BabyWhispererForums.com
SLEEP => Night Wakings => Topic started by: hasmib on February 01, 2006, 11:56:36 am
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Dear All,
I am a new mother to be trying to get as prepared as possible..........
According to my knowledge dream/cluster feeding is something you start from day one, when is the expected age ( I realise all babies are different - however........) that your baby should first drop the night feed 2 am ish and then drop the dream feed at around 10pm ish and start sleeping 7 pm to 7am?
Thanks
Hasmi
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That is a really hard one to answer. I'm not sure there is an average age for babies to sleep through.
Mine started 7-7 at 12 weeks, yet my neighbors 7 month old still doesn't do it.
I think that if you go into it with no expectations for 12 hour nights you'll probably be better off. In the long run if your LO doesn't sleep that way, you'll be less disapointed.
It'd be interesting to know what others think.
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Yeah,
See i went into thinking that my lo should sleep 12 hours and was really disappointed and fusterated that he still wasn't at 6 months. I had a couple bad nights and decided to change my whole view on it and that he is just not a baby that is going to until he is ready, hes an individual and that is how I want him to be his whole life. Mind you that was only 2 weeks ago.
There are still nights, like last night, that at 2am, i'm not to happy the ds is wide awake and then wants to get up to play again at 6am. (usually sleeps into 8 after his night feeds). i know this doesn't answer your questions, but i was the same way wanted to be so prepared, and then when ds didn't follow not one "guideline", seriously, not one, I was so upset, thought I was a horrible mom, everything.
Just a little piece of advice from me ;)
hth
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I completely agree with the previous posters!!
If you have an expectation you will only be disappointed.
My DS (a little over 10 months) still has not slept through the night. Truly, all babies are different. Your LO will do so only on their schedule, and not yours.
Good luck with your new arrival
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In Tracy's book she does not recommend cluster feeding until babies are 6 weeks+, but dream feeds are fine. My lo is 13 weeks today and I have just started to cluster and dream feed. So far my ds has slept through twice but he usually wakes 1 or 2 times but I don't feed him, I use sh/pat to settle him and he usually goes back to sleep. Hope this is helpful.
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I did not know what to expect with my DD and she started sleeping through 12 hrs between 8-9 weeks so when my DS was born I had the idea that this was how most babies slept. He is around 8-9 weeks now and is still waking at least twice a night. I have had to seriously readjust my expectations about how he "should" be sleeping. So I completely agree that it is best to go into it with out too many expectations of what "normal" is. It is much less frustrating that way. :)
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In the beginning, your baby will probably be waking every 2-3 horus to eat--it takes most of them a few weeks to even start to get a 4 or 5 hour stretch in during the night--their little tummies are just so small.
And I will agree with everyone about not expecting anything--I thought I had pretty reasonable expectations--around 6 months to be sleeping consistantly--yeah right! DD is now 19 months, still wakes up once or twice most nights. NOt to eat of course, but between teething, being sick, and reaching new milestones, traveling, etc. . .they just don't always sleep. Some kids aren't bothered by any of these--others wake up for everything. So try not to plan on anything and then just set up the best routines you can and hope you get a sleeper!!!!
~Kim
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Thank you for your insightful words. I agree actually that the baby will have its own timing. An example would be right now ...it doesnt seem to want to come out of my belly!
Sleeping through the night is a long way off...........
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I agree about setting your expectation up right. My lo slept 7-6 with a feed at 11pm from 12 weeks old and then 7-6am from about 6 months old. However at 8.5 months he started waking again and we're now struggling on 3-4 night wakings. No-one warned me about this and it really upset me for a while.
I think this is an average pattern and apprantly babies start sleeping agian at about a year old - tbh if I'd known this I would have gritted my teeth and stuck out a year of Mat leave. at least then I could nap when he did during the day, as it is after 4 night wakings I have to get up and go and handle a very hectic physically active job.
ria