sleeping thru the night -- breastfed babies

Donna - posted on 07/24/2011

I've been told that for breastfed babies, sleeping through the night is 5 hours - usually from 12 - 5am.

Kristin - posted on 07/22/2011

my son is a year now and i just recently stopped breast feeding two weeks ago.
for the first 4 months of his life, my son slept through the night. i was so lucky and blessed. then came the waking up in the middle of the night and screaming. i had to nurse him to get him back to sleep. when he started on solids regular, i made sure to fill up his little belly about 1 1/2 hours before i put him down for the night. of course i nursed him just before going down though. having that full belly of solids and topping him off with breast milk did the trick. he started to sleep through the night again.
that's my suggestion... make sure he is full on solids before putting him down to sleep.

Sally - posted on 07/22/2011

I'm sorry, but you read lies. The AAP defines "sleeping through the night" as a five hour stretch. Precious few babies are physically capable of it before six months and not many breast fed ones can do it before their first birthday. Their tummies just aren't big enough to go that long without eating and babies are biologically designed to spend a majority of their time in physical contact with mom. He sounds perfectly normal to me, probably better than most of the babies I've known in fact.

Carol - posted on 04/13/2011

I have noticed that the sleepign threw the night for avrage babies is for bottle fed. My son was bottle fed and slept threw the night at about 2 months of age, my daughter is goign to be 1 year and still wakes up to nurse. There is a diffrent between formula where it takes longer to digest than breast milk so formula fed babies stay full longer, so they sleep longer.

Catherine - posted on 03/15/2011

Annette - I'm with ya! Between both my kids - last night I got a whopping 1.5 hours of sleep... that's it, that's all, and will be all I'm gonna see until tonight, when I go through yet another sleepless night. I guess I'll just avoid operating any heavy machinery =)

Ramona - posted on 03/15/2011

Kiley still doesn't. When your baby is readty, he or she will. There is no "right" age.

Richelle - posted on 02/28/2011

my boy is nearly 8months now. still wakes at night this past couple of weeks at least 3 times after i put him to bed 'for the night'. i'm exhausted but it's what he needs he's a growing boy and i'm certain it won't last forever! he's been having three meals a day for a while i've added an afternoon/morning snack as i thought he is just plain hungry... he's slept 'through' (8ish-7ish) the last two nights and it's such a shock to the system for me! poor boobs :)
good luck and don't worry it's just another stage.

Catherine - posted on 02/27/2011

Cathy, I generally go in and try and comfort her by rubbing her back, stroking her cheek or something like that. I try not to pick her up, but if I do I pick her up only long enough to have her settle, and then I lay her back down again. She doesn't exactly like it, but she generally settles. I also use... or let me rephrase that - she also uses a soother, so I giver her that too. I don't let her sleep with it though. I take it out once she's either settled or asleep. Once she's about or over the 3 hour mark, I will nurse her. It was working really well until she got this cold, so my work went out the window. With this process she worked herself into 3-4 hour stretches pretty easily. Once she can breathe again and doesn't have the cold, I'll return to this process in hopes of getting a full night.

If you try it, please keep me posted on how you do with it too. I'd love to hear if it works for you too!.

Good Luck and happy sleeping (sometime in the future!).

Cathy - posted on 02/27/2011

unfortunately, since i posted this, my 7 month old has now been waking TWICE/night to nurse.... he's still going to sleep at 7-7:30pm and has been waking around 12:30am and 6am and is up at 8am. i'm really hoping that he'll go back down to once feed soon and by himself!?!??? i did try waiting for like 40 mins once, but he just fussed and fussed and didn't go back to sleep till i went into nurse him and when i did, i could totally hear the milk hitting him poor empty stomach. i did talk to a nurse at his 7 month weighing and she did say yes, sleeping thru the night is really only 5 hours!!!

Catherine - posted on 02/27/2011

Annette and Cathy, I feel your pain! My 7 month old was a good sleeper until we moved, when she was 4 months old. Now, she's up usually about every 2-3 hours. I'm trying to stretch her out now (well, until she got sick, that is), by going in when she awakes and giving her a soother until she's relaxed enough and asleep. If she wakes after the 3 hour mark, I'll nurse her. I know it's not needed, but I'm trying to wean her off the night time feeds. Once she consistently goes for 3 hour intervals, I'm gonna stretch it to 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Then again, once she's consistent with that, I'll stretch it longer, until we have a decent night sleep! Worked with a sleep therapist for my first daughter, and they say that after 6 months, or when they are getting solid foods that they don't, in fact, need night time feeds. But, it's a routine that needs to be broken now, and I'm working on the weaning avenue only because my first child (2.5 years) is a light sleeper and my 7 month olds crying awakens her if it goes to long. I figure if I keep stretching the times but still nursing during the process my 7 month old will eventually adjust, while my 2.5 year old still get some sleep. I can hope, right?!? =)

Doti - posted on 02/26/2011

I seem to be in same boat as everyone else. My 7 month old spoiled me at around 5 1/2 months by sleeping from 7/730pm to 6:30/7 am for 6 weeks and she is breast feed. She has been waking up around 3/30-5 for a feed and then back to sleep till 7am. She goes to sleep around 730/8.

