A newborn that 'sleeps through'?

[solidgoldbrass]

It isn't really any of my business I suppose but... I have a FB friend (well, I know her IRL but haven't seen her in a few years). She is a lot younger than me and she has recently given birth to her fourth baby. I mean, within the last week. And she is posting FB updates to the effect that the newborn is sleeping through the night.

I don't think this sounds normal at all - are there newborns that will sleep all night? If not, should I gently advise her to take the baby to the GP for a checkup?

She might mean that it wakes to feed but goes straight to sleep without fussing.

how newborn is newborn?

Newborns need to feed frequently (esp if breastfeeding) and I personally would be fairly concerned if a very new baby (ie, under a week or 2) was sleeping for longer than 4 hours at a time.

it can get to be a vicious circle of sleeping and not taking enough milk, not having enough milk making them sleepy, sleeping longer so taking even less.... etc etc

My ds slept 7 hours on about night 4 - I told the midwife when she came and she freaked out! He had jaundice and had to go under phototherapy lights.

I would suggest to her she has the baby checked out - she is probably still under the midwife. Could be jaundice, could be a feeding or heart problem that is causing the baby to sleep to conserve energy.

Or, by "sleep through" she could mean the baby is sleeping with her and they are both drowsily feeding in the night without getting up.

I know someone whose FF baby slept 10 hours from 2 or 3 weeks. In fact, all 3 of her children did. It alarmed me slightly, but I've only had one baby and she was breastfed, so I was up every 3 hours for a good while. If I were in her shoes, I might be waking the baby for feeds anyway. However, I really don't know enough about it to advise.

My bf DS slept from 9 - 7/8 at a week old, until he was 4 months.

He then didn't sleep through again until he was 16 months.

Unless there are underlying health issues, such as jaundice etc I wouldn't worry about it. DS is a bright, happy 18 month old with no health issues whatsoever.

My cousin's 3 children slept through almost as soon as she got back from hospital and have ever since. (all FF)

My bf son slept 6 hours a night from a few days old. He was quite big (9 lb 8 oz) though. Midwife told me it was fine to let a big baby sleep.

The baby's less than a week old, and probably FF. He was about 7lb at birth, and born a few days after her due date. I think I might gently suggest to her that he's sleeping an unusual amount and it might be worth a word with the midwife or HV.

that's a good idea SGB :)

I wouldn't worry. My DD was 8lb and slept from around last feed 11pm to at least 7am from about 3 weeks old. She was sleepy from day 1 (so much so it completely screwed BF) and only really woke to be fed during the day until she was about 4 months. Perfectly healthy although I did worry that it wasn't normal at the time!
Just proves it's the luck of the draw though, my DS was nothing like that and I did nothing different!