# "good" sleepers



## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

i hate to call them "good" sleepers, since it implies the others are *bad*, but you know what i mean









anyone had a baby who "technically" STTN (5-6 hours) at a young age?

DD is 12 weeks and has slept 5+ hour stretches regularly (as in almost always) since about 6 weeks







:

she is currently averaging about 6 hours--sometimes as much as 8--for the long stretch, then back down for 3 or 4. we co-sleep, but it's a sidecar arrangement, since i don't sleep well with her right up against me.

everyone says this is "good" for her age. i guess my question is, do sleepers like this usually remain _fairly_ regular (i know there are always rough nights/weeks with any baby), or can they _become_ frequent nightwakers? i hear about all these babes waking every 1-2 hours on up to a year of age or more, and i know i'd be dysfunctional if she did that since i do NOT sleep while nursing.

just want to know if others who had pretty infrequent nightwakers found they stayed that way or not.


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## Herausgeber (Apr 29, 2006)

My daughter is almost 8 months old. She STTN starting at about 6 weeks (midnight to 6 am). Then, at about 5.5 months, she stopped. She was suddenly waking up every 2-3 hours. She'd wake up a half hour into her naps. I had to nurse her back to sleep.

Now, she's settling back down. But she's still not STTN.


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## princesspennie (Jul 26, 2005)

My son could sleep for 5-6 hours between 9-12 weeks until he started to get growth spurts and hit differant milestones,then the never ending night nursing/waking began, and he stopped sleeping for as long a stretch and sleep amounts came in spurts and at 22 months old it is stilll the same.(He is not BF anymore)

For weeks he will sleep 9-10 hours at a time at night, then we will have a few weeks of very frequent wakings..on and on it goes..some weeks are good and some are bad.


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## bellymama (Apr 15, 2007)

readytobedone said:


> i anyone had a baby who "technically" STTN (5-6 hours) at a young age? QUOTE]
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## kalirush (Jun 14, 2005)

I think you're not going to get a big percentage of parents with kids who sleep on this particular board.









My kid has slept for 5-6 hour stretches (barring teething) practically since birth.

Julia
(and I only clicked on this board accidently today







)


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## rzberrymom (Feb 10, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *princesspennie* 
My son could sleep for 5-6 hours between 9-12 weeks until he started to get growth spurts and hit differant milestones,then the never ending night nursing/waking began, and he stopped sleeping for as long a stretch and sleep amounts came in spurts

This is exactly how it was for us. Until about 3 1/2 months, DD slept 5 hour stretches. And then the teething and the big developmental milestones started to hit and she woke every 2 hours (every 60-90 minutes on the really rough nights). Once her teeth came in, she magically became a fabulous sleeper.

Here are some articles that talk about why nightwaking often increases at about 16 weeks and then at other intervals.

Wakeful 4 Month Olds

What Are Sleep Regressions Anyway


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## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

I think DS is a pretty darn good sleeper. I'm not entirely sure when he started sleeping through the night - I just know when I learned how to nurse laying down and stopped waking up







Which was around 4-6weeks.





















:


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## Arwyn (Sep 9, 2004)

Yea, I'm hoping and praying but SO not counting on my 4.5mo continuing to be asleep from bed (11pmish the last couple nights) to waking (anywhere from 5:30-10am) for much longer, because everyone I've talked to who's had a baby like that early on has turned into a nightwaker eventually.

(He does eat at night, btw, usually just once, and I wake up, but he doesn't. I too can't sleep through nursing.







)


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## earthcore (Feb 24, 2003)

My DD slept throought the night practically from birth to four months old. At four months it was all over and she started waking every hour all night long. At nearly three years old, she's up 2-3 times a night.


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## readytobedone (Apr 6, 2007)

is there really no good sleeper who stays good??


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## *Karen* (Jul 28, 2006)

DS slept 12 hours straight though from 2.5 months to 5.5 months. Things got progressively worse, peaking at 12 months where he woke up every 30 minutes all night long.

Good luck!


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## D_McG (Jun 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *rzberrymom* 
This is exactly how it was for us. Until about 3 1/2 months, DD slept 5 hour stretches. And then the teething and the big developmental milestones started to hit and she woke every 2 hours (every 60-90 minutes on the really rough nights). Once her teeth came in, she magically became a fabulous sleeper.

