Mums of 12-hour a night babies how did you do it?

[EllaWt]

Just that really... my 6 months old is nowhere near that and I'm dreaming of a 7pm to 7am baby

I never do this....placemarking!

A long time ago now, but honestly - fluke. I thought it was my excellent bedtime routine and wholesome day time activities that made DS1 such a great sleeper.... then I had DS2. Did exactly the same, completely different results.

I never had one. And the minute I stopped trying to do anything about it and just went with it my life changed for the better immeasurably. I was still tired but not stressed out. Much better for all of us.

I had a 4 hourly feeding schedule, woke them from naps so they didn't sleep too long in the day and kept to a strict routine. Basically, I followed Gina Ford to the letter and had my twins both sleeping 6:30 to their dream feed at 10:30 then through to. 7am when I woke them for their first feed. One slept through at 11 weeks (5 weeks corrected) and the other at 14 weeks (9 weeks corrected). They slept 6:30-7:30 from 7 months without the dream feed.
There is a lot of hate for GF but she saved our sleep and in turn our sanity.

Good day routine, good naps, self-settling at bedtime, no night feeds.

What’s your routine? How often is DC waking?

I did gentle sleep training

Tbh, I don't think you can.

DD1 was an okay sleeper at first but deteriorated. She is now 6yo and by far the most likely of my three to wake in the night.

DT1 - absolute effing nightmare till about 1yo. Then, click! Something shifted - he went to being the most reliable of them.

DT2 - has always slept like log but harder to put down.

I think routines etc help but cannot override their internal hardwiring.

Its a pipedream for a lot of babies. Mine still don't sleep 12 hours aged 3 and 6. They just don't need it. Somewhere around 11 hours seems to suit them now, but when they were younger it was in blocks of 3-4 hours at a time and either 1 or 2 naps of 1-2hours in the day.

I've had 2 DC that have slept through from 3 months on. (Ds1 10hrs, ds2 12 hours).
My DSis has 3 DC that didnt sleep through until they were 3-4 yo.

The only difference I can see is that when the baby was a newborn, I did night feeds in the dark, with no light (except the light coming in from the hall), no sound, fed the baby and changed nappy, then put them straight back in the cot to drift off again.

Dsis did night feeds with the tv on and I wonder if this confused the baby and they couldnt tell that it was night time??

I dont know, it sounds crazy but its the only thing I can think of that we did differently.

@Quornflakegirl that's amazing! She used to 8pm to 7am and then out of the blue now she wakes at 05:45am aaargh

There is no secret, just depends on the baby. Also formula fed babies tend to sleep longer, or so I heard...

Gentle sleep training (gradual retreat).

Also Gina Ford here - I struggled with my first DD and was given the book by a friend , followed her routines to the letter (EBF) and it worked really well for me. then when DD2 arrived followed the toddler and new baby version - DD2 was a champion sleeper thought, I suspect it was just how she was, even now she takes herself off to bed when she’s tired without me prompting

@Quornflakegirl

I had a 4 hourly feeding schedule, woke them from naps so they didn't sleep too long in the day and kept to a strict routine. Basically, I followed Gina Ford to the letter and had my twins both sleeping 6:30 to their dream feed at 10:30 then through to. 7am when I woke them for their first feed. One slept through at 11 weeks (5 weeks corrected) and the other at 14 weeks (9 weeks corrected). They slept 6:30-7:30 from 7 months without the dream feed. There is a lot of hate for GF but she saved our sleep and in turn our sanity.

Ooh, is there a specific book?

We followed the little ones program - a painful start but amazing once we were into it.

It was hard going, I had to be very strict with myself. Waking a sleeping baby is hard but I made sure I stuck to the routine and it worked for us. They still love to sleep now at almost 9. We didn't hear from them until 9:20am this morning

My first was a horrendous sleeper. Up every 90 minutes till 6 months, then every 3 hours till 2.5 years.

My youngest slept through from 8 weeks 6:30-6:30. She is 2 now and still doing at least 12 hits every night with 2-3 hour nap in the day.

Didn’t do anything different with them, one was a sleeper and the other isn’t. I think it’s just how they are born.

Sheer dumb luck. When he was born he lost weight and had to be put on a 3 hour feeding schedule. When we stopped that he kept to 3 hours during the day and started sleeping longer at night. He's been roughly 7-7 from 10 months but he slept well before then. I am under no illusions that I did anything differently from anyone else. We just got lucky.

It's honestly sheer luck. I thought I was a fabulous parent when my oldest slept 11-7 or 8 at 7 weeks and probably for a 12 hour stretch not long later.
Then I had my second and she taught me a lesson!

Oh and if it is any consolation my "brilliant sleeper" stopped sleeping through age 3 and woke me up every single night until she was 8, so...

@DarcyLewis

Good day routine, good naps, self-settling at bedtime, no night feeds.

This. Nap routine started at 3.5 months. Ferber sleep training at 7 months. 12 hours a night by 8 months 🙌

We have a warm, loving DD with a mum who isn't irritable or shouty because we all get our rest 😴

Ds1 was like this, it was pure luck, nothing I did and 10 years old he still loves his sleep. My second was the opposite.

O was a 21 year old unmarried mum when I had mine. He slept all night from 6 weeks and even before then only woke once or twice a night. We had no routine to speak of I just did what I felt was right as a mum. He slept in a crib right by my bed. I didn't try and keep quiet. I watched TV until quite late and he didn't wake.
I think its all just luck.

Many many dc here...
Ime possibly a fluke... And possibly because too many' probs 'become bad habits... Imo.
Dd (pfb) slept through at 8 months when she went into her own room. First night!!
Dc3 was the most placid baby. Very needy during the night as a toddler and I was too soft!! At nursery age before he stopped shouting multiple times for me...
Dc6 was in/out hospital for 10 months then did a sleep program with GP.. Nearly lost my mind..
Dc7 and 10 slept from 2 weeks old. Fluke.
Dc8+9 from 4 months.
Dc11 at 9 months after sending dh in to resettle instead of me bf 5/6 times of barely a mouthful..
Sometimes imo it's a case of stepping back and talk through your routine... Making the decision to actively get a dc sleeping through takes both dps on the same page and logic!