When will LO sleep in longer stretches?

haylo33 · June 2014

DS will be 4 weeks on Friday. He is breast fed except DH gives him a bottle with the first MOTN feeding which we sometimes supplement with formula. He wakes every 2 hours like clockwork during the night. The longest stretch we got was 3 hours once. He gained 2 pounds at his 2 week check up which is great and pediatrician said he could go up to a 4 hour stretch with such a big weight gain. Even when we give him formula (which I thought made them feel full longer), 2 hours later he is up. When can I expect a longer stretch? I certainly don't expect him to STTN, but a 4-5 hour stretch would be heavenly. He eats every 1.5-2 hours during the day so I doubt he is trying to make up for missed calories during the night.

ama7165 · June 2014

For the longest time we were only getting 3 hour stretches at night. Around 2months old he started going 4-5 hours most nights. He is 12 weeks old now and last week he started sleeping 7 hours! Occasionally he goes back to the 4-5 hours, though after only 2-3 hour stretches, 5 hours made me feel so well rested!

momo214 · June 2014

Your LO and mine seem to be on the same sleep schedule. Mine was 4 weeks on Sunday and also only sleeps in two hour stretches. Maybe I can get a three hour stretch once per week.

whimsy515 · June 2014

I'm in the same boat. LO gained 2lbs at his 2 week check up as well. He'll eat 3-4oz every 2.5-3 hours. My Pedi told me that because he's eating 4oz he should go longer in between, but that hasn't happened yet. I'm wondering if he'll start sleeping longer soon...

ksyknelvr73 · June 2014

My LO is totally FF and still wakes up every 2-3 hours at night. He is only 3 weeks old but I swear with how much he eats I would think he could go longer. He is also 10 1/2 pounds. Baffles me.

apinkpelican · June 2014

LO will be 4 weeks on Sunday. She just went 5 hrs btwn feedings which means about 3.5-4 hrs of sleep. Usually she'll go 4 hrs tops at night between feedings. It was glorious. Wouldn't you know she is WIDE awake now after her 3 am feeding and not going back down. :-/. I'm sorry you are still only getting 2-3 hrs. Wish I had some advice. A friend of mine w a 3 month old stopped over tonight and her LO sleeps thru the whole night. I was so jealous I wanted to cry!

SMM1986 · June 2014

DD is 7 weeks and we're still only getting 2 hr stretches at night. The good thing is that she eats less because she's half asleep so the feeding is sometimes only 10 mins long and she's usually right back to sleep.

SweetTea420 · June 2014

My LO started sleeping 5 hour stretches at 6 weeks. Before he was only sleeping 3 hours at a time.

THD7580 · June 2014

Well DS usually wakes up every 2-3 hours but tonight I swaddled him (he hates it) and he's slept 4 hour stretches all night! Woohoo! Hopefully this lasts we are going to continue to swaddle again.

usernewname · June 2014

DS is 5 weeks and a sleeps one long stretch from 9 too 12 (a couple nights til 1) then it's every 2 hours from there. He's EBF.

But he wakes, gets his diaper changed then eats and goes back to sleep fast. It's nice.

Days are hard though. He is hard to get to nap and it's all over the map. I've noticed anything under 2 hours guarantees me are real cranky baby and 4 is our magic number. Anything over 4 messes with the night as I loose the long stretch.

haylo33 · June 2014

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'm not alone. The good news is after I feed him 90% of the time he goes right back to sleep. Even after I change him. I know it is only temporary but I am so looking forward to more sleep!

momthatlifts · June 2014

I wish dd had a schedule. She is all over the place. I can never expect the same thing every night. I'm hoping within the next 2 months she will sleep closer to 3 or 4 hours and maybe have a more strict schedule.

KBowen715 · June 2014

Little man has been going from 11:30-4 (one night until 6!!!). He's 5 weeks and breastfed.

The downside to that is he is slow to gain weight and cluster feed in the morning and right before bed.

What I have found to be the magic recipe is this:

I pump throughout the day, and before bedtime, I breastfeed, play for about an hour, give him a warm bottle of about 3 oz of breastmilk, finish our bedtime routine (takes about 30), and then nurse him to sleep. I speculate he's getting 5-6 ounces in a fairly short period of time.

I've also found that he sleeps best at night when he had a two hour nap in the morning and a three hour nap in the evening. He'll nap from 5-8 at night, then go down for the long stretch around 11, 11:30, and we keep him pretty stimulated from 8-11.

Good luck!

Marcella05 · June 2014

I've seen a gradual change in his feeding trend over the last week or two. DS is 5 weeks old today. He was consistently going 1.5-2 hours between feedings at night, then 2-2.5 hours, then 2.5-3 hours, and lately has been pretty consistent at 3 hours with one 4 hour stretch at the beginning of the night.

norab2684 · June 2014

Looks like 6 weeks is the magic number for longer stretches. Mine LO is 4 weeks 4 days and goes about 2.5 hours at night between feedings. She weighs 10 lbs so I am hoping that over the next few weeks she can stretch it out closer to 4 hours. That would be heavenly!

danagmauro · June 2014

Brooke is 5 weeks and I'm just this week getting 6-7 hour stretches after being 2 hours every night like clock work...we think the difference is that she's sleeping much less during the day and her day naps went from 2 hours to 30 minute cat naps and typically only happen until 4/5 pm until bedtime at 8

Sdufort1216 · June 2014

Weston's 3 weeks today and I had to stop bfing ( he was going 3 hrs at night) now that he does formula he goes 1.5-2 hrs. why less I have no idea

bumpuser10194737 · June 2014

LO just started sleeping from about 10pm to 3am the last couple of nights. He is six weeks today. Hoping it will continue.