This is us exactly. He only wakes once a night now (he's only 13 mos though) but our sleep fell apart at 3.5 mos and stayed pretty disrupted until just recently. I anticipate it going badly again over the next year and then stabilizing some after 2 years of age. But maybe I'm being too negative!

Either way though he slept GREAT as a newborn and then not so much.....


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## prettypixels (Apr 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Herausgeber* 
My daughter is almost 8 months old. She STTN starting at about 6 weeks (midnight to 6 am). Then, at about 5.5 months, she stopped. She was suddenly waking up every 2-3 hours. She'd wake up a half hour into her naps. I had to nurse her back to sleep.

Now, she's settling back down. But she's still not STTN.

Ditto, except my baby wakes up hourly. *yawn* I thought she was a good sleeper too, until about 5.5 months. Enjoy it while it lasts! (And hopefully your luck will hold out!)


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## wannabe (Jul 4, 2005)

Mine slept for 6 hours at a time from about 5-6 weeks until 12 weeks. Ah, it was bliss.

She's doing it again now at over 2. I appreciate it a lot more now than I did then


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## eclipse (Mar 13, 2003)

One of my children started sleeping through at around 5 weeks. By 10 weeks or so, we got 10-12 hours at night. She had brief periods of wakefulness during teething/growth spurts/milestones, but always returned to her long stretches as things evened out. She is 4 and still a fairly good sleeper, though getting harder to put to sleep at night. So, you could get lucky.

And before anyone throws tomatoes at me and kicks me off the board







, my sons are both horrible sleepers. During the first year or so of DD's life, when she would sleep those 10 hour stretches? Big brother was up every 90 minutes to nurse. No breaks for me!


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## ZsMama (Jul 29, 2007)

My DD has been STTN since she was 4 weeks old (now 3 months)! We do co-sleep. She goes down around 9-9:30pm wakes up around 3am for a quick snack then sleeps in until 9-9:30am. I'm thanking my lucky stars as she's my first child and I was NOT expecting to get as much sleep. I guess she loves her sleep just like momma!









I really am grateful though!


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## Terrilein (Jan 9, 2007)

My dd started to STTN (as in 5+ hours sleep) from birth until about 2-3 months, but I'm not sure really when. I thought we were lucky. Then she started waking often for nursing (might have coincided with the 6 week growth spurt). And when she started to crawl that was the END of our easy evenings and peaceful sleep. We did get better with night nursing so that I wasn't waking fully, but it wasn't until she was fully weaned (3.5 yrs) that she would really sleep through the night again. Night weaning only helped give me a longer uninterrupted stretch of sleep. As soon as the sun came up, dd could be found firmly latched by my side. So, all in all, I'd say count yourself lucky . . . for now!


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## nina_yyc (Nov 5, 2006)

I'd ask in Life with a Babe. Most people come to this board because they're having sleep issues.


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## Aliviclo (Jul 3, 2007)

My daughter STTN (11-7) starting at about 7 or 8 weeks. By 3 months, she was sleeping 8:30 - 6:30, and kept that up until about 18 months old when the hard teething hit. We had a month of ugly, but didn't change our bedtime routine, and then it got better when teething was over. (I think sometimes parents start trying a lot of new things when a bad spell hits, and then wind up with bad habits that interfere with their child getting back on schedule.)

Now my daughter is 3, and pops up 4-5 times right after I put her to bed with cup-o-water, one more potty, turn the light on, where's my blanky requests. About twice a week, she'll wander into our room around 4am, needing help with going to the potty (she's getting ready to stop using nighttime diapers). I think the pop-ups and night waking now are due to nightmares and general 3YO anxiety, and will hopefully pass once she's through this stage. Being able to make it through the night with a dry Pull-up will help too.


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## fawny (Jul 25, 2007)

My 3.5 month old dd has been a great sleeper ever since birth, I put her down around 8pm in our bed and after I nurse her she'll sleep till about 3am or 4am when she half wakes up and I feed her then she sleeps until 7:30am. I feel extremely fortunate about this but am waiting for the bomb to drop as I hear most babies have more wakings starting at the 4 month mark... I am hoping I am lucky though and my ds skips this stage of wakefullness at night!







:


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## katheek77 (Mar 13, 2007)

Please don't hate me.

DD went from waking every 2-3 hours to sleeping 7 hours straight at six weeks. Overnight.







: I thought she'd died of SIDS when I woke up on my own at 2am, and realized she HADN'T woken me.

