BFing and sleeping through the night

RBXChas

Just wondering how long it took your breastfed baby to sleep through the night.

My older son, who was supplemented at the time, did at six weeks. Lightning apparently doesn't strike twice, and at almost five months, my baby (almost five months) still wakes up 2-3x/night. (Two if I go to bed later and "dream feed," three if I fall asleep around 9/9:30 before I get a chance to "dream feed.") Last night he woke up around 1:30 and then not again until 5:30. That's the longest stretch he's given me in a while, so I'm hoping this is another step towards a full night's sleep.

I'm doing ok with his schedule since I'm used to it (and we've had terrible up-every-hour-to-hour-and-a-half nights in the past), so I'm not in need of advice, just curious what your experiences have been.

kcasey155

My boys never slept right through until I stopped breastfeeding them. That was from 17 months to two years before each stopped waking.

Jillsie11

Both my breastfed babes slept through the night by 7 weeks! But I know that's not the norm. It obviously depends on the babe and the schedule they're on during the day. Hoping that 4 hour stretch was the start of something wonderful for you!:)

redheadmommy

Both of my EBF babies slept though the night by around 6-7 weeks until around 5 months of age , when they started teething like crazy. They both are/were super early tethers and the rapid teething bothers them and interfere with their sleeping. After the teething starts we have 1 or 2 occasionally 3 good weeks ,following 1 week getting up 1-2 times, after that one week getting up 2-3-4 times and the final phase is 3-4 days getting up every hr or even more frequently. After that the tooth breaks through and instantly the peaceful period starts again.

My son had all 20 baby teeth out by 19 months , and he really slept through the night every night after that. My baby girl is almost 10 months old and already has all 8 incisor fully grown and 2 molars are peaking through. This early teething is very unusual though. Babies normally won't get molars under 1 yrs of age, and the second set of molars should come around 2 yr old, but that not us.

chickybuns

Miles slept about 7 hour stretches around 2 months. Since I mostly pumped then, I think that helped. I gave him a bottle at night, which is usually when supply is low. Or maybe he is just a good sleeper.

ramsx1991

My LO is 9 months and wakes 2-3 times a night still. I am wondering if it will ever stop, lol. I think if you cosleep it is a lot different than crib sleepers. If you cosleep then I tend to see babies waking for a much longer amount of time.

Artemis726

Our daughter is 6 months and still wakes at least 2-3 times a night, usually every 2-3 hours if not more often. Sometimes she doesn't want to be alone, so I'll have to get up twice in the same hour. She's usually up for the day around 6:30-7:00am.

Her longest stretch seems to be from whenever she goes down for the night (usually around 9-9:30pm) to around 2am, then every couple of hours or so after that. It stinks!

anahdz1306

My 3 month old sleeps at around 10pm then I have to wake her up at 6am to bf then I put her back in her crib n doesn't wake up til 9am. I feel pretty lucky

Mewlingstork

My guy is 12 1/2 months and doesn't sleep through the night. He did at 6 weeks-3 months but not really since then. Now it depends on teething, milestones, and/or sick, but usually up at least once to nurse. Prolactin (nursing hormone) is usually highest between 2-5am, so I'm not sure if that's why he always wants to nurse around then. He sleeps in bed with us so waking up to nurse doesn't disturb us too much. I'm 9 weeks pregnant though, so he has to be at least night weaned and in his crib by May 2014!

jls8209

Mine started sleeping 10pm-6am at 6 weeks, and quickly transitioned to sleeping 10-12hrs straight through over the next few weeks. She's now 11.5 months and sleeps from about 8pm until 7 or 8 am, but she does wake through the night once in a while if she's teething, is nearing a developmental milestone, or rolls over and bumps into the side of her crib too hard. Those nights we either don't need to go in, or if we do a quick snuggle is all she needs.

walleyclan1

both of mine started around 1 1/2 years (when I stopped bedsharing and stopped nursing them to sleep). Even then, it was a once or twice a week thing. My oldest wasn't consistently sleeping through the night until around 2 and my youngest is 19 months now so she isn't consistent at all.

vim_n_vigor

It really seems individual to each kid. My first son was sleeping 5-7 hour stretches by four months. My middle son was up 4-5 times a night until he was about 9 months old (talk about a tired mamma!) and my third son is in between. Every once in a while I'll get 6-7 hour stretch, but most of the time it is 3-4 hours. I didn't do anything different with any of them.