How Old Was Your Baby When They Start Sleeping Through the Night?

My pediatrician said that infants won't sleep long stretches through the night until they weigh at least 12 pounds.

The more newborns sleep, the less chance they have to eat. If they sleep too much, then that is time that they are not eating... and hence, not having a chance to gain weight.

Sleeping through the night?? What is this glorious thing you speak of! haha (kind of)

My girls are 4.5, 3 and 6 months and NONE of them sleep through the night, nor have they ever. I'm SUPER envious of parent's whose children DO sleep through the night, but I was not so lucky (in the sleep dept - otherwise my girls are GREAT!)

my daughter was 14 months and my son was 18 months when they started "sleeping through the night" but even then they would wake up a couple nights a week. I think my kids are the exception to the rule, but I like to throw it out there cause its possible.

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!!! YOU ARE AN AMAZING PERSON TO CARE FOR FOSTER KIDS!

at 5 - 6 weeks......I got a good 6 - 8 hour stretch - I think at about 3-4 months she started sleeping a good 10-12 hours stretch. It helps to get them on a schedule so that their bodies can regulate their metabolism, and get enough nutrition during the daytime hours.......

Mine were less than 2 months, but I used to wait up to 5 minutes at night (after the first few weeks when they actually need night feedings) to see if they were really hungry or just wakeful. I also put them to bed, awake, at the same time every night and let them go to sleep on their own so they never learned bad sleep habits. I would let them fuss a little it need be, but only light crying/fussing (real cries I went in) and never for more than 5 minutes. When I say through the night by 2 months, I mean from 8 until 530 or 6. I am not sure if this was all due to my methods or if I just got extremely lucky, twice.

They sleep through the night?

Just kidding - my daughter was almost a year before she slept through the night. My son was an awesome sleeper though, still is and he's almost 5. He slept through the night at 3 months. I would accidentally wake him up sometimes checking on him to be sure he was breathing because he has always slept so soundly. My daughter is still a light sleeper, a sneeze can bring her out of a deep sleep.

What a wonderful thing you're doing! First I want to thank you for being so gracious and selfless to take these children into your loving home! My 8 month old still wakes up about every 4 hours, and my 2.5 year old started sleeping through the night around his first birthday. Good luck!

I am one of the fortunate ones. My son started sleeping through the night at 2 weeks of age. Everyone told me it would be months or years so the first night he slept through I was amazed and freaked out. I kept checking on him, he slept through the night but I didn't. HA! But other than 2 months when he was 2 (he's now 5) when he had night terrors he's always been a good sleeper. I am blessed!

My first was born at 9 in the morning so 12 hours. My second was born at 2 so 7 hours....same with number three and four. :)

Around 4 weeks - like the other moms mentioned, if you have them on a feeding schedule and don't pick them up at every whimper while they're asleep, then they will learn to sleep through the night at a very young age. ALSO, and this is critical, you have to put them down when their bodies need it, which for newborns is around 6pm. I know that sounds like a crazy time to put a baby down for the night, but trust me... it works. Mine slept from 6pm - 2am almost immediately (then a feeding, then asleep again until 6am), and by 4 weeks, there was no need for the 2am feeding anymore. Check out "On Becoming Babywise" by Gary Ezzo for more details on that - it worked like a charm for a bunch of my friends, so I tried it, and it worked great for us, too.

Thank you for being a foster mom!! You do a great service for the children in your care! :)

I had a newborn foster baby a few months ago... She was placed with me at 5weeks and was 5weeks premature. When she was first placed with me, I don't think she had been fed often enough, and she was waking up every 2 hours, wanting to eat. I think it was partially a security thing - she was still learning that when she would cry, I would feed her. She was actually placed with a sibling foster family after 2 weeks, but in the 2 weeks that I had her, she had gone from sleeping 2hrs at a time, to sleeping almost 5 hours at a time.
She also didn't like to sleep in the crib - I think because she wanted to be held a lot. If you don't have one yet, I highly recommend getting a Boppy. It makes them feel like they're being held and may give you a bit more rest that you would get otherwise.
Good luck with your placement!! :)

50?? I still don't sleep through the night....

I recommend the Baby Whisperer... I used that and trained my kids to sleep most of the night by 4-6 weeks, meaning about 6 hours. Which is all I can ask for as I'm the same way.

My daughter started sleeping through the night when she was 3 months :)

My first started around 2 months. My second only just started at 6 months, but I was only getting up once a night for the last 2 with him. he was a big baby...and hungry.

Mine was 12 weeks, but there are still times he doesn't...during a growth spurt, or a cold, etc. I think it's different for all babies and also depends on what you consider sleeping through the night. A lot of people consider that a 5-6 hour stretch. I do not! Lol...I like to sleep longer, so for me, it started to count when he would sleep at least 8 hours.

ummm my 4 year old still doesnt

It was 8 longggggg months before my son slept through the night, lol

Hi, it depends on the baby, I believe every baby is different when it comes to sleeping through the night. My daughter finally slept through the night when she was 9 months old.

My oldest (now 12) didn't sleep thru the night until somewhere in her 2's. And then she wouldn't go to sleep until after 1030. My little one is 20 months old and I can count on one hand the number of times she's slept 5 or more hours.
LipstickMama! That was good info that I could have use earlier!

Right around 16 months. It was a long 16 months but now he is the most awesome sleeper and practically begs me to put him to bed at night :)
Good Luck!

Both of my children were 40 days old.

I was 6-1/2 weeks old, as were my two siblings. My sister's first slept through at 6 weeks. Her second slept through at 6-1/2 weeks. So 6 weeks came and went. Seven weeks. Eight weeks. Nine weeks. We were dying. DS finally slept through at 16-1/2 weeks. My brother's new daughter just started sleeping through at 2 weeks. So not fair :)

My oldest started sleeping through the night at 3 months, my youngest was 1 y/o before he did.

My oldest son started sleeping through the night (9-7) at about 4-5 months. My youngest son started at about 6 months (7:30-6:30) at about 6 months. Right now my youngest has a cold and everytime he coughs he wakes up. So right now...there is no sleeping through the night. Sigh...

My twins started at 9 weeks.

My daughter was around 8 weeks when she started sleeping through the night (at least 7 hours straight). She's been a great sleeper since.

5, years for my son, he was a horrible sleeper - my daughter was around 7 months

Daughter #1 4 months
Daughter #2 8 months
Daughter #3 7 weeks

All of my kids started sleeping through the night when they were about six weeks.

My daughter started sleeping through on a consistent basis just after her first birthday.
With a foster child though, this may be way off. Many infant in foster care have been removed from their mothers because of drug issues, many are born addicted or are physically and developmentally affected by their mothers drug use before or during pregnancy. Some of these babies have a REALLY hard time getting enough sleep.
Make sure you inquire about the health issues of this infant so you know what you are in for.
Good luck!