when should ds sleep through the night?

[McPrice]

hi, i have a 5 month old loveable ds during the day. by night he turns in to a monster. he started sleeping through the night at 3months and did so for 3 weeks since then hes been waking at least once and rising early (at 5am) surely he should be sleeping all the way through. hes formula fed on hungry baby milk. the health visitor has said he should go in his own room now and not to feed him at night. but that seems a little harsh. am i just being weak? as im back at work am starting to really feel shatterd now.

[Tee2072]

There is no should in children.

[neontetra]

My dd only started sleeping through at about a year, and still doesn't always do so at 14 months.
Your HV's advice to put him in his own room goes against the guidance for preventing SIDS, so I would strongly question her judgement, to be honest.

[PotteringAlong]

My DS is 19 months and has slept through once (yup, 1 night only) in that time.

5 months is very little and there is, as tee said, no 'should' about it, you just have to go with the flow!

I do feel your pain - my DS was still up every 2 hours when I went back to work but I just tell myself that one day he will be a teenager and won't get up for love nor money!

[makescakeswhenstressed]

Oh. and just fyi, they don't wake because they're hungry...

[ilovepowerhoop]

ds was 8 months before he slept through and was well established on solids by then. I would expect to still be doing a night feed at 5 months. The advice to put him in his own room is also questionable as that goes against Sids advice of keeping them in the same room for the first 6 months.

[makescakeswhenstressed]

oops. forgot to qualify that. Unless they're newborn.

[TanteRose]

what do you mean makescakes ?

my DCs woke in the night because they were hungry, or thirsty.
Esp. at 5 months - that is still tiny.

at each developmental stage, a baby's brain goes through so much, its no wonder their sleep is affected! A bottle or boob is nice and soothing, and helps them get back to sleep.

Your baby is so very young, keep him close and listen to him. You really need to be following his lead.

OP, the early waking is very usual - really not much you can do about that.

[TanteRose]

so they only wake due to hunger when they are newborns? really?

[YDdraigGoch]

My DD wasn't 100% guaranteed to sleep all night until she was 5 or 6 - years, not months.
Get used to it - it's par for the course for a long time yet!

[Pozzled]

How long is a piece of string?

Babies are so different, we could all say 'my DC slept through at X age' but it would give you no indication of when your baby will sleep through.

Personally I would ignore the HV and continue to feed as he's still so little. It may only be a comfort thing- but he's a small baby, IMO he has the right to be comforted if he is unhappy!

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

It's really normal for a 5 month old to wake early morning for a feed. Try not to get stressed about it and whatever you do don't stop feeding him! Iirc my DS didn't drop the early morning feed until quite a bit older than 5 months.

[EhricLovesTeamQhuay]

Why are you feeding hungry baby milk though? It's a con. You would be better off offering bigger quantities of regular milk. If he's hungry then he needs calories, not artificially thickened milk to fill up his tummy for longer.

[TanteRose]

also what Ehric says ^^

[tumbletumble]

DS2 is 3. He still wakes most nights! The other two started sleeping through around 7 months.

[bigoldbird]

Don't want to worry you but DD1 didn't sleep through the night until she was 4 years and 10 months old. I had no end of flack about all the things I was doing wrong. DD2, who was treated exactly the same, slept through the night from 8 weeks. DD1 is now 23 and still seems to manage on about 4 hours sleep a night, DD2 is 20 and would sleep 20 hours a day given the opportunity.

[munchkinmaster]

You'll get a lot of replies with people saying their child didn't sleep through till they were an older toddler. I think that's simply because people reading Internet chats about sleep tend to be people whose babies don't sleep.

Remember this is a short term thing and will most likely be over in 3-5 months. Do you have a partner. When my baby got up ultra early I'd hand her over to her dad at 6:45-7am and grab another hour.

I think anything below 6-7 months is too early to night wean but would be perfectly okay to give a late bottle as you went to bed and then again at 5. My baby was breast fed and at that age our rule was when she first wakes up and after 5 (otherwise would get up hourly),

Honestly this will be over before you know it.

[makescakeswhenstressed]

Rose by 5 months they may well wake for comfort but not hunger. they've done studies on babies who are fed by ngt so never get hungry and they woke no less (or more) than other babies.

[hardboiledpossum]

makescakeswhenstressed I don't think you can conclude from that study that young babies who wake in the night are not hungry.

[makescakeswhenstressed]

I didn't conclude. I am quoting doctors who concluded. If I get a chance I'll link to the research

[McPrice]

thanks for your replies. he will be staying put in our bedroom for sure and i'll just ride it out until hes no longer waking and needing a feed or cuddle.

[Seb101]

I tend to agree that 5 month olds don't wake in the night out of hunger. They don't need feeding at night by this age. I'd say they wake out of routine, for comfort or some other reason. The research I've read says that by 5-6 months a baby is physiologically (spelt wrong ?! ) capable of sleeping through the night. They don't need the food, doesn't mean they don't want it though! Lol so not much help to you! Although if you want to refuse night time feeds in the hope he'll stop waking when he realises he doesn't get fed, you don't have to feel bad about it. It's not like starving a newborn who needs night feeds! The Hv sounds a little harsh in her advice, but fundamentally she's right; babies so easily get dependent on night feeds for comfort, routine etc. and the longer it goes on for the harder the behaviour is to break.

[MigGril]

Really seb a little hash don't you think. Do you go 12 hours every night without a drink or feeling thirsty?

I think that's a lot to ask of a 5 month old. I send my 6 year old to bed with a cup off water or sometimes she'd have me up in the night asking for a drink. I wouldn't say that's was out of comfort either she's just thirsty. Would it be ok for me to refuse her water?

I think we expect to much of tiny babies and just because some are able to sleep through the night doesn't mean they all are. We are all different. I'd say if she won't go back to sleep without it then she still needs it.

[ChoudeBruxelles]

Ds was 2 1/2. They are all different

[Seb101]

Don't think it's harsh no. I don't have a drink at night no, I sleep all night and have a drink in the morning. Children waking for water in the night is mostly routine as well. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, if you don't mind getting up making drinks during the night. Children don't need it though IMO. It's something that when you start doing is hard to stop, it becomes a learned behaviour like anything else. If op is keen to get her baby sleeping through the night, it's perfectly possible and ok to not give any milk/water during the night. If she's not, then perfectly ok to continue giving milk/water. Just saying that the longer babies continue to feed/drink during the night the harder the habit is to break. For most babies that is... I've done sleep support nannying and have known 3-4 year olds still waking to have water or milk and often cuddles from mum several times a night. If left this long it can be an incredibly difficult routine to break.