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Original poster

What percentage of uk babies sleep through from 3 months? ???

58 replies

Nancy54 · 25/05/2014 20:35

Obvs I know no one can give me a precise answer, but are there lots of British babies that sleep through (and continue to do so) at three months??? Did yours? Did all your friends' ?

I ask because I live in France, am British with a french partner. Our children were not good sleepers and we are seen as freaks of nature amongst our french friends here. All the french babies we know all apparently start sleeping through around the 3 month mark, there's no mention of 4 month sleep regression or whatever and most of them apparently sleep from 830 til 830!

I find this odd as I would say at least half of my British friends have bad sleeper! My dp doesn't believe it when I say British kids doing sleep like this and things it's just the people I'm friends with!

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spottydolphin · 25/05/2014 20:36

none of mine have slept through at that age, and i don't think i know anyone else with a baby who has slept through that young

maybe all the french people leave their babies to cry

ilovepowerhoop · 25/05/2014 20:38

neither of mine slept through at 3 months. DD was 5½ months and ds was 8 months before they slept without a feed in the night. They did from 8pm till 6am roughly. Do they not add stuff to the bottles to try and get them to sleep through? I fully expected a feed in the night for at least the first 6 months

SqutterNutBaush · 25/05/2014 20:40

DS never slept a whole night (7.30-6 in his case) until he was 3.

DD hasn't slept a full night yet (3 hourly wake up) and she's 14 months.

I don't know anyone who's child has slept through consistently before 9 months.

Jellybellymummyofsix · 25/05/2014 20:40

Not my current baby but she's ebf...my older dc were ff & all sleeping through the night by 3 months.

I never heard of 4 month sleep regression until I came on MN.

I'm very tempted to start dd on formula just for the sleep!

addictedtosugar · 25/05/2014 20:40

loads of info here

It suggests that in 1957, 70% of babies started sleeping through classed as 5 hours at 3 months.

Featherbag · 25/05/2014 20:43

Both of mine did from 14 weeks - my niece is almost 7 and still doesn't!

NotaDragonsEgg · 25/05/2014 20:45

"By the time babies are 3 months old some (but not all) begin to start settling (sleeping through a night-time feed for a stretch of up to 5 hours). By the time they are 5 months old half of them may have started to sleep for an eight-hour stretch on some nights. Generally, though, babies do not sleep all night-every night until they are close to a year old"

www.isisonline.org.uk/how_babies_sleep/normal_sleep_development/

My mum is french and left us to cry (not proof of anything I know...)

AnythingNotEverything · 25/05/2014 20:46

I fear your definition of sleeping through and their definition of sleeping through may be different.

Both my two slept through from between 8 and 10 weeks (one ff, one ebf), and I class sleep through and 7-8 hours without feed and without waking.

PetiteRaleuse · 25/05/2014 20:47

Hi nancy it's been a while since I saw you on here. How are things going?

The French don't refer to regression they talk about teething pain. I know of several of our children's age that don't sleep through, and plenty of 3 yo that don't sleep through either. Or not the regular 12 hours that we are led to believe.

However 12 weeks is about the time they start taking sleep training seriously. Contrary to popular myth the French rarely leave their babies to cry all night but they tend to do controlled crying.

I think though as non sleepers are frowned upon (by the generation above who were far more into cry it out type methods) and people often judge the mum, you don't often hear French women talk about bad nights iyswim. In private they do though.

NotaDragonsEgg · 25/05/2014 20:47

Beat me addictedtosugar!

Breastfeeding rates are low in France (I think) and ISIS does say formula feeding can affect sleep.

Meant to say also, ds is 3.10 and only just started sleeping 8-8 last month.

Buttercup27 · 25/05/2014 20:47

Sorry both of mine have slept between 9 and 12 hours since 8 or 9 weeks.

PetiteRaleuse · 25/05/2014 20:49

As for me DD1 was doing a pretty regular 8 hours at 12 weeks. LO took quite a lot longer. Maybe 20 weeks before I was able to hope for 6-8 hours.

FanSpamTastic · 25/05/2014 20:49

Based purely on my own private study of 3 test subjects I can categorically say that 0% of babies will sleep through the night before the age of 2! From then on they will sleep through anything unless you have had a bit of a party night and have a stinking hangover then they will wake at 5!

HygieneFreak · 25/05/2014 20:49

Dd slept through from 7 weeks old. Shes now 19 months and hasnt woken in the night since.

All babies i know have been roughly the same.

They were all formula fed.

neversleepagain · 25/05/2014 20:50

My twins slept from 7pm-7am with a dream feed at 11pm from 11 & 14 weeks. They slept 6pm-7:30am from 7 months when they dropped the dream feed. Now at 20 months it is 7pm-7:30am.

PetiteRaleuse · 25/05/2014 20:52

But am in France so that might not help :)

fruitpastille · 25/05/2014 21:01

Ds and dd1 started to sleep through at 7 and 9 months which coincided with switching to formula. Dd2 is 13 weeks and has slept 10ish to 6ish for the last 2 weeks - ebf. No idea how but clearly it is possible. All 3 treated the same way, no controlled crying at this point.

Original poster
Nancy54 · 25/05/2014 21:16

Waves at raleuse! Yeah things good thanks! You? I think you're right about bad sleeping being a bit of a hush hush topic over here! I stopped talking about it after a few months. But I think you could tell by the bags under my eyes!

Grin at fanspam!

So it seems many do have good sleepers! I just have lots of unlucky friends!

OP posts:
neolara · 25/05/2014 21:17

None of my 3 slept through til about a year.

SoonToBeSix · 25/05/2014 21:22

My eldest three girls all did my boy was about 20 months . My girl twins are three months today one has been sleeping through for two weeks the other one has slept through three times in the last ten days.

Original poster
Nancy54 · 25/05/2014 21:26

I'm really glad for you that your twins are good sleepers, soontobe six! With six kids, you definitely need your sleep!

OP posts:
FromagePlease · 25/05/2014 21:33

Mine slept through (7.30-6.30) from around 8 or 9 weeks, no dream feeds etc. I don't leave her to cry and she is bf.

WanderingTrolley1 · 25/05/2014 21:35

DC1 (now 15) didn't sleep through until about 5.
DC2 (now 16 months) slept through at about 11 months.
DC3 (now 14 weeks) slept through since 5 weeks.

All formula fed.

Fairylea · 25/05/2014 21:39

Both mine slept from about 7-7 from about 12 weeks. I had them 11 years apart and didn't do anything particularly special - just went with the flow really, fed on demand, didn't let them sleep too long in the day. Both formula fed from birth. Not sure if that made a difference or not!

Meglet · 25/05/2014 21:39

7yo DS. 7pm to 7am from 12 weeks old, no feeds, no changes, nothing. It was weird TBH. He continues to be a world class sleeper to this day.

5yo DD. She didn't sleep through (12 hrs) until 6 months, was ok as a baby / toddler. And has been a bedtime terror for the last 3yrs.