Can we ditch the expectation that babies should be sleeping through the night at 3-4 months old?

Little boy, 14 weeks old.
Bottle of expressed milk before bed, breastfed for night wakes.

Usually falls asleep between 8-9pm.

Usually sleeps for around 5-7 hours before his first wake, BUT sometimes this first stretch can be as short as 3 hours. After this he often sleeps in 2-3 hour blocks, either waking once more for a feed OR staying asleep until morning (6-7am) depending on how long his first stretch was. Every night is different and that’s okay 🩵

My daughter literally never used to sleep throughout the night until she turned 18months... that was along with her cmpa and eczema that would stop her from sleeping peacefully. But there are babies, infants who do sleep through the night at such early age just cos each baby is different. Some babies are just more of a hard work😃

Boy my 5th baby is 5 months has started sleeping 8pm til 6/7am over the last month...
However my 1st and 2nd boys didn't start sleeping through until around 13 months one was lactose intolerant the other was 8 weeks prem and both had severe reflux
My 3rd a girl slept through from 5 weeks old 7 weeks prem also CMPA and severe reflux
My 4th boy was around 8 months before he did for the first time 5 weeks prem

Needed this 😭thank you mumma xx

I have a 3 month old girl.
Most of the time, she wakes up every two hours. Sometimes, she does first stretch 4 hours and then every 2 hours. And other times she wakes up every hour. She has reflux, and that results in small feeds but more regularly. We are EBF at the moment.
She used to sleep longer with the swaddle, but then she started sucking her hands, and I stopped swaddling her, as I didn't want to stop her progression.

this sounds very similar to my 15 week old little girl apart from after the 6am feed she sleeps again until about 10/11ish and then we get up 🙈

Breastmilk bottle before bed and then breast for night feeds.

But agreed every night is different for example last night she refused to sleep, after her bedtime bottle she just wanted to talk, play and blow raspberries 🤣

Goes to sleep around 10:30- up at 3, 6 and 9🥰

My 15 weeks old also doesn’t sleep through the night and never did. He usually falls asleep at around 8-9pm and sleeps for 2 to 5 hours. Then wakes up every 2 hours after that for feed (exclusively breastfeeding).

I always questioned the claims of ‘how I made my newborn sleep through the night’ considering they have to feed every 2-4 hours. I never bothered clicking on those videos or link because I always though ‘i don’t want to starve my baby thank you very much!’ So thanks for this post. Not that I thought my baby was abnormal but I didn’t think it was right to put that expectation on our little ones.

My little girl has slept through the night a handful of times so I take it when she does to catch up on my sleep 😂 usually she'll go down anywhere between 7pm-10pm and then either sleep through till 5am-6am-7am, sometimes longer. And when she does wake up in the night its only once for a nappy change and a feed and she's back down for hours.

A couple of nights ago she slept 10 and a half hours and that one worried me so I rang my health visitor who said if she was hungry or uncomfortable she would wake up and assured me it was perfectly fine to let her sleep through.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to make my comment sound like if your baby sleeps through the night, you’re starving your baby. Your health visitor is right and all babies are different with different stomach capacity and all. It’s great that some babies can sleep through the night. Knowing it’s not what is expected is reassuring though! x

Such refreshing post! I really needed this x
My little girl is 13 weeks today. She usually goes down at 9pm and wakes up every 3 hours for a feed. She is like a clockwork, it's 3 hours on the dot!!! She also has reflux which means she eats little but often. I was exclusively breastfeeding for the first 5 weeks, but then we switched to anti reflux formula which helps massively.

Those night feeds can be challenging, but I also find them so special x

oh no, I didn't take it that way at all, so don't you worry lovely 😊 the first time she slept through the night and slept 9 hours, you should have seen me, I was a nervous wreck thinking she must be poorly or is this a more serious underlying thing? Luckily I had a health visitor appointment the next day so she put my mind at rest. I'll still wake up around the time she normally wakes up in the night and once I see she's still fast off, I'm back down too 😂

I absolutely HATE with a passion those 'look how I got my newborn to sleep through the night' videos, like get to fuck. I could do that whole routine and my daughter would still wake up 😂

So I read somewhere that 5+ hrs class as sleep through, which a lot of babies manage here and there. Without the number it sounds like 10-12hr stretch and puts so much pressure on mums.

My LG us almost 12 weeks, ebf, goes to sleep between 8-9, has feed around 2-3, 5 & 7 (currently asleep on me since 6). So technically sleeps through 🤣🤣🤣

We had odd nights when she went without 2-3am feed, but those were rare and she's been putting on weight better with that extra feed, I'm happy to be up to feed her

I celebrate when she's hungry as its healthy and I know she's growing ❤️

Bed at 7pm
Wake/sleepy feed at 10pm
Feed between 2/3am
Wake 7am

We're hitting a tough spell of sleep at 4 months so from 3am we have multiple wakings now and again but we snuggle back to sleep.

100% this! Completely agree.
Mine goes down somewhere between 8.30-10, wakes between midnight - 2am then up every two hours for a feed, but is also very unsettled so normally co-sleeps with me /my husband until he settles at 5am.

He's a lovely happy baby who is growing fine and cheerful during the day, so whilst it would be amazing if he slept for longer at night he's clearly not ready for it and I'm fine with that.

Little girl 14 weeks old, exclusively breastfed still wakes every 3 hours during the night and feeds every 2-3 hours during the day!🥰

Ebf 13 week old, used to sleep great and now waking 3-4 times a night after going to sleep at 9ish. Currently likes to wake at midnight and then every 2 hours after that 🙃. This is after following all the huckleberry sweetspots/wake window advice closely, feeding well during the day and having a solid bedtime routine. I think sleep training may be in our future 🫠

My 14 week old has slept through from 9pm to 7am for five nights now and it feels amazing, although it may not last!
My first had cmpa and reflux he only slept upright on me and didn’t sleep through the night until he was 4 years old! Every baby is different there are no right or wrongs with babies it depends on their wants and needs. We are all just doing our very best and that is always enough ❤️

My first baby didn’t sleep through until a few months ago and he is 2 soon 🤣My second has slept through since 7 weeks - every baby is different x

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