What would you consider to be "sleeping through?"

[WinkyisbackontheButterBeer]

Just wondering?
I have tried googling but cannot find a definitive answer.

Sleeping a full 8 hours at least, so you don't wake during the night. That's what I call sleeping through the night, personally.

I'd say for a baby going to sleeps at a reasonable adult bedtime such as 11ish and not waking again until a reasonable time in the morning say between 6/7. For a toddler it would be between bedtime so 7ish until about 6/7 in the morning.

I class sleeping through as sleeping from when they're put to bed until at least 6am.

Its usually at least 5 hours from 12 to 5. In my case it was aboot 11 to 7

It depends on age
For a baby I'd say from around 11pm until 6am-ish
For an older baby/toddler I'd say from being put down to bed until morning

Although DS2 is 16 months and has been the worst sleeper ever! He's recently been 'sleeping through' in my eyes by going from 2am until 7am with no wakings, so it possibly depends what you're used to aswell

Apparently 5 hours is the accepted answer. I would only claim my DC slept through if they didn't wake me up! So 11 ish to 6 ish.

From 6 or maybe 7 weeks dd was sleeping 11 until 5. That was a solid 6 hours sleep I was getting. It then extended quite rapidly really. She still likes her sleep, bless. I think those dark hours of night-time are when you really need them to sleep. Even when she was sleeping 12 until 5 I considered it sleeping through! Being woken at 1, 3, 5, 7 etc. is a bollocks.

I'm going to be scorned for this, but the sleeping through came after I switched from breast to bottle.

In what context does it matter?

Everyone always answers this question differently. For me, it's having no wake ups at all during the night, so the only wake up that happens is get-up time. So 7pm-7am. Or 8pm-6am. Or 9pm-8am.

But why does it matter? I'd never ask someone if their child was sleeping though. If someone asked me if answer with a description, not a yes or no.

So if one person's "My child is sleeping through" makes them feel better and cope better, then it doesn't matter that their definition differs to mine.

It's not like it's a competition. It doesnt require quantifiable rules.

I'd have considered it sleeping through if/when the child didn't wake us up in the night, so would have been happy with 11pm - 6am, i.e. not counting any wakings before we went to bed. That didn't happen with either of ours until they were ~2yrs old, and then only on occasion for the next few years. They were awful sleepers. Now they're both teens and we have the stereotypical situation of having to drag them out of bed in the mornings

FATE it doesn't matter but I do keep being asked and just wondered what others thought.
It's interesting that there are so many varying opinions.
I am quite happy with dd's (5m)sleep at night but I've had a few "poor you"s when I've avswered.

In my experience, the people that question what "sleeping through" means are often in the same group of people who infer those with young babies sleeping long (11-12h) chunks are lying. Or indeed they don't infer, some people will straight-out declare any claim this happens in a tiny newborn is a blatant and obvious lie. (And then they are so certain of the lie, they debate why parents would lie about it).

This disparity of answers to the question doesn't help this mums-bashing-other-mums over the issue.

Anyway, I digress. The "poor you's" are likely just to be polite, inconsequential conversation. I wouldn't read much into it. If you are happy, then just treat it as it's meant - polite niceness that you're not getting a full nights sleep. I doubt it's meant as a judgement.

I reckoned it was a 'sleep through' if a child slept while I wanted to (say 11 - 6 or 12 - 7) but none of mine ever slept a 12 hour shift until they were well into their teens.
Does it matter though?

FATE I think you would benefit from reading Why French Children Don't Throw Food, by Paula Duckerman.

It addresses how other countries have an earlier success in getting children to "do their nights" and how some parents achieve this.

It is very possible, I'm friends with a maternity nurse that sleep trains babies to get them on a routine and says it's possible for most babies to sleep through by 6-8 weeks.

My daughter did 7-7 from 8 weeks with a dreamfeed at 10pm and then dropped the dreamfeed all together at 12 weeks. She has slept 7-7 ever since.

As I said, it doesn't matter. It was an idle thought.
In fact, it was many mainly prompted by me filling in dd's baby record book so was not important.

