STTN: How long is 'too' long ?

altarrose · December 2010

My LO is 6 weeks today. For about a week now he has been at least what I consider to be STTN (7 hour stretches consistently). We are night owls and feed and put him down right before we go to bed at midnight or 1am. In general he sleeps til 7 or 8am and we couldn't be happier. Last night however, we put him down the usual time and he was asleep until 10:30am, so over 10 hours. He had been awake the whole day previously, so I don't know if thats why...but with a stretch so long, should I have woken him up to eat?

J+MS · December 2010

No, 10 hours is great. I put my LO down at 7-8 and she sleeps till 4, eats and goes back to sleep until 7-8.

wife1014 · December 2010

you do not have to wake a baby unless he/she is not gaining properly or you have been instructed to do so for some medical reason.

Hudson_Hawk · December 2010

It depends on the baby and the parent's comfort level. Personally with the weight my LO had put on by 6 weeks (he was 5 lbs 10 oz at birth and 11.5 at 8 weeks) I would not have woken him and would have rejoiced at a stretch of sleep that long. Most babies, unless they're itty bitty, will wake themselves when they're hungry. Mine didn't start doing long stretches like that until he went to day care at 12 weeks.

Geback723 · December 2010

DD sleeps 10-12 hour stretches every night. The dr said its perfectly fine as long as she is gaining weight and meeting her milestones. Smile

altarrose · December 2010

Thanks for the responses. I guess it just freaked me out as he has never slept that long. He is a good sized baby though, over 12lbs, and now that he is just on formula, taking a consistent 4oz at a time.

nadinethequeen01 · December 2010

Wow, I'm jealous! I can't sleep more then 6 hours without feeling like my boobs are going to explode so I end up waking DD up if she doesn't on her own! Lol