How To Get Newborn To Sleep Longer Stretches At Night? And for good reason—it was a breeze. Yes, I continued to feed her every three hours, but she always went back to sleep right away. I questioned why there was such a big deal about getting too little sleep. The following night, however, was quite different from the previous one.She was practically stuck to my boob the whole night, I swear. And back home, more of the same. I understood after that. Despite experiencing the best moment of my life, I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take her to stop needing to be fed in order to sleep through the night.
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I was getting tired of it. In addition to wanting time to halt so I could fully appreciate all that infant goodness, I also found myself wanting time to go very quickly so we could all get some sleep at last. She did manage to sleep through the night eventually.
As much as I would like to tell you the precise time a baby would be able to feed enough during the day to sustain them through the night, it's not that easy. We have thus teamed up with Serenity Sleepers' Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant Kelley Thompson to provide you with a reasonable schedule of what to anticipate regarding your baby's sleep and the maximum amount of time they can go without waking for a feeding.
The Cause of Nighttime Hunger in Babies
It can be confusing at first why your kid can't consume enough calories throughout the day to allow them to sleep through the night as you can, How To Get Newborn To Sleep Longer Stretches At Night?
However, you and your child are very different in two important ways.
Your baby has a tiny tummy! It also has a limited capacity for milk. We're talking about only a few teaspoons of milk during the first few days of your baby's life, and even less than 3–4 ounces at about one month.
Babies develop quickly. They initially lose weight in the first few days, but after two weeks they should regain their birth weight. It makes sense why they would be so ravenous! By the time they are 4 months old, they will have doubled their birthweight. By the age of one, triple that! After a year, your 7-pound newborn will weigh about 21 pounds. Given your rapid growth (as opposed to your weight, which should essentially remain constant), it is clear why eating a lot is crucial.
It's just not reasonable to expect your infant to sleep through the night while they're first having to bulk out because of these two variables. Breastfed newborns in particular have a rapid rate of milk digestion, so it's likely that they'll wake up in the middle of the night hungry – possibly more than once.
What It Means to Sleep Through the Night?
You might utter the words "Hmmm..." if your buddy informs you that their baby is sleeping through the night and you discover that it was only a 6-hour period. After all, six hours of sleep wouldn't leave you feeling rested. Why is that?
There are three methods to describe sleeping through the night:
Experts typically define "sleeping through the night" as a maximum of six to eight hours, as that is the maximum amount of sleep that a baby can typically manage during the later stages of infancy (about three months or older).
What you personally interpret "Sleeping Through the Night" to signify This translates to eight hours, at least for me, and most adults require around that much sleep to function well during the day. You may be thinking, "I can't wait until my baby sleeps through the night so that I can, too" (and get your full 8 hours), even if you know your baby has different demands.
Your infant would love spending an entire night "Sleeping Through the Night" - Generally speaking, babies require 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night. They WILL eventually sleep through the entire duration without awakening. When, though?
The amount of time your baby can sleep for before waking up and wanting to eat progresses gradually. As much as there are other things that keep babies up at night (which we'll cover), hunger is the main cause of their frequent awakenings.
We'll go over when you could anticipate each of these levels of "sleeping through the night" to occur, as you might have three different expectations. That being said, each baby is unique, so things might not line up exactly. Though this isn't always the case, formula-fed newborns typically "sleep through the night" sooner than breastfed babies.
Establishing the Groundwork for Restful Sleep
Yes, the major reason your kid will wake up is because they are hungry. However, as they get bigger, they ought to be able to go longer and longer intervals without requiring those feeding.
When we asked Serenity Sleepers' Kelley what her best advice was for getting a baby to sleep through the night, she said the following:
"Before a baby can sleep through the night, they must first have the right sleep foundations and education in place.
A baby can sleep for extended periods of time at night after they can fall asleep on their own, link sleep cycles, establish age-appropriate routines, and get enough sleep during the day.
When a baby has the right sleep foundations—outlined above—they will sleep through the night for 11–12 hours at a time. This is a developmental process that will look different for every baby.
Stage 1: Sleeping for 6–8 hours during the night without eating:
Most parents begin to notice that their newborns are able to sleep for extended periods of time about 4 months of age. Reaching five or six hours by now is quite possible. Once your infant has overcome the 4-month sleep regression, this is especially true. To learn what to anticipate during this time, be sure to read our article, "Getting Through Your Baby's 4-Month Sleep Regression."
BabyCenter expert Susan E.C. Sorenson states that 6-month-olds "can sleep comfortably for at least six hours without waking up to eat." Some infants will even do it before then.
At this age, newborns typically take scheduled naps during the day and have long waking hours during which they consume a lot of formula and breastmilk and are sufficiently stimulated to fall asleep at night. They can also consume more calories at once and reduce the number of night feedings they require to only one or two per night.
