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Original poster

stupid question I know but should a 12month old baby sleep through all night [blush]

83 replies

MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 22:50

my ds2 doesnt and I worry he needs the feeds in the night (min up X 2 max X 3)

I am sure his weight is normal and that probably he is just snacking on me as a habit now

Is it kinder to end this snacking now and let him learn to sleep all night or will he stop himself as I dont want to be feeding him / settling him for years if atall possible.......

how is best to do this do you think?

gentle advice please xx

thanks

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KITTYmaspudding · 30/12/2007 22:53

Well, it depends on how it all suits YOU. If it really bugs you and you're really knackered then don't feed him. I always go cold turkey with mine. It takes a couple of nights and then they sleep through. By 12 months there is no need to feed in the night.

KITTYmaspudding · 30/12/2007 22:54

Opps, sorry don't know where I got the 12 months from, must be over tired!!!
I would expect a baby of 6 months to sleep through

llareggub · 30/12/2007 22:55

Oh, mine went through a horrid stage of not sleeping between 11 and 13 months or so. I went back to work at 11 months, he was teething and he had a terrible cold. We co-slept a lot during this time and he would just help himself to a breastfeed while I dozed.

He is 14months now and does sleep through but he does wake up occasionally.

We don't do anything really to get back to sleep, just lots of cuddles. It tends to be teeth really. ~Our problem is that he goes to sleep (still) on me before being transferred to cot. He's never gone to bed alone yet.

Doodletoyou · 30/12/2007 22:59

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Nemostwonderfultimeoftheyear · 30/12/2007 23:02

depends on the child..ds slept through at about 2 but even that was on and off..only consistently done so since sept this year and he was 4 in oct.

DD1 was 2 last week and sleeps through 4/7 nights

DD2 is 1 next sat and sleeps through most nights..however that still includes a dreamfeed bottle when I go to bed.

mimsum · 30/12/2007 23:03

at 12 months around three quarters of babies sleep through - which leaves about one quarter still waking regularly ... sleeping through is a developmental thing - babies do it when they're ready

if you want to stop feeding him in the night, you could try encouraging him to feed more during the day

if you think he's hungry at night you could try offering him something else - I know one mum who nightweaned her 18m old by giving him bananas - first night he ate 3, next night 1, next night slept through

No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley has lots of suggestions for nightweaning if that's what you want to do

callmeovercautious · 30/12/2007 23:04

Oh the age old question! DD is 15m and CAN sleep through but any tiny ailment or upset puts her back and she wakes a few times.

I did so CC at one point but not for night wakings and I find that trying to rock her first helps 50% of the time. The rest I have to BF her - goodness knws how she would be if I had stopped BFing

By this age you should be safe to assume they are not hungry and it is just comfort they need. How you approach that is down to your own personal feelings of CC/feed to sleep etc etc....

Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:06

thanks ladies I just feel so rotten not feeding him cos thats what he wants but it must be comfort now eh rather than need i didnt know 6 monthers slept through

I feel like I may not be up to it emotionally to let him scream but I dont want to be feeding him in the night really as I do get tired out and my husband is getting naffed off quite rightly now too as ds2 eats / drinks enough through the day and hubby wants the bed back xx

so if we let him cry will hubbby just rub his head or what? every few mins? might it take a few nights...v nervous about this.... sorry being dim

hubby has said he'll do it all bless him he is off for this coming week till mon7th i think it is x

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CoteDAzur · 30/12/2007 23:07

Cut out the night feeds and he will compensate by drinking/eating more in the day. Don't worry, he will not go hungry. Teaching him that nighttime is for sleeping and not for feeding is a good thing and it is not too early.

MorocconOil · 30/12/2007 23:11

Sorry but none of mine slept through til 18 months or later. They are all so different and so are you to other Mums. I really do think from experience you have to do what you/your baby needs and nobody elses experiences matter. Sorry probably not what you need to hear!

Hulababy · 30/12/2007 23:13

My DD din't slee through until 20 months - and only then after we forced the issue with a couple of days of (gentle) CC. DD wasn't waking for feeds, she was just waking up to play and to see her mummy and daddy.

Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:14

heres the set up at 12 months in our home

hubby is often on couch in lounge

baby is in bed with me as hubby cant sleep and gets too disturbed with the night shananigans we dont have a spare room

ds1 is in his room but thinks its a party if one of us is in there

very small house no other place for a cot

so hubby wants to sleep train baby (or whatever its called) so he can sleep in his own bed and not on the couch IYKWIM and baby can go in with his brother

xx

I am actually quite happy feeding ds2 I love the co sleeping with him though I do have the hunch I could be making a rod for my own back as its the bf that gets ds back over and what happens when i no longer feed

please note, baby often falls to sleep on the boob bad I know

I know tihs is a tricky one sorry ladies!

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Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:19

I do appreciate all your advise / experiences by the way they will defo help me decide what we should do though i think dh has already decided on cold turkey

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Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:19

keep the advice coming though and I will show him this thread

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JacanneAbox · 30/12/2007 23:29

Neither of mine did, in fact dd2 was waking every 2 hours at 12 months. DD1 slept through at about 18 months and DD2 at about 2.

fortyplus · 30/12/2007 23:30

He doesn't need the feeds. Offer water instead - he'll probably stop bothering.

JacanneAbox · 30/12/2007 23:31

DD1 always fell asleep on the boob;she self-weaned at 18 months (coincidently when she started sleeping through ) but we soon found other ways of getting her to sleep. I don't believe in the phrase "rod for your own back". I also co-slept with both of mine and they are happily asleep in the own beds and have been for a long while now

dotellall · 30/12/2007 23:41

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Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:43

it s tricky one isnt it x

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Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 30/12/2007 23:44

I guess its the poss screaming which I am resistant to.... seems so harsh....

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fortyplus · 30/12/2007 23:51

They need to get into the 'habit' of sleeping through, but that doesn't mean they won't revert to waking at some time in the future. Both mine did this at intervals until they were about 3. We went through hell at one stage when ds1 was 3 and ds2 18 months, when we went for months with both of them waking 2 or 3 times a night and just taking 10 mins or so to be settled again... but that was 6 lots of disturbance every night for us.

Staceym11PipersPiping · 30/12/2007 23:57

i have a dd who slept through from 8 days old!

ds at 14 mo is still waking up to 3 times a night for a feed. but hes a hungry little monster, sometimes he'll go backafter a cuddle other times he wants 'bop, bop, bop, mama, bop' so i give it to him, itso nly me that gets tired from it no one else!

also he is more likely to wake if he is ill or teething, atm we are having 3 times a night, he has a cough and 4 teeth coming through at once. a fwe weeks ago he was sleeping through.

my philosophy, he will do it at some point, even if he is 15

good luck!

Staceym11PipersPiping · 30/12/2007 23:58

oh and i think a lot of my problem with letting ds cry himself back to sleep is the fact he shares a room with dd and then wakes her, so makes it worse for all of us, sometimes its easier to just give him a bottle then no problems!

Original poster
MUMOFDJandP · 31/12/2007 00:16

thanks aldies wow sleeping through from 8 days

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juuule · 31/12/2007 09:04

I think I've only had 2 out of 9 who have slept through from 12m and that wasn't every night. The rest of them were more between 2 and 3y. One had turned 4. One of my worst sleepers was my first who we did try the leaving to cry, water only at night, just made him worse.