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Saturday, October 11, 2008
Mom2MomSC
Sleeping through the night
We're trying to get our 8-week-old to sleep through the night. I know he's ready (and so are mom and dad) because when he does wake up it's at 4 a.m. on the dot every time. So we think it's more his internal clock than hunger that triggers him. I know there are several tips out there - just wondering what has worked for you guys.
He already sleeps through his late-night feeding (10:30 p.m.) sometimes so he technically sleeps 7 hours on occasion, which is nice. But I think he's ready to eliminate that middle-of-the-night feeding too.
Let me know what's worked best for you. Thanks!
- Laura Jacobi's blog
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- by Laura Jacobi
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I'm sure there are tons of opinions out there, but I personally think that 2 months is a little bit premature to be hoping for a full night's sleep. :) My son is 1.5 years old and has never slept through the night. Granted, I'm a full time working mom and he still nurses at night, but I am sure that he needs the milk when he wakes up. I always try to think of the times that I've woken (even as an adult) at night and wanted something to drink or a quick snuggle. From what my ped. told me, "Sleeping through the night" for an infant is about 5 hours--that may just be his opinion though.
I have also found that there have been periods of time where my little guy was a pretty good sleeper and woke up just a few times at night and others where he woke up a lot--teething, growth spurts, etc. will be coming along soon enough and I found it better for my emotional well-being to set low standards as far as sleeping is concerned. Otherwise, it becomes very frustrating.
Just the opinion of another first time mom. :)
I agree with Beaufortmom06. My pediatrician also said the standard for "sleeping through the night" is actually sleeping for 5-7 hours at a stretch. So your little one IS sleeping through the night already! Two months old is still very, very young, so it sounds like the sleep schedule you have him on is great for that age.
I know it's tough because we adults want OUR time and OUR usual chunk of uninterrupted sleep, but that's just not how a lot of babies function. My 1-year-old still isn't sleeping "through the night" (not to depress you). Of course there are sleep "training" techniques you can use if you're really desperate for those last few uninterrupted hours of sleep.
One thing I read that I found really helpful was to ask yourself whether having your child "sleeping through the night" was important to you because it's something you personally think is best for your baby, or whether it's important to you because you feel like it's something he "should" be doing, like whether you're hearing stories of friends' kids sleeping through the night at six weeks, and people all around you are starting to ask "Is he sleeping through the night yet?!" "How is he sleeping?" "You're still getting up with him?!", making you feel like you're doing something wrong if he's NOT. That sort of thing. Just step back and think about whether this is a goal you have because of societal pressures. I know for me it was, and once I realized that, I was able to "let" my baby wake up for a middle of the night feeding without being angry or feeling like I was doing something wrong.
Now I'm just rambling but hoping maybe my own trials and doubts might help. Good luck, and as with everything, only YOU know what's best for your baby.
~ Robyn
Robyn,
Thanks for the kind words. At the time I wrote this I was just a little frustrated that he had dropped his 10:30 p.m. feeding before his 3-4 a.m. feeding. I just figured he would drop that middle-of-the-night feeding first. But after I tried to wake him up at 10:30 thinking he'd sleep through the night and didn't - I got over it. The hardest part wasn't so much waking up to feed him, it was getting him back to sleep. I made a few adjustments with his schedule and feedings and starting using some sleep techniques to help him soothe himself back to sleep and he started sleeping longer and longer. Last night he slept from 8:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. and we were thrilled. It is difficult when so many books and friends say that babies can start sleeping through the night by 2 months old, but it is a matter of just finding what works best for your family.