Do BF babies ever sleep through the night?

kristalr · May 2010

DD is only 1 month old and will sometimes go 4 hours at night between feedings whereas she only goes 3 hours during the day. Just wondering if breastfed babies ever sleep all night? I'm exhausted now and can't imagine how tired I will be when I have to go back to work if she doesn't start sleeping more. If you are breastfeeding and your baby is sleeping through the night, at what age did they start?

Angela814 · May 2010

At 1 month, Annalise was nursing every 1-1.5 hours during the day. At night I got a 4 hour stretch followed by a 3 hour stretch usually.

She started STTN at 10 weeks (but was still nursing every 2 hours during the day). At 4 months she stopped STTN and has only done it a handful of times since. She's almost 4 years old. You get used to living with little to no sleep.

myonetruelove · May 2010

Ds starting Sleeping in 6 hours increments at 2 months. He now sleeps from 830ish to 430ish.

NY-allie · May 2010

DS started SSTN 7pm to 7 am at 9 months. But at about 4 months he was down to 1 wake-up a night. I'm in the process of weaning now.

momtotom · May 2010

Remember to take naps or at least lay down whenever your DD is sleeping!! That saved me. You really have to force yourself to lay down during the day. Even if you don't completely fall asleep, laying down with your eyes closed will help.

My DS didn't STTN until about 18mo and my daughter did about about 6 weeks. So they are all different!

trackchik6 · May 2010

DS started sttn at 6 mo. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child helped me.

poppyweed · May 2010

DD started long stretches of 8+ hours around 2 months. Now, at 6.5 months, she sleeps from 8-6, then back down until 8 or later.

vermont7 · May 2010

Not yet. She sleeps one stretch of about 4-5 hours and then is up every 2-3 after that. The longer stretch is new too. Breastfeeding is worth it though. I want what is best for LO. I think it is more on the rare side for BF babies to STTN.

swimrbride · May 2010

DS started going 5-6 hours around 4 weeks. For the most part he is now going at least 7 hours, with 8-10 thrown in about twice a week, but still has the occasional night he is up every 3-4 hours.

NaHoku · May 2010

DD has STTN for weeks - with a few nights here and there where she'll wake up once or twice. She's slept 10-13 hrs every night for the past week or so ::knock on wood that she keeps it up::

DS, on the other hand, woke up every 2 hours until he was weaned at 7.5 months.

Special*K* · May 2010

My older son started sstn at 6 months.

#2 is 3 months old. He is inconsistent but about 1/2 the time he sleeps from 7-8 until 4-5am and then goes back down for a couple of hours. Other times he wakes once during the night (between 7pm and 5am).

Hang in there!

At1stsight · May 2010

As others have said, it varies. If you think you're already tired, I feel bad for you. It doesn't matter if the baby is bf'd or FF. Some kids just don't sleep for long stretches for a long time. Sleep whenever she sleeps while you're SAH and you will adjust once you go back to work regardless.

I said the same thing when I was about to go back to work at 5 mo. He still didn't STTN until 9 mo. - he sleeps from 7:30-4:30 now and after I nurse him he'll sleep til 6:30/7am before he's up for the day.

mom2binKC · May 2010

DS steadily slept longer and longer stretches at night until, at around 3 months, he was sleeping an 8-hour stretch, followed by another 3-4 hours. Unfortunately, that 8 hour stretch was from 8pm to 4am, so I still had to get up once. But I really can't complain! He has slept a few nights 10 hours straight through. But, now he's teething, so he's back to getting up twice (once around 10-11, so usually before I'm in bed, and then again around 4).

I BF'd DD until 16 months. She definitely STTN during a lot of that time, but she would wake more when teething or sometimes during a growth spurt. Who knows. All I know is that we would get in a routine, and then something would change. But she would often sleep 10-11 hours through the night without waking.

MrsJJC · May 2010

trackchik6:
DS started sttn at 6 mo. Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child helped me.

This book is great! Has a lot of helpful info and most importantly - the "action plan for exhausted parents" :-)

DS started sleeping 4 hours at a time at 2 weeks and has increased to 6-7 hrs. now. But, he's making the schedule!

Bridezookie · May 2010

vermont7:
Not yet. She sleeps one stretch of about 4-5 hours and then is up every 2-3 after that. The longer stretch is new too. Breastfeeding is worth it though. I want what is best for LO. I think it is more on the rare side for BF babies to STTN.

I agree with this post! My son is 9 months old and sleeps 2 hours or so in his crib without waking, then I bring him to my bed with me and he sometimes STTN. More often than not, though, he will wake up every few hours and nurse back to sleep. We are working on increasing that 2 hrs in the crib now.

danilynn17 · May 2010

My BF baby started STTN around 4 weeks old (prior to that she would go 5-6 hr stretches). Since then she has consistently slept from about 9:30 or 10 pm and then wakes up somewhere between 5:30 and 6:30 am. She'll then eat and go back to sleep for another couple of hours. But with me going back to work next week, we'll see how that changes...

AwBeth · May 2010

My BF baby started sleeping all the way through the night (around 8 hrs) at 8 weeks. She sleeps 12 hours every night now. Good luck!

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