Is my mil crazy??

Msdoherty

So tonight at dinner she asks if my 5 week old is sleeping through the night???? He gets up 2-3 times where he eats, gets changed and eats again. She tells us we need to keep him up during the day and except for an afternoon nap (2-3 hours) he is for the most part awake. So as a FTM my mil now has me wondering am I doing something wrong?? Should he already be sleeping through the night?

BoothBaby

Yes, she is crazy. No, it is not normal for babies to STTN this young.

KelseyKetchum

I was told we would be lucky if LO sleeps through the night at 1 year

Mrbatesisinnocent

Crazy pants!

mightymousy

I could have written this exact post *HUGS* my MIL is crazy too and kept making me feel like crap for my newborn not sleeping through the night blaming it on me not keeping him awake during the day, blaming it on something in my diet getting into my BM, blaming it on how I burp him, god you name it! You're not doing anything wrong!

Kbrittonhart

I've rarely heard of babies sleeping through the night at such a young age. Also, our pediatrician told us to only wake LO for feedings because it's important for newborns to get rest to remain healthy and gain their birth weight back.

MissJenna2011

A newborn sleeping through the night is not normal, but not unheard of. She is crazy though lol that's not a problem or a shocker it's normal, don't question yourself because of someone else idea of mothering or standards. For the record, all 3 of my babies have slept though the night from the first 2 weeks or so, we do have our rough nights occasionally but hey, my toddlers have always given me hell when it comes to sleep so, I get my pay back lol!

bjhafner04

FYI- certain sources define "sttn" as a 5-6 hour stretch, not necessarily even 8-10. And if you bf, it digests quicker and babies eat more frequently than ff babies.

FutureMrsCaesar

She's cray cray.
It really doesn't have much to do with anything you are doing right/wrong. In my experience, when it comes to sleeping, it's pretty much luck of the draw. Although breastfed babies do generally take a little longer to sttn than formula fed babies.

Fwiw- Ben is almost 7 weeks old and is up every 2 hrs like clockwork and I'm not doing anything different than I did with my other two who were sleeping longer stretches by this time.

margaerytyrell

Yup. She's crazy. She sounds like my husband's entire family though. And even my parents say shit like that. It's annoying.

synergy_gd

You know you read these posts and others like it, and with my own experience with MIL, have to wonder if these women actually did raise children. They come up with the oddest things or do the weirdest stuff, it's a miracle our SOs survived

Buckeye608

My MIL was surprised that I was so excited that our LO only wakes up once maybe twice and generally has one 4+ hour stretch of sleep. She didn't doubt or question she just had forgotten and chalked it up to being almost 30 years since she had a LO. So yes, Iif I were you I'd think she's crazy. Sorry she's more doubtful than supportive.

Msdoherty

She followed it up with "when do you go back to work? I hope for your sake he's STTN by then!"

Lyzza350

I don't agree with that strategy. However, my pedi did say he could be giving us five or six hour stretches though. He is seven weeks. I guess it depends on the baby but sleeping for six hours isn't impossible.

MommyEllenSue

Your mil is crazy! I'm one of the lucky ones who's 5 week old sleeps between 5 to 6 hours at night. But she sleeps alot during the day also. I find if she doesn't nap really good during the day or gets thrown too much of her routine then we are up every couple of hours at night.

lp0

Yup she's crazy! Not all EBF babies wake more frequently at night though. DS started going from 11pm to 6am at 6 weeks. I'm hoping DD will follow her brother. At 5 weeks she is now starting to sleep a bit longer so we'll see. All babies are different though. Don't let your MIL mess with your head.

Msdoherty

Thank you ladies

mavgirl_73

Our first, EBF, didn't STTN (or for more than a few hrs at a time) until she was almost 2! Extreme yes but it can happen. Your MIL is totes cray cray...

lifesaverz

My LO is STTN at 6 weeks (8 hrs). Every baby is different but most babies have the ability to by 8-12 weeks. My mom said all 4 of us did by 6-8 weeks, and my niece did as well. Doesn't mean they should stay up all day but I don't think the idea of STTN is crazy either. We didn't do anything fancy, just basic sleep training (and no, no CIO if ur wondering).