While every baby's sleep schedule is unique, it is realistic to expect a 6- to 8-hour sleep span from your 6-month-old.
Stage 2: Sleeping for 8–9 hours during the night without eating:
During the 7 to 9 month mark, your baby will start to sleep for longer and longer periods of time. But it's crucial to keep in mind that a baby's sleep pattern is not linear. For a while, it could appear like one step forward, two steps back. To put it another way, a few restful nights could be followed by a few restless ones. It's crucial to observe your child's improvement in terms of sleep duration as you begin to realize their sleeping abilities.
This is a major turning point for parents, even though you are probably not getting a full 8 or 9 hours of sleep yet because your kid will fall asleep before you do! Additionally, Kelley Thompson, a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant, informed us that many babies at this age even sleep through the night!
Your baby should easily go back down after feeding if you have done a good job of sleep training them and have utilized self-soothing techniques like putting them in a Dreamland Baby weighted sack. If you keep the lights down and keep your infant sleepy when you nurse them, one 3 or 4 am feeding is actually not too horrible. All you have to do is set them down again, and they should go asleep again till morning.
It's good to reflect back at how far you've come by now. And you can almost taste that restful night's sleep...
Stage 3: Sleeping through the entire night, up to 12 hours, without eating
Dr. Sarah Mitchell, a sleep expert, told us in a recent guest article that she sees a lot of 5-month-olds who are fed formula and are capable of sleeping for 11 hours at a time at night. Even though this is not typical, we are merely pointing out that it is conceivable and illustrates how widely the spectrum can expand.
A 9 to 12-month-old who sleeps through the entire night without waking up to eat is more probable. This implies that when you put your kid to bed, maybe at 7:30, you won't see their content, well-rested face until around 6:30 the following morning! This is every bit as magnificent as it sounds.
You and your infant are both getting enough sleep for proper growth and development. You understand how much you need that undisturbed sleep as a busy parent, not to mention those peaceful hours before bed!
Additional Things That Keep Your Infant Up at Night
It's critical to understand your infant's sleeping patterns and whether or not they require feedings at night. Even though it's completely normal for your baby to still get up later than usual during the night, if this is the case, you may want to start thinking about whether there may be another cause for their nighttime awakenings.
Wellington Importadora
How To Get Newborn To Sleep Longer Stretches At Night? And for good reason—it was a breeze. Yes, I continued to feed her every three hours, but she always went back to sleep right away. I questioned why there was such a big deal about getting too little sleep. The following night, however, was quite different from the previous one.She was practically stuck to my boob the whole night, I swear. And back home, more of the same. I understood after that. Despite experiencing the best moment of my life, I couldn't help but wonder how long it would take her to stop needing to be fed in order to sleep through the night.
I was getting tired of it. In addition to wanting time to halt so I could fully appreciate all that infant goodness, I also found myself wanting time to go very quickly so we could all get some sleep at last. She did manage to sleep through the night eventually.
As much as I would like to tell you the precise time a baby would be able to feed enough during the day to sustain them through the night, it's not that easy. We have thus teamed up with Serenity Sleepers' Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant Kelley Thompson to provide you with a reasonable schedule of what to anticipate regarding your baby's sleep and the maximum amount of time they can go without waking for a feeding.
The Cause of Nighttime Hunger in Babies
It can be confusing at first why your kid can't consume enough calories throughout the day to allow them to sleep through the night as you can, How To Get Newborn To Sleep Longer Stretches At Night?
However, you and your child are very different in two important ways.
Your baby has a tiny tummy! It also has a limited capacity for milk. We're talking about only a few teaspoons of milk during the first few days of your baby's life, and even less than 3–4 ounces at about one month.
Babies develop quickly. They initially lose weight in the first few days, but after two weeks they should regain their birth weight. It makes sense why they would be so ravenous! By the time they are 4 months old, they will have doubled their birthweight. By the age of one, triple that! After a year, your 7-pound newborn will weigh about 21 pounds. Given your rapid growth (as opposed to your weight, which should essentially remain constant), it is clear why eating a lot is crucial.
It's just not reasonable to expect your infant to sleep through the night while they're first having to bulk out because of these two variables. Breastfed newborns in particular have a rapid rate of milk digestion, so it's likely that they'll wake up in the middle of the night hungry – possibly more than once.
What It Means to Sleep Through the Night?
You might utter the words "Hmmm..." if your buddy informs you that their baby is sleeping through the night and you discover that it was only a 6-hour period. After all, six hours of sleep wouldn't leave you feeling rested. Why is that?
