meet high scientific standards, and much of the research doesn’t take into account the hormone’s broader effects on the body. This means we’re often using melatonin to solve one problem (like sleep), without understanding what other systems we might be interfering with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Risks of Synthetic Melatonin for Babies

When you give synthetic melatonin to a baby, you’re not just impacting their sleep—you’re introducing a hormone that can have unintended effects on other parts of their body. Here’s why that’s concerning:

• Hormonal imbalances: Melatonin interacts with multiple systems in the body, not just the sleep-wake cycle. By giving babies synthetic doses of melatonin, we may unknowingly interfere with other hormones, especially those related to growth and reproductive health.
• Lack of regulation and research: As mentioned earlier, melatonin supplements in places like the U.S. are not held to strict standards. This means there’s a lack of consistent dosage and quality, raising concerns about whether these supplements are safe for infants, especially in the long term.
• Unintended consequences: Because melatonin affects different parts of the body, using it to address sleep issues might cause disruptions elsewhere. For example, melatonin has effects on metabolism, cardiovascular health, and even bone growth. Introducing synthetic melatonin into a baby’s system could lead to imbalances or developmental issues that we don’t fully understand yet.

 

The Better Option: Trust Nature’s Design

Rather than turning to synthetic melatonin, the natural melatonin in breast milk is already perfectly tailored to your baby’s needs. Night-time and early morning breastfeeding provides just the right amount of melatonin in sync with your baby’s developmental and nutritional needs—without the risks that come from high-dose supplements.

Breastfeeding at night is nature’s way of gently guiding your baby’s body toward better sleep, while also providing a host of other health benefits, including immune support, brain development, and gut health. Trusting your body’s natural ability to nourish and regulate your baby is always the safest and most effective path forward.

 

Supporting Mums Without Disrupting the Magic of Night-Time Feeds

While night-time feeds can feel overwhelming, they are a unique opportunity to support your baby’s natural development in ways that only breastfeeding can provide. Rather than trying to outsource night feeds or rely on synthetic solutions, it’s important to focus on how we can support mums through this demanding time.

Ensuring mums have adequate rest, help with household tasks, and emotional support can make a big difference in their ability to keep up with the demands of night-time feeding without feeling burnt out. By supporting mothers in ways that let them continue these valuable night feeds, both mum and baby benefit—promoting better sleep, stronger bonding, and healthier development.

So, instead of focusing on how to share the night feeds, let’s find ways to nurture and support mums so they can keep doing what they do best: nourishing and loving their babies in the most natural way.

 

 

References

Häusler S, Lanzinger E, Sams E, Fazelnia C, Allmer K, Binder C, Reiter RJ, Felder TK. Melatonin in Human Breast Milk and Its Potential Role in Circadian Entrainment: A Nod towards Chrononutrition? Nutrients. 2024; 16(10):1422. doi: 10.3390/nu16101422.

Gombert M, Codoñer-Franch P. Melatonin in Early Nutrition: Long-Term Effects on Cardiovascular System. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2021; 22(13):6809. doi: 10.3390/ijms22136809. PMID: 34202781; PMCID: PMC8269134.

Molad M, Ashkenazi L, Gover A, Lavie-Nevo K, Zaltsberg-Barak T, Shaked-Mishan P, Soloveichik M, Kessel I, Rotschild A, Etzioni T. Melatonin stability in human milk. Breastfeeding Medicine. 2019; 14:680-682. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31381362/

Savage RA, Zafar N, Yohannan S, et al. Melatonin. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK534823/.

Verteramo R, Pierdomenico M, Greco P, Milano C. The Role of Melatonin in Pregnancy and the Health Benefits for the Newborn. Biomedicines. 2022; 10(12):3252. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines10123252. PMID: 36552008; PMCID: PMC9775355