She's now 13 mos old, and her sleep has gotten progressively longer. She goes to bed at 7/8 most nights, and sleeps until 4/5am, has some bm or formula, then goes back to sleep until 6/7am.

Maybe once every couple weeks, she'll wake up around 12/1am for something to eat (she's VERY skinny, so, if she wakes up, we feed her). The only other disruption was when she cut her molars, and she woke up a little more than usual that week.

We didn't start out cosleeping, but have grown into it...DD has sep. anxiety, so, it's working out better this way for us for the time.


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## maxsmum (Nov 29, 2006)

add me to the list of my "my child slept great until 4-5 months" now the nightwaking never stops...enjoy it and hope it continues for you!


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## Irish (Jun 3, 2007)

My first was a TERRIBLE sleeper, this time with my second we were getting more than 5 hours (albeit ON me for the first 5 weeks) until she was 12 weeks. She's a pretty frequent waker now but we get a decent night here and there. Having been through it once before, I never took for granted that she slept well in the beginning and have learned to work on things that help me cope with night wakings rather than focusing on baby's sleep. As lucky as you may be in the long run, for every parent there are rough nights whether it be from reaching milestones, being sick, nightmares, excitement...you just learn that it's part of parenting. Sounds sick (perhaps slight delerium from my 3 hours sleep in the last day and a half) but I'm doing everything I can to enjoy every minute of my girls, with a 12 year old off to junior high next year I can attest that it really does go by way too fast - not to sound cliche....


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## SAmama (Oct 13, 2006)

I was just going to post about this! DD slept 7 hour stretches (short stretches were 5 hours) at 7 weeks (and I thought "see, you don't have to be babywise..."







: ). Then she started waking 3-4 times a night around 3 months. Then she got eczema (I thought that was why the bad sleeping) at six months and started waking up every 45 mins!!!! Now, at almost 15 months we are down to anywhere between every 3 hours to every 90 mins. More often it is every 90 mins. A few months ago dh could still comfort her back to sleep during the earlier part of the night. Now she ONLY nurses back to sleep and I do not sleep while she nurses. She also needs her own space to sleep soundly (otherwise she keeps kicking and scratching), so I have to move her from right next to me to the side-car crib. I am beyond tired. But, as long as I know there is some end in sight. And I think I can handle this better knowing that it is sort of normal and not just an allergy/eczema thing, because regardless of what we are doing, we aren't getting anywhere with having that get better. Boy, I cannot wait to sleep 4 hours straight again!


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## nata0742 (Jul 6, 2003)

my babies are really good at letting AF come back at 12 weeks pp and THEN they sleep in 2 hr spurts! great 5-7 hr sleepers in the beginging!


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## moonyoungi (Jul 3, 2007)

I just want to say....you WILL sleep during nursing session, if you were one of the moms with babes that wake up every hour.......trust me....you can't help it.


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## guestmama9915 (Jul 29, 2004)

So far, all 3 of my children are "good" sleepers. My youngest is a week old so we'll see on that.







But for now...

Anyway, they would wake more during teething or big milestones, but it never lasted more than a couple weeks. They've always pretty much slept long stretches since birth and it only seemed to improve. I'm a bit unique in that my two eldest weaned during my pregnancies (about 16 months or something) due to "drying up" and sensitivity issues, but even before that I don't recall much night waking at all.

But maybe I just slept through it?


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## lexapurple (Dec 24, 2006)

DD slept for 5-7 hours from birth till 4 months. Now she is nursing all night long.


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## the_lissa (Oct 30, 2004)

My ds slept 6-8 hours stretches since he was about a month old.


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## gwynthfair (Mar 17, 2006)

Mine used to sleep 11 hours straight at one point. Those were the days....

Now she wakes anywhere from 2-5 times each night. She's 10 months.

I have two friends, one with a 12 month old and one with an 11 month, and they both have been sleeping through the night for a long time. The 11 month old was even super colicky when he was younger and was breastfed exclusively. It's just so not fair.


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## Contrariety (Jul 16, 2007)

my 9 month old DS has slept 8-12 hours a night since he was 3 weeks old. he's in bed with us, though, so i'm sure he's awake and nursing when i'm still sleeping. who cares, as long as i'm sleeping, right?


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## MilkTrance (Jul 21, 2007)

DS wakes up about two to three times a night. He is 9 weeks.

My friend's baby didn't STTN until EIGHTEEN MONTHS. So, I guess it could be worse.


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