Baby's Age for Sleeping Thru Night

Perhaps not average but my oldest was 3 years and my youngest was 4 years. Guess you don't want advice from me:)

Every child is different. My son is 5.5 and still doesn't. I have a friend with 4 kids and each one had a different sleep pattern and each slept through the night at different ages.

I did Ferber at six months with both boys and they slept through the night from then on, unless they were sick or teething. All babies wake up every two hours all night long because of their sleep cycle, but the thing is they need to learn to go back to sleep. Is he just fussing, or is he actually crying? If he is fussing he is probably trying to soothe himself back to sleep, the best thing is to let him. I got rid of the baby monitor so I wouldn't hear them fussing and I only woke up if they were actually crying for me.

Bulk up on bananas and raspberry leaf tea. He's growing. If CIO is what I think it is, that will never work. He's saying something other than "pick me up". The wiggle and squirm bit is your clue. He's uncomfortable. My brother always had painful growth spurts, even as a baby.

Is he eating solids yet? If not, try mixing breastmilk with rice or oat cereal and giving him some an hour before normal bedtime. He may need more food to supplement his growing body. I ended up having to supplement my milk(which he drank on demand a lot) with cereal.

By the way, when and if he should get pudgy doing this, for the love of your child and all that's decent, IGNORE ANYONE THAT SAYS YOUR BABY IS FAT!!!! I cannot begin to get into the levels of hell and wrong that is, so please, Give your baby what he needs to grow into a smart, quick toddler.

I was a "sumo baby", and didn't walk until I was almost two, but once my legs got stronger, I got real skinny, and stayed that way. My Mother adopted the patent-pending, "I can't hear you, my children need me" attitude when someone called us fat as babies.

Hang in there Mama!

M. W-

We used the Ferber method. We did it early. It worked for us. at 5 months, he was sleeping from 10-6, and at 6 months from 8-7. And consistently sleeps that long, and sometimes longer, ever since.

It took us several cycles of going in to check on him at first, so the total cry time may have been as long as an hour or more.

We all rouse periodically through the night, Ferber allows the child the opportunity to learn to soothe himself back to sleep without it being a major incident.

This household functions better when everyone is fully rested.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

PS- our ped had told us that once they reach 3 months, or 12 lbs, they no longer "need" to nurse through the night. You can carry on day nursing, if you would like, without having to wean altogether.

PPS- to correct some misgivings about the Ferber method. It is not insensitive to the fact that children have needs. In fact, it clearly says, if your child is sick, teething, ailing, or undergoing some major life change or stress, attend to them. Once the problem is overcome, you can reintroduce Ferber, and reintroduce good sleeping habits.

My little man did not sleep through the night until he was 19 months old. By 2 1/2 he was great falling asleep on his own and staying asleep.

i know this answer isnt helpful but i feel like thats one of those "every child is different" kind of questions. My 4 month old daughter sleeps basically through the night.. for example last night she went to bed at 730, woke up at 5am for a bottle and went back to sleep until 730.. (every night is slightly different but close to that).. my cousins son is 3 and he still wakes up a few times during the night... my friends daughter slept through the night from the time she was around 2 months and still does now at age 2
could you give him a little extra to eat before he goes to sleep.. my daughter gets and extra ounce in her last bottle before bed and i really think thats why she sleeps so long

My daughter was 2 before she slept through the night with any consistency. My son did on his very first night outside the womb, and slept for at least 5 hours at a stretch most nights, even as an infant. Both of them were normal, healthy, breastfed babies. "Normal" is a spectacularly wide range.

It sounds like this return to uninterrupted sleep is relatively recent, and that you've already looked at a lot of possible causes. My kids used to go through periods of fitful sleep immediately before and during growth spurts. The good news if that's the case is that there is nothing wrong. The bad news is that you can't fix it. If it is related to growth, it should resolve itself in about 2 or 3 weeks, right around the time you realize that none of his clothes fit any more.

Usually by 2 it's pretty consistent. Before that, hit or miss. For me it was never before 1 year for even a night.

sorry, but, this "new age parenting thing" doesnt make sense to me. its not safe to give tylenol to an infant, says so right on the box. our almost three year old still doesnt sleep thru the night, they wake up in the middle of the night, hungry, you FEED them, then they will go back to sleep with no problems, oh, and check their bottom, while you feed them, if its wet..change em
K. h.

Thoughts , are he might be going through a growth spurt.
My oldest didn't sleep through the night until she was 3.
yep I said 3 yrs old. She STILL does not fall asleep easily. and STILL gets up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night she's almost 11 now.
My son started sleeping through the night at just after a year , around 13 ish months old.He sleeps like a log, so much so that now at 8 he just started not wetting the bed (knock on wood) Both did this on their own with out me having to CIO etc. Kids sleep through the night when they are ready.
Also, what is he wearing to bed? Maybe he's too hot or too cold.
My youngest would do that trying to get comfortable thing when he wore footie pjs they were just NOT for him he still doesn't like them. Maybe he needs a lovely or a blankie .

Technically through the night for an infant is 5-6 hrs with out waking.
Adults do not sleep 100% through the night for the most part you will have cycles of deep sleep and lighter sleep and awaken even with out you remembering it later.

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/will_your_baby_eve...

