The mythical sleepers and other legends...

[Luckystar1]

So, I have a 10 week old DD and an almost 2 year old DS. I did NCT with both of them, and both times my babies seem to be by far the worst sleepers.

I had thought DD was doing really well, with usually only 1 or 2 wakings for quick feeds and back to sleep, but no, already babies are sleeping from 8.30 until 5.30!!! DS didn't do that at 1, never mind 2 months.

Another mum then lamented that their baby was hit and miss and could be up at 2am sometimes!! Ffs, I thought DD was doing brilliwheb she did that.

Why do I never get the good sleepers?! (She has been waking between 3 & 8 times a night this week...) and why do I always seem to be the only one?

My 10 week old EBF baby sleeps from 10pm-7am without waking up at all. I will tell you my story:

DS1 never slept more than 3 hours in a row until he was 3+ years old. We tried co-sleeping, own room, CIO, gentle parenting, blah, blah, blah, blah. He is now 13 and it takes him hours to fall asleep. He has arranged his room with while noise machines, a fan, and funny night lights. He just struggles to fall asleep. I wish I had known this when he was 1, I would have been kinder to myself.

DS2 never slept from more than 3 hours in a row. He was a very snuggly co-sleeper and night nurser until I booted him out of bed at age 3. At age 10 wakes up every day at 6:30am regardless of how tired he is and is a light sleeper. He is not a great sleeper.

DS1 and DS2 are very sensitive boys. Clever, but oh, so sensitive.

DD slept 5 hours in a row at a week old. At 10 weeks old she sleeps 9 hours until I wake her at 7am. I did nothing at all differently with her. She is just a good sleeper. She is EBF. She is a unicorn. It is dumb luck. I am grateful. Every morning I thank her and the stars, and the universe. I do not expect it to last, so every day I am grateful.

I also thank the sleepyhead deluxe. Maybe the sleepyhead deluxe explains her unicorn sleep.

Loads of people lie (no idea why). A lot of mums at my mum 7 baby group said their baby was 'sleeping through' when they slept from midnight to 5am or from 8pm til 4am with one wake up etc.

I did have the mythical sleeping baby (I'm not lying) and he slept from 7pm to 7am reliably from 12 weeks. I am well aware that this isn't the norm and since he turned one we have actually had more battles with sleep that ever so i am paying for my smugness now!

I had 2 great sleepers, Ds slept through 7-7 at 6 weeks, he slept all day every day, waking only for meals I actually had to ask the hv about it as he was only awake about 4 hrs a day, I couldn't get out of the house! She sId make the most of it, it lasted til about 2yrs then he eased off on his daytime sleep. Dd1 slept through 7-7 at 1 week old, yes 1 week, she did six hours the day after she was born! She was a huge eater though and went onto stage 2 milk practically straight away, (hvs advice and 23 years ago now)
Then we have dd2 nearly a year old before she slept 12hrs! She woke a couple of times a night until about 6 months then another 6 months of waking at 4-5 am for a bottle, that's not sleeping through to me!
My dm said my db screamed blue murder and never slept, and I had to be woken for feeds! Everyone is different.

DS1 good sleeper at night from very early. Breastfed, with early struggles to get it right, sore nipples, mastitis etc. But screamed and was miserable all day and nothing soothed him. If he was feeding, he might consent not to yell for a bit, but sometimes he just wanted to express himself and nothing calmed him. I slept at night, but my days were miserable. Consulted HV etc., to no avail.
DD, 22 months later, woke several times at night to feed and never slept through the night until she was around 2, but she was happy and cheerful all day, thought her grumpy brother was a total hoot and if she cried, I could usually work out what was wrong, it was nappy, hungry, wanted a cuddle, something I could solve. On balance, it was easier to get up to feed at night but have a happy baby during the day.
DS2, unable to have me out of his sight from day 1, but that's a whole nother story.

Our NCT group was a mixed bag really. The twins and a singleton who were on formula by 10 weeks were sleeping very well by then. My DD was waking 2-3 times per night and was not the only one.

I do sometimes wonder why I persevered with bf. Both my babies slept 10 hours only once they were on solid food. The bf didn't fill them up for long.

I have an 11 week old and have been so surprised by the number of people asking 'is he sleeping through yet?' In a tone that suggests he should be. They've been asking this since about 4 weeks! I was under the assumption that babies that age generally don't sleep through and had mentally prepared myself for many months of sleepless nights. He's actually very varied and has some nights of waking lots and has had a couple where he's genuinely slept through. I've stopped giving people detailed answers trying to spin it in a way that sounds like he basically sleeps through. Now I just say 'he's x weeks old - I don't think he's supposed to sleep through the nigh!'

My ds1 woke multiple times a night until he was over 2 years old.

My 9 week ds2 wakes as much as 10 times a night currently, he sleeps well initially sometimes from 7:30 - 12 or even 1 if I'm lucky but then wakes two hours after that and then it goes down hill and he wakes at least every twenty minutes until I give up and get up with him so you are not alone.

My good friend said that although her dc slept through the night she was jealous of how calm and settled my boy was during the day whereas her little one needed a lot of attention and a lot of help to nap etc so I guess it works both ways sometimes - whilst I was desperate to sleep at night she wanted a baby who wasn't such hard work during the day!

My now almost two year old started sleeping 6 - 8 hours at around eight weeks and now sleeps 7 till 7 unless ill/teething, he also naps for 1.5 - 2 hours BUT he is so incredibly full on during the day! If I even think about trying to sit down it's like he knows! He isn't happy unless he has been fully engaged/entertained all day and that is exhausting, I dared to try spending a few days with him just at home instead of at the zoo, soft play etc and he has been in the most foul mood. I suspect he sleeps so well because he is so physical, he was full blown running at 11 months.

My partners sister used to call him the magic baby and was envious but now she has the 'laid back will happily watch the TV or play with a balloon for half an hour' toddler and I have the 'has to be physically and mentally stimulated every waking second or is a nightmare' toddler! Be careful what you wish for.

Sodding my DS (almost 2) sounds exactly the same. Except he was a crappy sleeper too (although is in general excellent now).

But it's bloody hard work with him and a non mythical baby 😭, last night I went to bed at 7pm. Rock and roll lifestyle chez Lucky!