Baby sleep hack: Dr Golly weighs in on viral butter for baby sleeping TikTok trend

Any parent who’s had a baby who doesn’t sleep knows how relentless, exhausting and just all consuming it can feel to try to get something to change. 

So it’s no surprise there’s a hack doing the rounds online promising to get your baby sleeping through the night.

It’s called the ‘butter trend’ and it’s been popping up all over TikTok. The idea is simple: before putting your little one down for the night, give them a spoonful of butter and they’ll supposedly sleep through the night. 

Melbourne paedatrician Dr Golly has weighed in on the trend, and it’s not good news for sleep-deprived mums and dads who are thinking about giving it a go. 

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“A square of butter is unlikely to turn a poor sleeper into a wonderful one overnight,” Dr Golly told 9Honey Parenting. 

“It’s for this reason that we need to be cautious of TikTok health advice.” 

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While a spoonful of butter won’t help with sleep, he also warned it could cause other issues. 

“We need to consider the possible choking hazard of a square of butter. Certainly, butter consumed in cooking or on toast is, of course, harmless,” he added. 

“While not particularly harmful, the bigger benefit will be gained from having plenty of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats throughout the day.”

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The thinking behind the TikTok trend is that the fats in the butter will help keep the baby full for longer overnight, which in turn will help with overnight wakes. 

Instead, Dr Golly recommends a “daily intake of tryptophan is crucial” for sleep. 

“This is an amino acid that forms the building block for melatonin – which helps to promote sleep through the night,” he explained. 

“Tryptophan is found in meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, nuts and fruits.” 

According to Australian Infant Feeding Guidelines it is not recommended to feed babies under six months solid food, another facet that isn’t necessarily explored in the viral trend. 

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It is also biologically normal for babies to sleep lighter than older children and adults. 

Light sleep helps ensure they continue breathing, protecting them from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome), which means they wake easily and often.

But your baby might also be waking up because they’re hot, or they’re cold, or they need a nappy change, or their sleep in the day is impacting their night sleep, or simply because they’ve woken up. 

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Dr Golly says if you’re struggling with your baby’s sleep, it’s something you should look into. 

“It’s crucial to interrogate the possible reasons why your child is waking in the night,” he said.

“This is a fundamental part of my sleep programs; If you remove the hurdles and reasons why a child – of any age – is waking through the night, they will be more likely to stitch together sleep cycles and sleep through the night.”

Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your or your child’s health.

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