to think sleeping through would be nice but isn't a necessity?

[VictorianSqualor]

I overheard a conversation yesterday, well, the whole bus did, two women discussing their 5 and 6 month old babies, and how they ahd had to start them on hungry baby milk almost straight away, start weaning at 3 months, add an extra meal, then start feeding two meals a day, etc etc.

The reason they gave for every decision they made they justified with the line 'Well, it was obviously needed cos as soon as we did it s/he started sleeping straight through' and also talked about each time baby stopped sleeping through again they would up the food intake.

Now, stats and facts regarding feeding aside, surely people realise baby sleeping through is not something that you need to aspire to, babies are not made to sleep through, and physically not able to for a good while.

Of course we all want a full ngihts sleep, it's the one thing that makes having a baby so bloody hard, sleep deprivation! But can't we wait until they are ready?

Sorry, I misunderstood your point, BE

No, I have never come across this link in the context of serious, credible SIDS advice.

However, I am aware that based on Dr. McKenna's research some people have argued
that mother and baby breathing close to each other prevents the lo from slipping into deep sleep.

I don't believe his theory has been independently corroborated nor is it widely accepted by his peers.

I agree with KaSo that we all have different priorities. Sleep was very important to me so we did introduce a routine from day one. It involved no crying or early weaning - DS slept 7pm-7am at 12 weeks, DD was 9 weeks.

I still got PND second time around but God only knows what it would have been like if she wasn't sleeping well.

My two are still brilliant sleepers and I think they need it.

We're all just doing what we think is best.

Snap, BE!

Deep sleep = greater SIDS risk is too simplistic
and if it were true or even accepted as possibly
true then surely the best advice would be to wake a baby every few hours - just in case.

totally agree with the op, have always bfed on demand and had the boys in bed with me, all have slept through the night eventually, ds1 took the longest, he was three but ds2 and ds3 were sleeping through between 18mths to two, well i mean going from a dream feed when i came to bed, till about 6am as sleeping through, ifyswim?

i would put them to bed in early evening and then they would feed when i went to bed, anytime between ten and midnight? then sleep without a feed till 6am. then at some point they gave up the dream feed when i came to bed, i dont remember when tho.

anyway its nice to hear someone say that babies arent meant to sleep through the night, its not what nature intended.

also 'sleeping through' as defined by a HV etc actually just means that they give you one 6-8hr stretch, NOT that they sleep through from 7pm to 7am which imo is very unusual for a young baby, or even toddler.

I worked from the time my DS was 7 months. There is no way I could have functioned unless he was sleeping through most of the time. I didn't try and make him sleep through early (I fed on demand until he was 6 months) but I think your tolerance levels depend on what other demands are made on your brain during the day tbh. For me it was a necessity.

Do many adults sleep through??
My DS is 16 months and still wakes once or twice a night for a BF. He may not need it physically, but it is still a lovely time for the two of us together. Sometimes he wakes more, others less, just like me really
I still get asked whether he sleeps through, but i think that is sometimes just a standard baby question that people think they must ask!