How long does your 6 week old sleep at night?

honeybee111 · February 2010

DD has a pretty predictable sleep schedule. She's up 3 times at night. She will go from 10-1, then up for change/feed/burp which usually takes 30-40 min. Then she'll sleep again until 4 or 5, then up again. Then, she'll go until about 9:30, and then we're up for the day.

Yesterday, a friend came over and said DD should be sleeping 5-6 hour stretches. We're only managing 3-4 hour stretches right now. Does this sound normal to you? I EBF and DD is always hungry when she's awake at night, so I don't see how she can go another 2 hours.

datan · February 2010

The longest my son has ever slept is 4 hours. I EBF, but some nights my MIL gives him a bottle - he takes 4-6 ounces. Even when he's taken 6 ounces, the longest he has slept is 4 hours, but usually just 3 - 3.5...

AFWife1229 · February 2010

Our LO has been pretty consistent with going to bed between 10-11pm and sleeping until around 3am...change/feed/burp. Then sleeps until about 7ish...change/feed/burp. Sometimes she goes back to sleep. Actually last night she went to bed around 11, woke up at 3:30, I gave her, her pacifier and she went back to sleep until 6:30! We FF, if that makes any difference.

mom2binKC · February 2010

That's pretty much DS's night schedule, too, and he is almost 8 weeks. Every baby is different, so I'm not sure why your friend would suggest your LO "should" be doing anything specific.

FWIW, I think sometimes STTN is more a matter of size vs age. Bigger babies seems to sleep longer at a younger age. My DD was 5.5 lbs at birth and stayed around the 1st percentile. She didn't sleep a solid 6 hours until close to 4 months. Whereas my friend's baby is the same age as DS (8 weeks), and she slept 7.5 hours the other night. That baby weighed about 9.5 lbs at birth. Bigger baby = bigger tummy = able to stay full longer. That's just my theory.

Boizmom · February 2010

I EBF and he only sleeps 4 to 5 hour stretches. Expecting a baby that's 6 weeks old to sleep longer then 5 hours at a time is ridiculous, their tummies aren't big enough to hold enough formula/breast milk that long yet...and if you are BF then FYI, BM goes through them a lot quicker then formula. Sleeping longer will come soon enough...my older two didn't start STTN until they were about 5/6 months. I think your baby is fine sleeping 3 to 4 hours at a time. Every baby is different.

cchill01 · February 2010

Every baby is different. But, yours is keeping about the same schedule as mine. She's 8 weeks and the longest she's slept is 6 hours. Most of the time it's 4 hours max with the night divided into 3 parts.

llc730 · February 2010

I totally agree with PP that every baby is different. However, my pedi said that by 2 months their tummies are actually big enough for them to make it 1 six hr stretch at night and if they are waking up more than that it could just be habit/comfort rather than being hungry. For the past couple of weeks when DD wakes up at night I gave her a paci and rubbed her belly and she usually went back to sleep. I would try this twice before getting up to feed her. Before I started this she was basically on the exact same schedule as your DD. Now she goes 9pm-1am and usually doesn't get up again until close to 6 am. I would never let DD CIO or anything but this seems to work.

naflmj · February 2010

DS sleeps a 5 hr stretch from 10-3 and then again to 6 or 7 sometimes he will go back down until around 10 or so.

SaranJonathan · February 2010

I think we must be very very lucky. LO sleeps from 10 pm until 5am! And we EBF.

cma1989 · February 2010

Wow my daughter is up every 2-3 hours to eat! Normally around 11, 1-2, 5, and then she miiight go back to sleep until 7. Right now I think she is in a growth spurt. Your friend is lucky to have a child that sleeps that long.

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