When should a baby start to sleep through the night?

Question

My daughter is now 5 months old and still wakes up once or twice during the night. She is on solids and has a bottle before bed. She sleeps for a maximum of 3 hours during the day and struggles to get to her bedtime of 7pm. My sisters say that I should just leave her when she wakes up and let her cry herself back to sleep. We tried this for 1 week but she cried for up to 3 hours at a time, and I don't think this is necessarily the best method. We make sure that her teatime is 4 or 4.30pm so that she isn't too full and has bellyache. Sometimes she will go from 6.45pm to 4am but other times she will wake at 10pm, then 2am and then 7am. Any suggestions on how to get her to go through the night?

Answer 1

It's usually somewhere between 3 and 6 months. Once a child reaches 6 months old there is no nutritional need for them to get up in the middle of the night ot eat, so it's then that parents are encouraged to stop giving them food when they wake up. The baby's tummy will be re-trained, usually in a few days, and they will then sleep through the night.

It is definitly not recommended that you let a baby cry more than 10 minutes, so 3 hours was way too long and I'm glad you have stopped that.

Whatever you do when the baby wakes up, just don't give her a bottle. If you need to rock her back to sleep that's fine, but keep the lights dimmed low, and don't make it playtime so she will learn that there is no food or fun in getting up in the middle of the night. I'd give her a few minutes when she first wakes up to see if she puts herself back to sleep first before getting her.

Also, I would feed her at 6:00pm, instead of 4:30pm. That's too early to end her feedings. Good luck.

Answer 2

You have to know each child is different. Doctors and people will tell you different things, but it depends on the child and the parents. Eventually a child will get enough food during the day to not need to wake up in the middle of the night, but at the same time might wake up anyways for the attention and stimulation. At 5 months and from the eating pattern you described I would say you daughter is still waking up hungry. For a 5 month old to got to bed at 7pm and not eat again until 4am is amazing all in itself. Especially if the last feeding is around 430pm. 11 to 12 hours is too long for such a young child to go without food (on the average). I have 4 children... usually i fed them their last feeding around that age at about 630pm, only about 8 ounces. (When 8 ounces wasnt enought I went to wal-mart and got the orange cereal nipples for the bottle and addes a little cereal) Bedtime was usually about 730pm and on an average I would be woken up between 4 am and 5am.
Normally your sister would be correct with her advice to just let her cry, but 3 hrs of crying is not due to baby being stuborn. And if she is eating because she is hungry around 630 or 7pm she isnt going to get a bellyache. When she is done drinking her bottle do you notice a tightness in her tummy? Is she crying and hard to please? She might have gas!! Try to get some mylicon drops from wal-mart, make sure the bottle nipple is always full of formula when feeding her (so she doesnt get excess air in her stomach) and consider getting the bottles with the disposable bags to put the formula in. These are specifically for babies that have gas problems. I do hope i was able to answer your queston. Good luck and take care.

Answer 3

Babies sleep thru at all different ages. I would suggest giving her a bottle right before bed. If she is eating dinner and then awake and playing for a little while, she may very well be hungry during the night. Also, a 5 month old needs more than 1 nap during the day. At this age, my kids were taking a 2 hour nap in the am and another one in the afternoon. Then after dinner, we would play with them for a few hours, give them a bottle and put them to bed around 9 pm. I found that the combination of a full belly and some playtime before bed worked well. I never had a problem with upset tummies or gas because they had a bottle right before bed.

Answer 4

Don't feel bad..My son is 10mths old and his sleep pattern is crazy. Everyday is nite is different. Sometimes he wakes up once other nites twice every 3 1/2 - 4hrs. Some nites he sleeps 6hrs straight then he'll wake up for a bottle. There has been a few times where he slept all nite till 6am. He usually goes to sleep by 8:30-9:30pm. He too, eats pretty well all day long and b/f he goes to bed now lately he has been only taking one nap instead of his usual two. You will think that because he is napping only once in the day he will sleep all nite right but no not him. I also don't run to him right away when he wakes up during the nite, I wait a few minutes. I personally couldn't handle him crying for 1hr. I have another son and he took 3 naps during the day and slept all nite when he was around 10mths or maybe even younger. I guess, every child is different. I am actually use to getting up at nite.

Answer 5

Not sure if your add pablum to the bottle or not, but try adding some (or more if you already do). Don't leave her to cry, babies cry for a reason, and you should be there to figure that reason out. Try napping her alittle later in the day, and putting her to bed alittle later. Make sure her tummy is full, and maybe give her alittle gripe water before putting her down for the night. Have you checked to see if shes cutting any teeth, some can bother more than others, and its usually most uncomfortable at night. With babies, its usually the simplist things, too cold, too warm, thirsty, hungry, cant poop, gums hurt etc. etc. Process of elimination is the best, she'll be sleeping through the night in no time (seems like eons when ur a tired mom tho!)! Good luck!

Answer 6

Each baby is different. Waking once or twice is actually pretty good for a 5 month old. My son started sleeping through the night consistently at 8 months...before that it was sporadic. Letting her cry is not the best method to get them to sleep at this age....that's something you should do if she's 1 year and still not sleeping the whole night! I suggest you begin to teach her how to go to sleep on her own, then, when she wakes in the night, she's got the tools to put herself back to sleep. I did the Ferber method at 6 months and highly recommend it in a few months. It emphasizes putting them to bed very drowsy, but not a sleep and gives techniques for later in the night when she wakes. Until then, her waking is actually pretty infrequent, so you can try going in and not talk, no lights and pat her back until she stops crying then leave. Wait 10, 20 then 30 min each time and she will probably go to sleep. Whatever you choose to do, just be sure to be consistent. Good luck!

Answer 7

So many people have problems with this, Our son was the same way, we moved his bed time to 9pm and he has been sleeping through the night for the last year and a half. What time would you get up if you went to bed at 6:45pm . Me, I wake up after 6 to 8 hours. Yes baby's sleep needs are/can be different. Give it a try no matter what anyone says. You will know if it is the right thing for your child's individual needs.

Answer 8

My son slept for 6 hours at 6 weeks, and by the time he was two months old, he was sleeping through the night. He was bottle-fed, and that can make a difference. You might want to feed her a little later than 4:30. Her waking up may be because she is hungry.

Answer 9

It depends on the child... some kids sleep thru the night right away and others it takes longer... it has alot to do with what its schedule was like in your belly... when it slept and such. Try making the bed time a little later... maybe 7:30 or 8ish. I also used to put some rice or oatmeal in with the formula for bedtime... ( make shure you cut a bigger hole , not too big.. so the rice/milk mix can pass thru) it usually keeps thier tummys full not to wake for that 2nd bottle... but my son also woke up until he was about 2, but I have also heard my grandmother tell me...
" I ain't ever heard a kid dyin from cryin!!"

Answer 10

i dont think there is a answer for this question as my daughter is 1 and still wakes she cries just to know were there but some babys sleep through from day 1 and others dont