My daughter is almost two and she has never slept through the night, sorry Im sure you didn't want to hear that one! Well she wakes up at least twice wanting a bottle and then she will go right back to sleep. I have given up on trying to sleep by myself and just sleep with her. She kicks, and is a very restless sleeper since probably 6 months old. I hope you get some good answers. Lots of people say not to sleep with your kids, but when you are having broken sleep and getting up and down several times a night that is crazy too, when I sleep with her I can usually just change her, get her a bottle, pat her back and tell her its okay and she will dose back off! Good luck to you!

All of mine were sleeping through the night (6 hr stretch) before 2 months, my youngest came home from the hospital that way.

I looked into this when we had our oldest and it was 12 weeks old on average to sleep through the night. A lot will depend on whether you do CIO or not after the 12 week mark. Our oldest slept through the night at 11 weeks and youngest did around 13 or 14 weeks.

At a year old, there's no reason for him to be waking you at all at night, except if he's sick.

its probably a growth spurt or teething. If it were me I'd roll with it a week or two before I tried to curb the new schedule.
My fist was 8 months when I got her to sleep through the night and used modified CIO
My second was over a year, and I never used any method to change her night eating as she was a pip squeak

My second daughter slept thru at 8 weeks then stopped sleeping thru from 5 months to a year. Then after a blessed month of sleeping thru again she had some tummy trouble and was up again until a few nights ago and has been sleeping better, about 1 wake up instead of 3 or 4. I was beside myself last week in the midst of her horrible sleeping phase where she wouldn't even cosleep with me , I had to be sitting up nursing her to get her back to sleep and then she'd pop back awake when I tried to lay her down. 2 days after asking for advice here, she started sleeping better. I didn't do anything I can definitely say made her sleep better. My issue with CIO is that I'd feel really bad to leave her cry to the point of gagging (as she has done when I was so desperate for sleep I tried it) or when she was coming down with something and I didn't know it or was teething and I didn't realize it yet. She's gone back and forth with her sleep habits so the Ferber fans that say she's playing me--How do they explain that on 3 separate occassions she did sleep thru for a period of at least a few weeks each? Why would she be manipulating me in this particular way? Perhaps she is a mammal and is a particularly needy one and this is what she needs ? I had a daycare child that slept thru easily at like 6 weeks and that pretty much slept awesome for her parents and me from then until the age of 2 and half. She keeps her parents up and is a bear to get her to sleep (at home) Explain that? Every kid is different!

Hi M., so sorry that I don't have any advice - just know that you are not alone, and it will get better. Sleep deprivation is no fun for the parents or kids. We're still struggling. Oldest finally started being consistent around four years old, and the youngest, now almost three, still wakes up once every night for no apparent reason other than lonliness. Some kids are great sleepers, some are not. Each child is different. Best of luck to you, hang in there. Hugs. (We didn't CIO, though. Hope it works for you!)

The best answer I can give you is that there is no real answer. My oldest daughter was waking up every 2-3 hours almost every night until she was almost a year old. She was no longer needing nourishment overnight, and no longer using a pacifier, so whenever she woke up I had to give her a sippy cup with water to put her back down. Finally at 11 months I started letting her cry, I would give her 3 minutes to cry, go in for one minute to calm her down, and repeat, and she would stop crying after 2 or 3 intervals. Within 3 days she was sleeping through the night almost consistently. She started being completely consistent with it about 4 months later when I took away her sippy cup completely (after the first 2 nights of crying for about 30 minutes straight) and made her settle herself down. My youngest is totally different, almost since birth I've been able to swaddle her, lay her down awake, and she'll put herself to sleep and only wake up 2-3 times to nurse and go right back out. It sounds like your son is simply using nursing as his comfort to go back to sleep when he happens to wake during the night, so I would suggest trying to find him a way he can comfort himself. That may be a pacifier, a stuffed toy, or possibly start going to see him and soothing him without picking him up. any one of these may lead to a few sleepless nights before they actually work and he gets used to the change though, so be prepared!

At 4 to 6 months they are, technically, old enough with big enough stomachs to sleep through the night. At 12 months, he's waking up to feed because you feed him. Stop feeding him in the middle of the night. Maybe you could have someone else (your husband) go in to comfort him so he knows that he's not going to be fed.

If you want to use CIO, you need to be firm and consistent. And the length of time a baby might cry will vary dramatically. It could be an hour or more the first couple of nights.

By the way, "sleep through the night" means different things to different people. All kiddos (and adults) wake up at times during the night. The key is to learn how to put yourself back to sleep.

How often do you nurse him in the day? Are you in the process of weaning?Do you even want to?

My suggestion:

At this age I think it'd be ok to offer him a pacifier for sleeping only. When he starts to drift, detach and give him the pacifier before you lay him down. I don't think he'll have trouble nursing during the day because of it. Also at this age he should be able to understand certain words, even if he's not speaking them himself. "No no, sweet baby. It's time to sleep." Lay him down and pet his back while you talk/sing softly to him. Slowly sing softer and softer while you walk out. If he fusses come close and pet his back again. A third fuss, just stand beside his bed still singing/talking softly, move farther back with each fuss until you are out the door. He should be able to self settle by now, what he needs from you is reassurance of your presence without the breast (that is if you want him to settle without it). He needs to learn that you'll always be there when he really needs you, but that you know when that is.

Good luck.

is he getting enough to eat during the day? my daughter is 7 mo and when my milk supply decreased she started waking up during the night to gain those calories she was missing through the day. since my milk supply has returned to normal she's sleeping through the night again.