# How many hours does your co-sleeping infant sleep without waking?



## paulamc (Jun 25, 2008)

Just wondering, do all co-sleeping/ breast fed babies wake a few times in the night to feed, or do some of them sleep as much as 5 or 6 hours in a row, the way crib sleeping babies eventually do? How many hours does your baby sleep without waking? How old is he/she?

Thanks!!


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## Pumpkin_Pie (Oct 10, 2006)

I would think that at 9 weeks, I would only be worried if my son had not woken up to nurse all night. He is 20 months old and still nurses a couple of times throughout the night. He has slept 6 hours in a row off and on since he was about 18 months, but really, that is from about 8pm-2am, and then nurses a few times from then until about 6:30am when he wakes for the day.

I don't know if co-sleeping contributes to it or not, but 9 weeks is awfully young to be expecting a baby to sleep through the night.


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## paulamc (Jun 25, 2008)

Thanks Pumpkin Pie. Really, I don't expect him to do anything. I'm quite happy with the current arrangement. I've revised my posting to include just the key question - do some co-sleeping babies eventually STTN the way many crib-sleepers seem to do, or do the vast majority of them tend to wake several times in the night to feed.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Dd STTN (by definition 5 hours) very often from early on.

Ds usually sleeps a stretch of 3-5 hours at one point in the night. He's 6 months now.

-Angela


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## Chloe'sMama (Oct 14, 2008)

My dd started sleeping around 6 hours straight before waking to eat she was 2 months and only eating 1 time, but has started waking up more after 4 months until now. She will sleep from 8ish to 1am then wakes up quite a bit between 1 and when we get up in the morning. I am actually almost sleeping through all of our night feedings (now that she is in the bed with us) and it is much easier than when she was in the co-sleeper next to the bed.

Good luck!


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## ChristyH (Dec 10, 2003)

My 7 1/2 month old still wake almost every 2 hours to nurse, if she sleeps longer than that its a miracle. Luckily I am a master at nursing laying down and she's become a master at latching on herself so it doesn't disturb me too much.


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## E's Mama (Mar 16, 2008)

My 6 week old ds goes down at 11pm and sleeps til about 4am, nurses, and sleeps again until 7ish. If I try putting him in the cradle, he is up every 1/2 hour!
Of course that is this week- it may be a totally different story next week!


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## Nautical (Mar 4, 2008)

My dd is 3 weeks and every other night since birth has sleepy for ~5 hour stretch at night. I am _highly_ surprised by this though.


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## chely7425 (Aug 8, 2007)

My son is almost 8 months... he DID STTN from around 2-3 months.. now? he wakes up every hour or 2 *headdesk*


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## NamastePlatypus (Jan 22, 2007)

Same here Rachel!


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## chely7425 (Aug 8, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NamastePlatypus* 
Same here Rachel!

SO glad it isn't just my crazy child


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## amitymama (Nov 17, 2006)

My 11 week-old will sleep 4-6 hour stretches sometimes in his moses basket beside my bed (where he starts out the night) but once he comes to bed with me (anywhere between 1-4am) he will nurse 2-3 more times until he wakes up at 7.30.


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## Kappa (Oct 15, 2007)

My 8 month old will sleep about 3 hours, sometimes 4, at the longest. Most of the time it is less than that.


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## Honey693 (May 5, 2008)

My 8w old sleeps 3-4 hour chunks and sleeps 10-12 hours when she goes down for the night so I wake up 3-4 times. I'm thrilled with that


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

DS has almost always done a 4 hour stretch, usually he sleeps straight from 12am to 5am. (Once he even did 7 hours. In his own bed. But that was such a fluke it's not even worth mentioning.)


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## ceeveg (Oct 25, 2008)

Our daughter sleeps, maximum, six hours at stretch, but it is usually more like 3-4 hours with several half-wake-ups grumbling for me to reinsert her pacifier









Edit: She's 22 weeks this week.


