sleep

[Maruschke]

I want to know what the AVERAGE time is that a baby drops the nightly feed. In other words, going from this "feed at 10 pm, night feed at some stage, then 6 am feed" to "feed at 10 pm, then feed at 6 am".

I don't want to be told your child slept through at three weeks or still isn't at three years. I just want to know what is average. Does anyone know? It appears to be 8 weeks but I am not sure.

Please don't placate me and tell me "it is all normal, they sleep eventually". I know that.

[HotI]

i don't think there is one answer, there are so many variables. the way you feed (breastfeed/formula/combo/babyled or parentled routines ....), the way you sleep (cosleep, bedshare, cot/hammock/cradle), the way you respond to baby waking, the way you settle...... I am trying to think of an answer that i would believe but i don't think anyone could control for all these cultural differences to find an answer.

and even if baby drops a 'feed' they often pick it back up again later

[PumpkinZulu]

A quick google search and sifting through the majority of answers ("there is no average, every baby is different" etc) brought up a few pages suggesting around 8 weeks as that is when babies apparently can start telling night from day a little better

Unfortunately like HotI, I don't think it's really something that averages out. I still rarely sleep through the night, neither does DH or DD.

[Maruschke]

8 weeks does seem to pop up a fair bit. Does it sound about right? All I have to guage by is the experience of those around me.

[HotI]

8 weeks does seem to pop up a fair bit. Does it sound about right? All I have to guage by is the experience of those around me.

not in my world ! if the average child sleeps 8 hours by 8 weeks i am really getting ripped off.

Can you remember what you DD1 did? Also, there might be a difference with premmies in how long until they can go for longer without food in their tummies.

[PumpkinZulu]

If you want my experience with DD? Then yes, it probably was right. But DD was one of those babies most people don't want to hear about because they're just too good to be true (at the time) I believe by about 8 weeks she was sleeping through. I don't think that is average though and I'm so not expecting it from any more babies, but yes, now that I think back on it, it was 7-9 weeks that she started sleeping all night. Having said that, by 6-7 months she was waking 10+ times a night.

Are you okay?

[Jellyfish]

From what I have read it is believed that most babies are capable of 5hrs by around 8 weeks and 12hrs by 4-6 months. Whether they actually do this though depends on a variety of factors but I think it is like 80% of babies are sleeping through by 9 months or 70%? Around that.

Personally, I think one of the biggest things that influence it is natural metabolism. My DD1 has a fast metabolism so is skinny, small, constantly snacking and eating, small weight gains; was the same when she was breastfeeding and didn't sleep through till almost 3 and I really believe that she was just hungry, she still wakes up in the morning famished (has toast, cereal and fruit for breakfast lol). DD2's metabolism is slower so she is chunkier, holds more fat, gains weight quickly and does not eat nearly as frequently so is already going long stretches overnight and did from quite early (couple of months). Both were fed the same, slept in the same space etc so it feels like that is what differentiates between their completely different sleep habits. What do you think your DD's metabolism is like? How frequently are day feeds? How much weight gain? Does she hold much fat? That is where I would be looking for an answer.

[Maruschke]

DD2 is fed 4 hourly (she put herself on a schedule) so I'm not sure how much being a premmie has affected her? DD1 slept through after we did (she did) CIO for a night at 8 months. Before then DD1 was feeding 3 times a night. I don't want to go back there, LOL. So I am curious what "average" really is, because she certainly wasn't.

[LuluHB]

Mine have all been different too. I tend to think that while they may be capable of it around the 8 week mark,and that therefore because it starts at that point that 8 weeks is considered the average, there is such an enormous amount of development that goes on in the first year especially that night sleeping is constantly changing. I've certainly found that my excitement at great hunks of sleep for a few nights in a row is usually followed by a big backwards step, then improving and so on.

[Jellyfish]

If she is already doing 10pm - middle of the night - 6am feed structure and going 4hrly during the day then I think it is quite promising that she will be on the earlier side to drop that middle of the night feed. Also will be easier if you need to encourage her to push that feed back to 6am by just making it later and later.

I'd be interested in what stats people have around this too.

[Heaven]

I couldn't find anything reliable on the average either. I would think 8 weeks is very young though. My babies have both needed to feed during the night for a long time. Sometimes for comfort but also definitely for hunger. I think your DD1 sounded pretty average to me actually, lol, I have fed both 3 times a night for 15 months with DD1 and 17 months with DD2.

[~clover~]

I'll say 6 - 8 weeks. I remember DD3 being 5 weeks when she started sleeping from about 8 - 5 every night.
I think she was around 4 months when she started night feeds again. I think it was 'wonder week/month'.

The struggle for me was maintaining those cluster feeds. Trying to deal with other kids & dinner made it harder, but if she got in her full 2 - 3 hours cluster feeding she slept much better.
ETA: DD also fed 2 hourly through the day, so she got all she needed through the day for that night sleep IYKWIM.

[onthefly]

So no night feeds or no feeds between 10pm and 6am?
I don't think there is an average. I know that i read somewhere that something like 30-40% of 12 month olds still have at least one night feed.....

[Barb Glare]

Hi,
It's not normal for babies to sleep through the night without feeds at 8 weeks. There is a great research study that I can't lay my hands on now, but most babies still wake for at least one feed in their first year of life (I think I am thinking of the same one MadB is referring too - will post when I find it

[Novella]

My three were 8, 9 and 10 weeks but Dd3 (who was sleeping through st 10 weeks) is the only one who has gone back to night waking, the others slept through from that age onwards unless sick. I'd be interested to know the average too

[onthefly]

I found one I was thinking of, but it doesn't say wake to feed, it's just wake and need mum or dad's help to go back to sleep. 75% at 6 months, 50% at 12 months and a third at age four. (Gethin, Anni & Macgregor, Beth Helping your baby to sleep)
I think there was another one quoted in an Essence mag article about night feeds....

Outside of a few people I've come across who have left their babies to cry regardless, I can only think of one person who's baby has slept through without night feeds within 3 months (and it didn't last forever).

[onthefly]

ok, i can't find anything specifically on night feeding, but here's a list of abstracts on actual research which is quite illuminating about night waking. (found from KellyMom)

Sleep patterns of New Zealand infants during the first 12 months of life.

Psychomotor and social development of breast-fed and bottle-fed babies during their first year of life.

A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.

The sleep patterns of normal children.

Attachment and sleep: a study of night waking in 12-month-old infants.

Night waking, sleep-wake organization, and self-soothing in the first year of life.

The relationship between daytime exposure to light and night-time sleep in 6-12-week-old infants.

[Maruschke]

ok, i can't find anything specifically on night feeding, but here's a list of abstracts on actual research which is quite illuminating about night waking.

[url].....

Thank you!

That is really helpful.