Chesilin - posted on 02/25/2011

My first was breastfed until a year and woke up twice a night to eat until she was about 10 months. My second (6 months) has, for the last two nights (keeping fingers crossed!), slept through the night until about 5am- the first morning I woke HIM up because he was face down and I freaked out, and this morning he was starting to rustle so I fed him simply because I was too engorged to go back to sleep! For both of them, "sleeping through the night" is about 7 hours- the 12 hours didn't start until after a year for my daughter, with the help of black out curtains to block the sun from waking her up! :) From what you wrote, I'd definitely consider that sleeping through the night, especially for that age. From a ped standpoint, sleeping through the night is 5-7 hours.

Rachel - posted on 02/25/2011

My son is 7 months and breastfed and still wakes for 1 or 2 feeds throughout the night, but goes down easily once he has been fed. Not feeding him can be more trouble than its worth. My Dr advised that breastfed babies will need to wake for at least 1 feed during the night up until around 9 months and then when solids become their primary food with breastmilk or formula second, they will learn to eat more during the day and start to sleep more during the night.

Tania - posted on 02/23/2011

my boy is 7 months he is asleep by 830 and awakes up about 4 for a bottle then goes back to sleep and wakes at 630 7am

Sage - posted on 02/23/2011

Cathy-I am in the EXACT same situation as you right now. This is my second child and my first was bottle fed. He started sleepingthrough the night at 3 months. I am breastfeeding her and she is still waking up in the middle of the night. She will NOT go back to sleep and screams if I don't nurse her. I am contemplating bottle feeding her before bedtime and not feeding her in the middle of the night to get her to sleep longer.

Jeannie - posted on 02/23/2011

I have a 7 month old that I am breastfeeding and he has a similar sleeping pattern. I put him to sleep between 6-8 p.m. and he will usually wake-up around 6 am for a feeding and fall back to sleep. I read in one of my books that when the baby wakes up for a feeding and falls back to sleep that this should be considered a continuation of sleep. So actually he is sleeping about 12 hours! Our little boy is getting his bottom teeth in now though so his schedule has been way off!

Kasie - posted on 02/22/2011

I think it just depends on the baby. My son is almost 7 months and sleeps all through the night now starting a little after 6 months. I breast feed. I think it's cause he was waking up once a night for a while and eventually I'd just let him cry for a bit to see if he was really hungry or just used to waking up at night and it took a couple times, he barely cried and from then on he slept through the night.

Don't get discouraged though, he'll sleep through the night soon. You could try what I did if you want and see if that helps.

Jodie - posted on 02/22/2011

I am glad to read that I'm not alone. My 7 month also gets up on average twice from 7:30pm-6am. Very draining! I would love 9 hours of sleep....heck I would love 6 or 7.

Annette - posted on 02/22/2011

As had already been said...you are very lucky. My 7 month old is also breast feeding and she wakes anywhere from 4-6 times a night for a feeding. I would kill for even 3-4 hours straight sleep!!

Jessyca - posted on 02/22/2011

My breastfed, co-sleeping, teething son wakes up every 45 min to nurse! I know it's not for nutritional purposes... But comfort & I hate to withold comfort :( but I would like a little sleep!

Capri - posted on 02/22/2011

I agree that is awesome! My breast fed 7 month old goes down at 7:30pm then is up to feed at least twice before being up for the day at 6am.

Andrea - posted on 02/18/2011

count your blessings! that's pretty good! My 2yr old son is a horrible sleeper and my 7 month old is breastfed and is starting to get up more frequently 8pm-5am is amazing!

Krista - posted on 02/17/2011

Count yourself lucky! My son didn't sleep through the night until he was 8 months old and my daughter seems to be following suit. She's nearly 7 months and still wakes up twice, generally.

Cathy - posted on 02/17/2011

he's usually asleep by 7:30-8pm. he's up around 5am to nurse and then goes back to sleep till around 8am.



he's my 2nd baby, but baby #1 was formula fed and was sleeping thru the night (12hours straight) from 3 months. everything about breastfeeding is new to me!

Krista - posted on 02/17/2011

What time do you put your son to bed? Believe it or not, the term "sleeping through the night" isn't actually sleeping for 8-10 hours. It generally means stretches of about 5-7 hours. As well, breastfed babies are said to wake up at least once a night until they're a year old. It sucks.

Kristin - posted on 02/16/2011

i feed my son just before he goes down for the night.
when he wakes up in the middle of the night, i don't feed him, i just try to comfort him with some tummy rubbing.
if you don't feed him in the middle of the night, eventually he will learn that it's not going to happen.

Natasha - posted on 02/15/2011

from what ive read sleeping through is 8-10 hours so depending on what time he goes to bed he cvould be right. my son formula fed goes from 7pm - 6or7 am without a feed...how i stopped my sons feeds were decreasing the amount he was having but with breastfeeding you could cut the time or even make him wait say for 15 min then when he goes the extra 15min sleeping then wait another 15 etc and see if this works..