I swear, when I go on the bump all I read about are these babies who are sleeping for six hour stretches at night or only wake up once during the night and I'm going CRAZY reading about it! Is anyone else's two month old NOT sleeping like this?
DS will go to bed at 7:30pm and on a good night, he'll wake up at 12am, but that's happened ONCE. Usually, he wakes up at 10pm, then 12am, 2am, 3:30am, 5am, and 6:30am. Believe me, I've read Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child, the Baby Whisperer, Happiest Baby on the Block, you name it, and with all of those techniques, the above schedule is what has been achieved and unchanged for a month and a half.
I need to know, for my sanity, that I'm not a terrible parent because my son isn't STTN at 11 weeks old.
Re: Not STTN at 10 weeks?
DS isn't either at 8 weeks. But have you tried putting LO to bed later to see how that affects your schedule? It seems that most infants I know of go to bed around 10:00 or 11:00 rather than 7:00 or 8:00.
We start DS's bedtime routine at 9:30, which means that he's in his crib between 10:30 and 11:00. He usually wakes around 2:00 and 5:00 and then up for the day around 7:00. In the evenings we let him snooze on the couch or in his swing or hold him or walk him, but we keep our normal daytime schedule for diaper changes and feedings (last one is usually around 8:00).
Edit: Oh, and unfortunately genetics don't seem to play a role. According to my mom and MIL, I STTN at 4 weeks and DH STTN at 5 weeks.
Your LO is MORE than normal. STTN at 10 weeks is extremely uncommon - and if a LO does STTN then, you can almost guarantee that it won't last.
Here is a link with lots of studies about normal infant sleep habits.
https://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html
In particular, check out these data:
Sadler S. Sleep: what is normal at six months?
Prof Care Mother Child 1994 Aug-Sep;4(6):166-7.
In this study, part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ALSPAC), researchers surveyed the parents of 640 babies. Some of the results:
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My DS did not STTN until 13 months.....slept 730 to 730 from about6 months on, but always woke up for a 330 feeding until I completely weaned him from nursing.
I find that there are alot of babies on the bump that STTN...I don't really think it's the norm to STTN at 10 weeks, honestly. When I was pregnant, I knew I was getting into about 6 months of sleep deprivation.
So, no, you're not a terrible parent. Some babies wake more than others. Hopefully it will start to get better, and he will start sleeping for a little longer stretches...because every 2 hours is tough. We just broke the 2 hour cycle a couple of weeks ago, but I am still waking 2 or 3 times every night with DS. It's rough, but I look at it as 'my time in the trenches'. This too shall pass, I guess.
I think you should come see the recent post on 12-24 about the number of toddlers who still don't STTN ;-)
I would be more surprised to see a 10 week old STTN - and even more surprised if that kid never had night wakings in the future...you've got the 4 month wakeful, teething, 9 month wakeful, more teething, illnesses...
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