Am I the only weirdo who actually enjoys night feeds and will be sad when they stop? Dh doesn't naturally wake and he keeps telling me to wake him so I can sleep.
But oh no! I am not sharing the scrummy, warm loveliness when she falls back to sleep on me while being winded. ❤️

Thank you for all of the answers. They are really interesting.

I class it as 7 to 7! (or 7.30 to 6.30 for e.g. - i.e. pretty damn close to giving me an evening and a nights sleep!)

FATE I think you would benefit from reading...

Why do you think I would benefit BeanBabies? What's a book (any book) teaching me on this subject?

Ive had 4 children of all different sleep personalities, including one sleeping 12h solidly from 7 weeks old.

Your point...?

Where i didn't have to get up during the night after I had gone to bed at a reasonable adult time. So feeding a baby at 10pm and then waking at 6am would be sleeping through.

Going to sleep at 7pm and waking at 3am would not be sleeping through although it would be the same number of hours.

Dd slept 12-6 from 6 weeks.
It was only 6 hours but the main bedtime hours for me were undisturbed, I can cope with little sleep, I cannot cope with broken sleep.
If I'd put her to bed at 7 I'd have been up several times, so I never did it.

FATE having children isn't enough in itself to teach someone about parenting. You can have 10 children but not know any better than feeding them junk food or letting them stay up to all hours - or weaning them incorrectly. Giving a baby food that isn't puréed and being a choking hazard. Similar with sleep training.

Like I said, it is a helpful book and maybe you'll use the tips on your 5th child and see how they work. But the book backs up everything it says with studies and statistics from real families that try the techniques mentioned - the results speak for themselves.

Am I the only weirdo who actually enjoys night feeds and will be sad when they stop?

There's only 14 months between my eldest two. Life was busy (to say the least) when they were little. DC2 used to wake for just one breastfeed, in the middle of the night. It was my abdokyre favourite of times with him. I used to relish that silent, quiet, calm moment in the middle of the night that was just me and him.

So no, defo not a weirdo.

BeanBabies - not planning on a 5th, four was always the plan. I am very intrigued about what aspect of anything I have posted here that lead to you recommending that I should read said book?

I can only assume you half-read my post then projected and assumed what I meant.

I'm sure it's a great book. In relation to baby sleep, I have zero need for it. But im sure you meant well in your recommendation.

I saw it as a six hour stretch. DS slept from half 10/11 till 6 at 3 weeks old. By ten he was going 9 till 7 and once we got over four month regression and he moved into his own room he now goes from 8/9 at night till 7/8 in the morning. If I got at least five hours that worked for me. I always wake up in the night anyway - very often awake early hours and back to sleep till morning. Think it's the way we're built in all honesty! We've done nothing special with DS, he just stopped having a night feed and a late night feed on his own.

I stopped reading sleep guidelines when I was reading things like never awake for more than 60 minutes a time, don't rock them don't cuddle them always put them in their cot yadda yadda. DS is regularly awake for two hours stretches and will have a quick snooze or a longer afternoon nap. I'm not rigid as I like to be flexible in my days - I don't want to be someone who won't go out because DS is due a nap! DS has always been a nosey boy - he likes interacting and looking round. He's six months and will go to sleep when I put him in his cot for naps and at night: but only recently. I was in tears at all the conflicting sleep guidance, how if my baby DIDNT wake up at night something was wrong, how I was overfeeding him when he did wake up and should feed him two hourly instead of four, that I was doing it all wrong.

Off on a tangent there... I've done what works for us and he sleeps 10/11 hours at night and has good naps in the day. That's good enough for me.

Beanbabies This is an Internet forum. Nobody is here to 'teach' anybody anything. It's a place for people to ask questions and receive advice/opinions.

I'll read the book though. Sounds like a load of crap to me!

BeanBabies, that's a pop-science parenting book. There are about fifty thousand different ones, and none of them have The Answer - otherwise there would just be one book and we'd all have a copy. There's a lot of actual scientific research about infant sleep if you're interested (the Durham university "Infant Sleep Information Source" site is good - www.isisonline.org.uk)

(ps I have seen French children throw food with my own two eyes.)