To expect dd to sleep the night through now?

[Peppery123]

She is 24 weeks...nearly 6 calendar months. Iv been told that now is when they start slweping through....shes not...yet. but AIBU to expect it?
I know I will most likely get loads of responses with 3 and 4 year olds still not sleeping the night through. I get it, Im not trying to say that she SHOULD be sleeping through..its actually my health visitor who saw me last week and my huge, unmissable eye bags, and commented well shes nearly 6 months so she will be sleeping longer now and maybe through the night.
Just hanging onto to those words with immense hope. She said most mothers she sees it all starts to get better come after 6 months.
Some nice postives anecdotes would be good to hear. Anyone?

Oh dear, no at 6m you are UR to expect this. Most 6 month olds do not sleep through.

My second 6m old actually did, from about 2m. I thought I'd hit the jackpot. No 4m sleep regression for her, hooray!

Then she hit 8m and she woke several times a night then until she was 14m old. Then she stopped and has slept through ever since (she's now 2 and a half). I still have no idea why.

I was told that 12 pounds is the magic number for being able to sleep an 8 hour stretch. We did find this to be the case with our babies but we knew we were lucky and spent daylight hours on a routine to ensure the longer stretch would fall at night.

It’s not unusual if you “train” them to sleep through. Before anyone jumps on me it did not involve any cry it out.

From birth days were brightly lit, lots of noise, lots of normal talking and interaction. Regular (bottle) feeds throughout the day.

Nights were dimly lit when she did wake, minimal speaking, fed, changed, cuddled put straight back to cot.

Never had her in our room either couldn’t sleep a wink I woke up every little snuffle she made I was straight up.

From birth days were brightly lit, lots of noise, lots of normal talking and interaction. Regular (bottle) feeds throughout the day.

Nights were dimly lit when she did wake, minimal speaking, fed, changed, cuddled put straight back to cot.
I love it when people explain this. Meanwhile those of us with shit sleepers kept our days dark and cave-like, no fresh air, silence and whispers. At night, out came the vuvuzelas! Need your nappy changed? Bam, on goes the big light! Let me stare into your eyes at 3am, little one, and bellow Wheels on the Bus, then wonder where oh where I am going wrong

@burritofan hahahaha 😂

@Jimdandy

Lol, do you think the rest of us were having middle of the night raves or something? I imagine most of us differentiate night and day from very early on

I did the same as you and differentiated them from day one, albiet they were both in our room for 6m as that's reccomended for SIDS prevention. It helped establish their circadian rhythms, but certainly didn't mean they slept through.

Yes OP, most babies do start sleeping through at 6-8 months but not on here apparently!

My first started sleeping 12 hours a night from 6-7 months and DS2 from 8 months, just as was thinking about sleep training.

Good job too as I was back at work from 5 and 6 months respectively and needed that night's sleep!

Our daughter only just started sleeping through. She's 4

@Babyboomtastic yes actually loads of people I knew did!

They didn’t have raves as such but yes they’d bring the baby out of their room and downstairs and put the Tv on and stuff like that.

The poster asked for advice I gave mine 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

@Jimdandy I'm sorry but 😂😂😂 As if we didn't all do that!

One of mine was a really bad sleeper and when he was still waking to feed at night every 2 hrs at 6 months the HV told me how sleep training would work, I did it, and never looked back. There was some (no more than 7mins at a time) of crying (awful to me at the time!) on the first night and he was sorted! I know it doesn't work for every baby but it was great for us.

I love it when people explain this. Meanwhile those of us with shit sleepers kept our days dark and cave-like, no fresh air, silence and whispers. At night, out came the vuvuzelas! Need your nappy changed? Bam, on goes the big light! Let me stare into your eyes at 3am, little one, and bellow Wheels on the Bus, then wonder where oh where I am going wrong

I laugh so hard at this too.

It’s obvious as fuck.