There are three methods to describe sleeping through the night:
Experts typically define "sleeping through the night" as a maximum of six to eight hours, as that is the maximum amount of sleep that a baby can typically manage during the later stages of infancy (about three months or older).
What you personally interpret "Sleeping Through the Night" to signify This translates to eight hours, at least for me, and most adults require around that much sleep to function well during the day. You may be thinking, "I can't wait until my baby sleeps through the night so that I can, too" (and get your full 8 hours), even if you know your baby has different demands.
Your infant would love spending an entire night "Sleeping Through the Night" - Generally speaking, babies require 10 to 12 hours of sleep at night. They WILL eventually sleep through the entire duration without awakening. When, though?
The amount of time your baby can sleep for before waking up and wanting to eat progresses gradually. As much as there are other things that keep babies up at night (which we'll cover), hunger is the main cause of their frequent awakenings.
We'll go over when you could anticipate each of these levels of "sleeping through the night" to occur, as you might have three different expectations. That being said, each baby is unique, so things might not line up exactly. Though this isn't always the case, formula-fed newborns typically "sleep through the night" sooner than breastfed babies.
Establishing the Groundwork for Restful Sleep
Yes, the major reason your kid will wake up is because they are hungry. However, as they get bigger, they ought to be able to go longer and longer intervals without requiring those feeding.
When we asked Serenity Sleepers' Kelley what her best advice was for getting a baby to sleep through the night, she said the following:
"Before a baby can sleep through the night, they must first have the right sleep foundations and education in place.
A baby can sleep for extended periods of time at night after they can fall asleep on their own, link sleep cycles, establish age-appropriate routines, and get enough sleep during the day.
When a baby has the right sleep foundations—outlined above—they will sleep through the night for 11–12 hours at a time. This is a developmental process that will look different for every baby.
Stage 1: Sleeping for 6–8 hours during the night without eating:
Most parents begin to notice that their newborns are able to sleep for extended periods of time about 4 months of age. Reaching five or six hours by now is quite possible. Once your infant has overcome the 4-month sleep regression, this is especially true. To learn what to anticipate during this time, be sure to read our article, "Getting Through Your Baby's 4-Month Sleep Regression."
BabyCenter expert Susan E.C. Sorenson states that 6-month-olds "can sleep comfortably for at least six hours without waking up to eat." Some infants will even do it before then.
At this age, newborns typically take scheduled naps during the day and have long waking hours during which they consume a lot of formula and breastmilk and are sufficiently stimulated to fall asleep at night. They can also consume more calories at once and reduce the number of night feedings they require to only one or two per night.
While every baby's sleep schedule is unique, it is realistic to expect a 6- to 8-hour sleep span from your 6-month-old.
Stage 2: Sleeping for 8–9 hours during the night without eating:
During the 7 to 9 month mark, your baby will start to sleep for longer and longer periods of time. But it's crucial to keep in mind that a baby's sleep pattern is not linear. For a while, it could appear like one step forward, two steps back. To put it another way, a few restful nights could be followed by a few restless ones. It's crucial to observe your child's improvement in terms of sleep duration as you begin to realize their sleeping abilities.
This is a major turning point for parents, even though you are probably not getting a full 8 or 9 hours of sleep yet because your kid will fall asleep before you do! Additionally, Kelley Thompson, a Certified Pediatric Sleep Consultant, informed us that many babies at this age even sleep through the night!
Your baby should easily go back down after feeding if you have done a good job of sleep training them and have utilized self-soothing techniques like putting them in a Dreamland Baby weighted sack. If you keep the lights down and keep your infant sleepy when you nurse them, one 3 or 4 am feeding is actually not too horrible. All you have to do is set them down again, and they should go asleep again till morning.
It's good to reflect back at how far you've come by now. And you can almost taste that restful night's sleep...
Stage 3: Sleeping through the entire night, up to 12 hours, without eating
Dr. Sarah Mitchell, a sleep expert, told us in a recent guest article that she sees a lot of 5-month-olds who are fed formula and are capable of sleeping for 11 hours at a time at night. Even though this is not typical, we are merely pointing out that it is conceivable and illustrates how widely the spectrum can expand.
A 9 to 12-month-old who sleeps through the entire night without waking up to eat is more probable. This implies that when you put your kid to bed, maybe at 7:30, you won't see their content, well-rested face until around 6:30 the following morning! This is every bit as magnificent as it sounds.
You and your infant are both getting enough sleep for proper growth and development. You understand how much you need that undisturbed sleep as a busy parent, not to mention those peaceful hours before bed!
Additional Things That Keep Your Infant Up at Night
It's critical to understand your infant's sleeping patterns and whether or not they require feedings at night. Even though it's completely normal for your baby to still get up later than usual during the night, if this is the case, you may want to start thinking about whether there may be another cause for their nighttime awakenings.