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## mfoley9 (Nov 27, 2008)

My 8 month baby sleeps from 7am-2am waking a couple times in her sleep to search for her pacifier to put herslf back to sleep. Then she wakes up every 2 hours for my boob. I really don't mind this, but my husband is starting to get upset with the situation, and wants to night ween. We tried it once with him comforting her when she woke, and it took a long time for him to settle her. She was very upset with the whole thing. It seemed to work after a few nights, but then she got sick, and we went back to the old schedule.

I would like to get more sleep, but I've accepted the waking times, and have appreciated the night wakings and feeding as precious time between us when we are between sleep and being awake. It's very peaceful and intimate for us; so it is mutual feeling. I'm not very good with lying down and feeding, but I think this would be great to try.


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## Tangled Hill (Jun 6, 2008)

We co-slept from day one (and still do!), and I remember ds stirring several times each night all through his first year. He never really woke up during the night - just stirred enough for me to put him to breast, and then he was back asleep a few minutes later. Sometime during his second year, he got to where he was just stirring once a night, usually. Same deal. Plopped out the boobie, and he was back asleep in no time. It wasn't until he weaned a few months after he turned two that he started sleeping the sleep of the dead - or at least the really, really tired.


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## AlpineMama (Aug 16, 2007)

DD wakes about once an hour.


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## 4Marmalade (May 4, 2004)

Our most recent additions are almost 6 month old twins and I don't think they sleep more than 2-3 hour stretches at the most. I try not to look at the clock and pay attention. Our older dc's never really STTN either. I always tell dh that even if cosleeping is waking them more often it's still worth it (IME so far).


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## thixle (Sep 26, 2007)

I have the babies people don't think are real... Both have "STTN" (at least 5 hours) since day one. The newest addition is 4 weeks and sleeps a solid 6-7 hours at night... while the 3 year old wakes up







But, in defense of the 3 year old, she has slept so well her entire life (except for teething, sickness, and major life changes), so I honestly know I have no reason to complain...


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## cndnveggie (Jul 2, 2007)

Except when he's teething, sick, going through a growth spurt, etc., DS will wake up only once (at around 2-3am), or not at all. He's 19mo. He's done this since he was about 8 weeks. So we've had periods where he's STTN (8-10 hours straight), and periods when he's waking up once, and periods where he's waking up twice (usually growth spurt), and periods where he's waking up 3+ times (usually teething)! It all depends on what else is going on for him. But he is capable of sleeping through the night if nothing's affecting him, so I know some co-sleeping babies will STTN. But it doesn't seem that common, from other people I talk to...


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## Burnindinner (Mar 11, 2008)

i have a 4 wk old, so we haven't ATTEMPTED a schedule & we cosleep. his first sleep when we go to bed is 3-6 hours. he sleeps 5-6 hours 1-3 times per week. as he eats like a beast and has gained 2.5 lb already, i let him do his thing.

he wakes up 2-3 times per night, eats and goes back to sleep.


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## cherimoya (Mar 23, 2008)

DD 1yo usually gets at least one 4 hour stretch during her 10/12hour sleep during the night. I'm not 100% sure because sometimes I wake up because I can feel let-down and dd is on the boob, so it's possible she's on it and I sleep through it?! My DS 5yo now, from what I remember the first 2 years he woke up nearly every 2/3 hours consistently......he sleeps wonderfully now.


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## daniturtle (May 17, 2008)

Haven't read all the other responses yet. But my exclusively breastfed, co-sleeping 9 week old sleeps on average about 5 hours in a row at night. She has gone as long as 6.5 hours a few times. That's the first part of the night, the second part is about 3-4 hours.

Personally, I think this has to do with being particular to the baby, rather than to breastfeeding or co-sleeping per se, with the caveat that I guess formula takes longer to digest. I only have anectodal evidence for this though-- Thalia has always been a long sleeper- started with 3-4 hour stretches shortly after birth.


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## daniturtle (May 17, 2008)

Oh and by the way-- sleeping through the night (STTN) is by definition 5 hours?! Whose night is that?! My sleeping through the night would be more like 8 hours straight......I dream of that!!! I guess the grass can always be greener, given that apparently I've already got a baby who sleeps through the night!!!


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