BeesKnees181 · June 2014

My new cure for hiccups / from my MIL's visit last week - give a little more from bottle, seems to work every time with our girls (6 weeks old).

danagmauro · June 2014

Gripe water takes my girls hiccups away immediately

MissLadyTay · June 2014

Mine is six weeks and is giving us 6-7 hour stretches. From 10 or 11 to 4 or 5. He cluster feeds all evening, so maybe that's helping to wear him out and fill him up? The RNP makes a difference too. In his crib he sleeps for an hour or two at a time (if that).

giggler25 · June 2014

Mamarazziof3 said:
LO just started sleeping from about 10pm to 3am the last couple of nights. He is six weeks today. Hoping it will continue.

Wow - I would love this!!

spinsoffresonance · June 2014

DD1 ate every 3h at night until 8m old. Then between 8 and 9m she dropped all the night feedings on her own and started sleeping 12hours. DD2 is 5w old and the longer stretch I get so far is 2 hours.

momthatlifts · June 2014

Lo has been around the clock eating every 2 hours at night and just about the same during the day. Except she is more active for a while before she takes a short nap and back at it again

ns1 · June 2014

We've moved backwards from every 2 hours to every 30 minutes or so. This is fun.

giggler25 · June 2014

Mamarazziof3 said:
LO just started sleeping from about 10pm to 3am the last couple of nights. He is six weeks today. Hoping it will continue.

Wow - I would love this!

JKBMA2014 said:
Lo has been around the clock eating every 2 hours at night and just about the same during the day. Except she is more active for a while before she takes a short nap and back at it again

That's my LO too!

Marcella05 · June 2014

DS is 5 weeks old and for the last 3 nights he has given us a good 5 hour stretch at the start, followed by a 3-4 hour stretch. Hoping it sticks.

Emmagk · June 2014

For the last 2 nights we have gotten 6 hour stretches out of DS! Thursday night he was feeding every 2 hours then friday suddenly went 6 hours and again last night. He was 4 weeks in saturday, I really hope this continues

giggler25 · June 2014

Lissiehoya said:

mkquinnwedding said:

Im lucky if I get 2 hours during the day, 3 hours at night between feedings. Mine is 3 weeks tomorrow. This means I am getting about 1.5 hours of sleep between feedings at night, and my husband, since going back to work, is not much help after 11pm.

Feedings take so long for us I cant wait for it to get easier. Our ridiculous routine:

Heat bottle
Change diaper while bottle heats
Fight with LO to eat bottle instead of hands
Feed
Burp for 20 minutes since shes stubborn
Finish feeding
Hold upright for 30 minutes to *HOPEFULLY* avoid hiccups
Deal with hiccups for 20 minutes if they develop
Wait for LO to get to sleep
Finally put LO down

Its the burping and hiccups that are killing me! Our pedi said the hiccups are normal for babies (but not usually after every single feeding) and to hold her upright for 30 minutes. If she gets the hiccups and we cant get rid of them quickly, it usually leads to all out puking, then she's hungry, so we have to start all over.

I love that you add this in. DS was screaming bloody murder today as I was trying to get him to latch onto my breast because he was hungry and literally as soon as I got close he'd shove his hand in his mouth.

My DD does the same thing! I have to wrestle her sometimes to get her hand away!

manna1212 · June 2014

For the last few nights we have been going about 4 hours between feedings! After that about 2 hours. We were every 2 hours for quite some time and just recently started the 4 hour stretch. LO is 4 weeks old.

CJPowers · June 2014

DS is 4 weeks old and he eats at 10/11 pm, 1/2 am, 4/5 am 7/8 am so he eats every 3 hours... Sleep is about 2 hours. It is very typical for babies to eat every 21/2 - 3 hours. This would mean sleep is less than that. DD started going a long stretch at 8 weeks. I think this is common around the 2 month mark. That might be 3 hours of sleep when LO goes 4 hours between a feeding at night. Try to keep feeds 2 1/2 - 3 hours during the day. If LO isn't getting frequent feeds during the day they will make up for it at night. Good luck, and just remember they are only little for a short period of time. Enjoy this time when they are so small and snugly.

norab2684 · June 2014

Last night we got our first 6 hour stretch! LO is 5 weeks old. She slept from 7pm-1am. Unfortunately she was up every hour after that but at least she showed us she could go more than 3 hours! Hoping to see more of that!

lovey1 · June 2014

DS (7 weeks) slept for 5 hours straight last night and 2 nights ago, followed by a 3 hour stretch. Prior to this weekend, he woke up every 2-3 hours at night. I'm so relieved by this transition since I'm going back to work this Thursday.

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