When did your baby start sleeping longer stretches?

[Jamontoast1]

My 9 week old sleeps 2 or 3 hour stretches at night and has done since she was born. Maybe the odd 4 hour stretch (but also the odd 1 hour stretch).

I don’t see why it isn’t getting better as she gets older… so just curious when everyone else felt it started to get better?!

When he was 6 😭

Around 12 weeks.

All babies are different. My eldest slept through for the first time at 7 weeks. But I don’t remember how many hours that was. My second (also 9wo) has started sleeping 7 hours at night (although goes to bed at 7 so wakes at 2ish) but it’s not consistent.

It really is different for every baby, which I know doesn’t help you. My oldest was around 2.5 but is is ASD and still needs very little sleep. My youngest started doing longer stretches around 6 months but didn’t sleep through until 14 months.

Ive had 2 kids, my first (daughter) slept 6hrs straight the night home from hospital. Always had a good stretch of sleep as a baby and sleeps great now. My second (son) was a horrific sleeper as a newborn up every 90 minutes-2hrs a night for 5 months then all of a sudden slept 12hrs straight and has done ever since! My point is they were both different sleepers.. and I did all the “bad” habits like breastfeeding to sleep. Hang in there it will get better! You are doing great.

My baby has been basically sleeping through the night from 5 weeks. At around 5 weeks she started sleeping from 11-6 waking for a bottle then going back to sleep for an hour or two. Previous to this, we had been dream feeding her in-between at around 2am. She is 9 weeks now and the past two weeks she has slept from 10.30-7 bottle then back to sleep til around 10/11am.

I'm not sure if this will change, or we're just incredibly lucky as every baby is different of course. I will say her wake windows have been quite long since around the 3/4 week mark - I assume that's helped her too.

I did however find her sleep improved massively when I started swaddling at the 5 week mark. We use the Tommee Tippee sleeping bag. I do wonder if the dream feeds followed by the introduction of the swaddle bag has meant we have accidentally sleep trained her? I really don't know!

Let's hope there's a turning point for you soon regardless!

2.5!

Before that it was hourly stirs and wakes.

Mine is 17 months and he has slept through the night...never. He's done 5 hours in a row about 3 times.

@Jamontoast1 my babies are also nearly 9 weeks, what time do you put her down to sleep? Ours have their last feed at around 8/9 then sleep until 2 usually 3 if we're lucky. Fed again then back down until 6. I always find the first chunk of sleep is usually the longest. We bathe an hour before the last feed but only every other day and try and keep them awake/cuddles for a bit just before that last bottle. X

Things got better about 8 months here

About 6-8 weeks they tarted to be more awake in the day and sleep longer at night( about 5 or 6 hours).

We had her sleep through the night from 6 weeks but then at 5 months she started waking hourly until 8 months when we did gentle sleep training. She's 19mo now and sleeps excellently and those sleep deprived months seem years away now. It does improve eventually.

4 years old

Around 14 months, but then it got worse again. Now four and still wakes twice. Drives me mad.

Very suddenly at 5 months. We went away on holiday and that change seemed to trailer something? Not sure why or how, but we were thrilled!

Still waiting at 16 (years) but at least she now just takes herself off for some cereal and a chat with the dog.....

Depending on the baby and depending if you are breastfeeding or not. I had issues with supply so I breastfed during the day (mostly for comfort, always had to top up with extra milk) and expressed breastmilk mixed with formula from a bottle for nights. It filled her up so well that she started to sleep through every single night for 13 weeks.

However, moving into a new room at 6 months plus regression resulted in some very difficult nights between 6-10 months. Some nights she left through, but most nights didn't. She has been sleeping through again from 10 months.

7 months for DD2 but the good news is she's slept through every night since then and she's now 14mo! Bad news is she was up every 2 hours until then

DD1 took longer to sleep through and still doesn't at 4, although she doesn't disrupt us when she wakes now, just appears silently like a wraith and climbs into our bed, but she did longer stretches much earlier, from weeks old she was routinely going 6-9 hours in one go.

Which is all to say that it's all a crap shoot and you've just got to buckle in and hope for the best while preparing for the worst

4 years old 😂

It's funny you say that as that's what changed things with DD2! We went on holiday, I put her in travel cot fully expecting to have to get her and resume cosleeping in an hour or two and she slept the whole night and slept in her cot all night from then on. I woke up at 7am feeling like I was drunk! Very weird but very welcome!

When he started school

When they hit puberty. 🙃

We're at 20 months and he still mostly sleeps in 2 - 3 hour stints... We do get 4 - 5 hours occasionally; but very occasionally.

Longer stretches (4 hours) about 6 months. Mine were dreadful sleepers and they had regressions all the time but defo slept 4 hours. They still wake in the night now they are older but either come and get in with me and don't wake me up.

I know it seems endless and hard right now as every 2 hours is horrible but it will get better I promise.

@Clefable - ha, we had exactly the same experience! Woke up feeling drunk and panicking about whether she was ok. She was bright as a button after a full night's unbroken sleep, as were we. Sometimes a change of scene can do wonders.