| Sumario: | Summary Background: Infants' ability to fall back to sleep without parental involvement may reduce nighttime feeding frequency. Objective We describe the associations between infant‐only wake bouts ("self‐soothing") and nighttime feeds using actigraphy from 6 to 24 weeks of age. Methods: Mother‐father‐infant triads (N = 20) wore sleep monitors, and mothers recorded infant night feeds, when infants were 6, 15 and 24 weeks of age. Actigraphy data were matched within‐families to quantify infant‐only wake bouts (infants woke; mothers/fathers remained asleep). Mixed models tested associations between infant‐only wake bouts and night feeding frequency. Results: The proportion of infant‐only wake bouts/night increased from 6 to 15 weeks of age (6 weeks: 52% [95% CI: 45‐59]; 15 weeks: 64% [57‐71]; 24 weeks: 62% [55‐69]; P <.01). For every 10% increase in the proportion of infant‐only wake bouts/night, there were 0.36 fewer feeds/night (P <.01) at 24 weeks; these concurrent associations were not found at 6 and 15 weeks. The proportion of infant‐only wake bouts/night at 6 weeks predicted a faster rate of decline in the number of feeds/night from 6 to 24 weeks (P <.01). Conclusion: Infants' ability to fall back to sleep without parent involvement at 6 weeks was associated with the trajectory of nighttime feeding frequency across early infancy.
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