Young babies not sleeping through the night

[Anonymous]

My baby is nearly 10 weeks old and has no desire to sleep through the night. She always wakes up once to feed (somewhere between 1:30 and 3) and then she is up for her day between 6 and 7 am. It seems like everyone I know with a baby my DD's age is starting to sleep through the night. I thought I was in pretty good shape with my DD only waking once to nurse, but now I am thinking DD is way behind. The pediatrician even told me to put her in her crib in the other room since that would help prolong her sleep (as I would not respond to her fusses etc...which I don't do anyhow.) When did your baby start sleeping through the night and did you have to Feberize or use some other method to get him/her there? I'd like your thoughts.

[Anonymous]

10 weeks?! Please don't worry. It sounds to me as though your baby is doing just fine.

Every baby is different, and their sleep patterns change -for better and for worse - over time. My first child slept through at 8 weeks and never looked back. My second child didn't sleep through the night until he was 2 years old (he had health issues). My third slept through at 6 weeks. Then at 4 months, she started waking up once again. It's okay - I know she will go back to sleeping through.

It sounds to me as though your baby is doing just fine.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what these people you know are doing but once a night sounds great! At 10 weeks, two to three feedings is more like it.

Also, if your baby is up for feedings only and then back to sleep then she IS sleeping through the night. When she is fighting sleep for prolonged periods and nursing (or anything else) won't get her back to sleep, then she is not sleeping through the night.

[Anonymous]

Most baby books and probably your ped will tell you that sleeping through the night can just mean a sleep stretch as short as about 6 hours (not konking out for as long as us parents would love to sleep for). I think your friends are exceptionally lucky if their babies that age aren't waking even once to feed in the night. Think your DC is doing really well actually. Waking only once to eat and then going back down for another nice stretch seems pretty good for that age. Our DD (and most of our friends' DCs) didn't do that until a bit later, if you're looking for other reference points.

[Anonymous]

At 10 weeks, a baby is not ready to sleep through the night like adults do. Most babies still need to wake up for a feeding at least once. My son is almost 7 weeks and sleeps 3-4 hour stretches at night waking up to feed once or twice. I consider that a blessing compared to waking up every 2 hours just a week or two ago. Also, sleeping through the night is different for babies than it is for adults. We consider sleeping through the night to be around 8 hours, but for babies sleeping through the night is about 5 hours. I pasted an excerpt below from a website that explains sleeping through the night for babies. My older son, who is now 3 and sleeps about 11 hours at night now, did not sleep through the night until 13 months. Every baby is different and you just have to go with what your baby wants. I definitely would not ferberize at 10 weeks. A few doctors have told me by 6 months babies are ready to be trained to sleep through the night.


Sleeping "through the night"

You have probably heard that babies should start "sleeping through the night" at about 2 to 4 months of age. What you must understand is that, for a new baby, a five-hour stretch is a full night. Many (but nowhere near all) babies at this age can sleep uninterrupted from midnight to 5 a.m. (Not that they always do.) A far cry from what you may have thought "sleeping through the night" meant!

What's more, while the scientific definition of "sleeping through the night" is five hours, most of us wouldn't consider that anywhere near a full night's sleep for ourselves. Also, some of these sleep-through-the-nighters will suddenly begin waking more frequently, and it's often a full year or even two until your little one will settle into a mature, all-night, every night sleep pattern.

[Anonymous]

OP - Thanks! I told my ped she has 4-5 hour stretches and somehow that did not seem good enough for her (the ped). DD weighs nearly 12 lbs and I guess the ped thought she should be doing about 6 hours at a time. She does fall back asleep easily after nursing and I always thought that was awesome. Thanks for reassuring me.

[Anonymous]

My son is 5 months and still wakes up at least once or twice to nurse. He sleeps in the same room with us so it makes night time feedings easier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - Thanks! I told my ped she has 4-5 hour stretches and somehow that did not seem good enough for her (the ped). DD weighs nearly 12 lbs and I guess the ped thought she should be doing about 6 hours at a time. She does fall back asleep easily after nursing and I always thought that was awesome. Thanks for reassuring me.

Wow -- your ped sounds a bit off base in my opinion and rather unsupportive! When our DD was sleeping the way you describe, our ped said it was completely normal -- some babies sleep a bit longer at that age (6-7 hr stretches) and some still sleep less (3-4 our stretches). There's a huge range of normal at 10 weeks, and the variance in sleep habits continues for many months to come.

Also, we've learned that things change rather quickly the first year. From 12-15 weeks our DD magically started sleeping 12 hours a night with one feeding in between. It was heaven and we thought we were set. But around 16 weeks she regressed and has been up 2-4 times a night ever since. I had no idea this 4-month sleep regression was common, so heads up. Of course, it doesn't happen to every baby and I hope your DD's sleep continues to improve steadily!

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My DS still woke up once a night until 10 months. I think you are doing GREAT!

[Anonymous]

My 9.5 month old still wakes up once a night to eat. At 10 weeks, he was getting up every 3 hrs. I think you are in an excellent situation!

[Anonymous]

According to Weissbluth, 4-5 hours is "through the night" at that age. Your ped is way off base here.

[Anonymous]

my 8 month still gets 2 feedings..... i wouldnt worry about it

[Anonymous]

My 15 MONTH old wakes up twice per night. Please relax, your situation is a great one.

[Anonymous]

OP here - THANKS to all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

My theory about moms who say their newborns sleep through the night.... They're lying! OK, so some newborns do sleep through the night, but it's VERY normal for them not to. And waking up once or twice, or even three times, a night sounds like a pretty good schedule. The real problem sleepers are waking up every hour or two (we went through about 6 weeks of that - not fun). Babies need to eat, get cuddled, etc. Don't listen to what other people tell you their kids are doing - everyone is different and different things work for different families. Case in point, I co-sleep with my almost 8 month old DD and IGNORE everyone who thinks it's a bad idea. Period. It works very well for us (still BF'ing) and we both sleep just fine.