At what age does a newborn sleep through the night?

Question

I have a two month old and she is still waking up two to three times a night. When will she sleep through the night?

Answer 1

I've got good news and bad news for you. :-)

The good news is that she's getting there. The bad news is that the medical definition of "sleeping through the night" means sleeping one 4-5 hour stretch. So waking up 2-4 times a night is still very developmentally and biologically appropriate for an infant.

Babies have small tummies and need to wake up to fill them. (And stuffing them in the hopes of getting more sleep doesn't work. They've done studies on that one. If you're lucky, you'll get a baby who sleeps the same. If you're not, you'll get a baby who gets uncomfortable gas from being too full and wakes up more often rather than less.)

The bigger and older she gets, the longer she'll be able to go. My daughter started sleeping longer once she hit about 10 pounds -- that's when she started going for one 4 hour stretch, usually midnight to 4 am. By six months she was starting to go longer. (Although then you run into night waking due to teething, growth spurts, and developmental milestones!)

My son started out at 10 lbs. 4 oz. and has slept a good 4-5 stretch once a night since birth, from roughly 7 to 11 pm. He's over 20 pounds now and is starting to sleep for 6 hours or so.

Hang in there, mama. Don't try to force your baby into different sleeping habits. That's alternately frustrating for you or spirit-breaking for them (i.e. "cry it out" -- horrid practice). Instead, try to work *with* her. Nap when she naps during the day, as much as possible. Enlist your partner to help with the nighttime parenting. I do the nursing and diaper changes for our youngest at night, my husband takes care of our older child when she asks for water, needs calming down because of teething, etc. When we had just one, I did the nursing and he did the diaper changes so neither of us was getting too sleep deprived.

Answer 2

Each child is different so sleeping through the night varies... Usually between 3-6 months.... Most often it coincides with the introduction of solid foods (cereal, strained vegetables, pureed fruits)...

When you begin introducing new foods to your chids diet only add one new food per week so if an allergic reaction occurs it's easy to know what caused it... An initial allergic reaction doesn't mean that child will never be able to eat that food it may mean the child is not ready to digest it and you can try one more time later on to introduce the food..

For the first bit after she begins sleeping through the night you will find yourself waking up anyway worried because she hasn't woken up... Get a small compact mirror and a small flashlight covered with a filter (colored celephane will work).... When you wake up you can use the flashight and go check that she is still ok place the mirror infront of her nose and mouth and such... To assure yourself that she IS JUST sleeping through the night... The mirror and flashlight are so you do not disturb her sleep while you are satisfy your normal worrys...

Answer 3

3-6 mos and will depend on the child. Go to babycenter.com and follow the tips. Mine just turned 4 mos old and sleeps from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM!! I'm relieved! Most imp is to get them on a 3-4 hour schedule during the day and don't use feeding as a tool to get them to sleep or they will depend on it. Let them fuss a few minutes if during the night, pat them on the back and try to get them comforted to return to sleep WITHOUT the bottle. Play white noise for them as well...this seems to comfort them. Keep everything active during the day and quiet at night. You should see a change within the next 30-60 days. Call in some reinforcements if you don't have any: your mother, mother-in-law, and take shifts, anything to keep your sanity and allow you to get some rest. Enjoy, they are only little once. It'll be over before you know it!...the endless nights I mean with feedings.

Answer 4

Not age - weight. Anywhere from 11-13 pounds. I was blessed; my baby suddenly started sleeping through the night at 6 weeks, almost to the day she hit 11 pounds. She goes to bed between 7-9pm, wakes up about 7/8 hours later, eats, and goes back to sleep until 7am (she's as good as an alarm clock).
I give her a binky to drop off sometimes, it doesn't bother her to lose it in the night. I also noticed that her sleeping through the night coincided with her being able to roll onto her side. I don't have her on a feeding schedule, though. I feed her on demand, so, she gets as much as she wants during the day. Make sure your baby gets enough naptime; an overtired baby doesn't sleep as soundly.

Answer 5

My 6 month still doesnt sleep thru the night. I just finished breast feeding almost a month ago he sleeps 10-7 and wants a bottle by 2 or depends. people will say give him cereal he sleep all night. That never worked. But when he ends up sleeping thru the night I would be glad and sad. Because that milestone of late night feedings would be over. So dont worry when she will end up sleeping thru the night just enjoy this the time you have when she this young before you know it She will be telling you NO I DONT WANT TO GO TO BED

Answer 6

Let's clarify what the Professionals refer to sleeping through the night - 5 1/2 hours

Let's clarify what Parents refer to sleeping through the night - enough damn sleep to string a sentence together (say 8 hours)

If your daughter is awake during most of the day then it's most likely that she will sleep through the night (mine did at 51/2 weeks because she wasn't sleeping during the day and exhausted herself). If on the otherhand she is overtired, she may wake up more regularly (unlikely at this age but something to think about later)

Unfortunately motherhood is trial and error - it's that same annoying cliche that "all babies are different". As much as I dislike that phrase, it's unfortuantely, true.

Here are some tips I pinched from www.parents.9k.com (I love that site)

Make sure that when you do attend to her that she is not given eye contact and make it as boring as possible.

If she has a dummy/pacifier try not to give it to her to sleep because when it falls out, she will wake up and she wont be able to put it back into her mouth (not yet anyway)

Take alittle longer attending to her. She may go back to sleep (worse case scenario she'll get upset and wake herself up even more) - that's okay go back in, cuddle her while she still lies in her cot

Don't pick her up unless you have to (example to breast/bottle feed her)

Try giving her a feed just before you go to bed.

Write down what times she sleeps and wakes up if you give her a bath and without a bath...you may see an improved difference

Make sure she gets plenty of light during her day naps (remember trial and error - if after one week you can't handle a baby awake most of the day - then don't do this)

Having said all that I would think 2 months is still okay to wake up twice a night. Come around 5 months then you start toughening up (and using the points above more so)

Email me at [e-mail] (or through Yahoo by clicking on my name) to remind me to find an awesome article I paid for from the professionals regarding sleep. You'll appreciate it if you are sleep deprived.

Answer 7

it differs with every baby. My daughter started sleeping through the night at like 4 weeks. But has had some recent health problems, so she if off and on sleeping through the night. Normally she sleeps for about 6 hours at a time, and somedays its 3...
my son started around 3 months.
But like I said, every baby is different.

Answer 8

That is still in the normal range.

You may have to start letting her cry for a little longer. Or start feeding her more before bedtime.

newborns can sleep all night from the time you bring them home or they can wake up every night until almost 1

Answer 9

Babies don ot sleep threw the entire night. As they get to be about 5 or 6 months they will sleep longer hours but still ake up during the night.

Babies do not start sleeping threw the night till they are about a year old, some later. My cousins daughter did not start sleeping threw the night till she was 17 months old.

Answer 10

depends on the kid of course; my first slept through the night at about 8 days old. I mean, from like 11pm till 7am! But I've had others who didn't sleep through till 3 months. I currently have a one month old who gets up once or twice a night. Three times a night seems like a lot for your baby, unless she is breastfeeding and just sucking on you for comfort.