@Babyboomtastic quite I remember posting on here in desperation in the middle of the 4 month sleep regression (which incidentally was just before things got a little better and we did nothing different) and I had people who had had good sleepers from day dot suggesting I shushed and patted, which tbh at 4am when I’d been up hourly did not sit terribly well 😁

I now firmly believe it’s a total gamble and you just get the baby you get... although tbh I should have known this pre kids. My younger sister genuinely slept through on Xmas Eve having been born on 2 December (mum remembers waking on Christmas Day assuming she’d died in the night when she saw the time, apparently it was one of the worst moments of her life). The reason she assumed that she’d died was because I only started sleeping through the week before my sister had been born - we have a 3 year gap

It is really hard, but I don't think the majority of babies sleep through the night at that age, no. I think you need to hang on for a while yet.

I now firmly believe it’s a total gamble and you just get the baby you get

Definitely! I did nothing differently with baby 2, they were just a totally different child. DC1 screamed from the moment he was lowered (on to the changing mat, crib, carseat, baby gym etc) until he either was picked up again or stopped breathing, whichever happened soonest. I avoided motorways for a very long time with him as when he stopped breathing you had to blow in his face to get him started again.

@Stellaroses I have no reason to invent to a load of strangers on the internet my own personal experience of discussions at baby groups and my friends but ok.

Three words - Gina Ford “lite”. Follow the eating amd sleeping routine loosely. Daughter 6 weeks abs son 8.5 weeks. Bed at 7pm, dream feed 10.30pm slept until 7am.

One of mine didn't sleep through till she was 2.5.

Yes they should be doing longer stretches, our children didn’t sleep through until 1 year.

After 4 months they tend to have sleep associations such as they need to be breastfed to sleep etc.

Is there a pattern to the waking / sleep associations. You can try some gentle sleep training (not cry it out if you want) more pick them up, cuddle and put them back down / pat their back. I think it’s the pick up and put down technique.....HV recommended it to us and it worked.

@TheKeatingFive you’d be surprised... or maybe it’s just the morons I came across! I thought it was obvious too (it was to me) until people started asking me what our routines were.

It does depend a bit on your sleeping arrangements. Mine went into his own room (on his own) about seven months and he “slept through” for the majority of nights at that point. (He’s always been sleepy and greedy though, so luckily if he did wake up he just wanted a bottle and went right off again - that was the case once he got past the 4 month regression.)

He wasn’t waking for milk at 5-6 months but if he woke a little bit / was restless and “noticed” I was in the room with him he’d call and wriggle until I got him some milk and settled him. Once I was in a separate room (with monitor on its most sensitive setting!) he would sometimes wake a bit but settled himself before I’d got out of bed to go to him.

This is payback from the baby gods for having children who slept through from such a young age previously.

@burritofan

From birth days were brightly lit, lots of noise, lots of normal talking and interaction. Regular (bottle) feeds throughout the day.

Nights were dimly lit when she did wake, minimal speaking, fed, changed, cuddled put straight back to cot.
I love it when people explain this. Meanwhile those of us with shit sleepers kept our days dark and cave-like, no fresh air, silence and whispers. At night, out came the vuvuzelas! Need your nappy changed? Bam, on goes the big light! Let me stare into your eyes at 3am, little one, and bellow Wheels on the Bus, then wonder where oh where I am going wrong

Yeah everyone with a shit sleeper just hasn’t tried the right things yet 🙄😂😍

Sorry to disappoint you OP but my 2 DDs didn’t start sleeping through until 9 months.

Have a read of this

www.google.com/amp/s/sarahockwell-smith.com/2017/07/24/the-rollercoaster-of-real-baby-sleep/amp/

I have a 29 week old.... he’s just started sleeping 7- 4 now he is eating solids.

Fingers crossed your baby will start sleeping better. We were up 4-5 times a night for two months after the four month sleep regression so how you feel is a recent memory!

I've got a 14mo and she's never slept through. In my group of friends, I have one friend who's baby slept through until she started teething and hasn't done since, a friend who's night weaned her DC and is still up twice in the night or at 4am, and one who woke up once in the night until recently and now he won't sleep for more than an hour at a time. He is the 3rd child and the other two were also better sleepers, nothing been done differently, it's just the way they are I'm afraid!