sleeping?

[HOBSON725]

When should I expect my baby to sleep through the night? As of today 1/30/02, she's 6 wks old. She is formula fed. ~ECH

[G]

6 weeks is a little early. My daughter slept through the night between 8 and 9 weeks, and I don't think that I've heard much earlier.

It helps if you don't let her go more than 3 hours between feedings during the day. I woke my daughter during the day. Then, she'll hopefully learn what night is for! Another thing that helped me was to just do "business" for night feedings. Feed and change her in a quiet, dimly lit room, and put her back to bed. Save playing and stimulation for daytime.

Hang in there! I know that it is hard and frustrating, but that first 8 weeks is the hardest and it will be over soon!

[TracyA]

I think it depends on the baby. Our daughter started sleeping through the night pretty early, although I don't remember exactly when. We found that she went longer if we got her to eat 5 to 6 ounces at about midnight. Then she would sleep until 6 or 7 in the morning. During the day she would eat about every 3 hours. Now she generally sleeps about 7 or 8 hours a night, and she's 11 weeks old. Oh, and I stopped picking her up at night unless she was crying (not making those about to cry sounds, since she sometimes went back to sleep), and if she wakes up at night, I feed her in the dark, and put her right back to bed.

However, some other mothers that I've spoken to are still getting up at night with their babies. So I don't know if our daughter is sleeping through the night because of something we did, or if we just got lucky.

Good luck!
-Tracy

[Lynn]

It is my understanding that a baby's weight helps determine when the child will sleep through the night...I have heard that babies under 12 pounds or so won't be able to go that long without food.

Hang in there -- it will happen sooner or later!

[jaydbay]

Read Healthy sleep habits, Happy Child. by Weissbluth (sp?) Great book!