What does "sleeping through the night" mean to you?

[lanny]

I say Herbie sleep through from 5 wks but he always had a dream feed at 10pm till he was at least 9 months, then I went to bed so to me is was sleeping through as he never woke up wile I was asleep xxx

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

I'd class it as baby sleeping for as long as i'm sleeping. In the first few weeks I wouldn't be too bothered if baby didn't sleep til 12ish as i'm always awake til then anyway.

Can anyone tell me what a dream feed is & how to do it - i've never heard of it before.

My wee girl was sleeping through from around 9 til 6/7am from about 6 weeks old, she did wake for a feed at 2am but i didn't mind as it would be a shame to not give her one, and she'd always go straight back to sleep.

I am in the middle with the whole leaving babies to cry thing - if its very bad screams where you can tell they're very upset, I would attend to them straight away, if its just a wee grumble i'd leave her. My MIL is a social worker & she said when they get a bit older (a few mnths old) they can learn how to manipulate & its important that they dont think they can cry to get what they want. Also, if they are crying & we're not able to comfort them (ie nothing works), I dont see the harm in putting them in their cot to cry & checking them on & off, alot of the time babies do cry for no reason, it shouldn't be associated with the same crying adults do, as it can be alot different.

I would ask your MiL what her point of reference is, wether she knows of any studies that highlight what she has said... because all studies on leaving young babies (under 1) to cry in the night suggest it is really very bad for them.

Babies have no memory, memory comes at about 3 (which is why few people can remember themselves before this point) so expecting a child to 'know' that your in the next room when they are crying in the dark is being disillusioned to what children are actually capable of at such a young age.

 

[Lulu_Laroo]

Can anyone tell me what a dream feed is & how to do it - i've never heard of it before.

A dream feed is basically feeding your baby whilst he/she is still asleep. Poppy will (most of the time) take the bottle and start sucking in her sleep. Every now and then she's so sparko that I can't get the bottle in, so I wait a while and try again. I still burp her afterwards, and she usually stays asleep for that, too.

 

[littlemiss83]

I'd class it as baby sleeping for as long as i'm sleeping. In the first few weeks I wouldn't be too bothered if baby didn't sleep til 12ish as i'm always awake til then anyway.

Can anyone tell me what a dream feed is & how to do it - i've never heard of it before.

My wee girl was sleeping through from around 9 til 6/7am from about 6 weeks old, she did wake for a feed at 2am but i didn't mind as it would be a shame to not give her one, and she'd always go straight back to sleep.

I am in the middle with the whole leaving babies to cry thing - if its very bad screams where you can tell they're very upset, I would attend to them straight away, if its just a wee grumble i'd leave her. My MIL is a social worker & she said when they get a bit older (a few mnths old) they can learn how to manipulate & its important that they dont think they can cry to get what they want. Also, if they are crying & we're not able to comfort them (ie nothing works), I dont see the harm in putting them in their cot to cry & checking them on & off, alot of the time babies do cry for no reason, it shouldn't be associated with the same crying adults do, as it can be alot different.

I would ask your MiL what her point of reference is, wether she knows of any studies that highlight what she has said... because all studies on leaving young babies (under 1) to cry in the night suggest it is really very bad for them.

Babies have no memory, memory comes at about 3 (which is why few people can remember themselves before this point) so expecting a child to 'know' that your in the next room when they are crying in the dark is being disillusioned to what children are actually capable of at such a young age.

Not sure where my mil got the info - I know she's a trained child psychologist & has been working with babies & children in the NHS for years. She didn't say that a baby should be left to cry for long periods or anything. All she said was...its ok to leave a baby to cry for a while, like 15 mins (cant remember the exact time, i'm estimating here)

all studies on leaving young babies (under 1) to cry in the night suggest it is really very bad for them. - Unsure exactly what you mean by...to cry in the night, do you mean leaving a baby the full night crying, or for small periods? its defo obvious that it would harm a baby to be left crying all night.


Babies have no memory, memory comes at about 3 - This isn't totally true, some studies have shown that babies can have memory from in the womb. The memory people can access only goes back to between 2/3 years, but I read an article recently which said that memory can go alot further back than that. Babies do have a memory before age 1 - after all they can remember voices from the womb & faces after birth - therefore they must be able to remember that if they cry they get fed, fair enough, maybe not for the first few weeks, but when they're a bit older.

 

[littlemiss83]

Can anyone tell me what a dream feed is & how to do it - i've never heard of it before.

A dream feed is basically feeding your baby whilst he/she is still asleep. Poppy will (most of the time) take the bottle and start sucking in her sleep. Every now and then she's so sparko that I can't get the bottle in, so I wait a while and try again. I still burp her afterwards, and she usually stays asleep for that, too.

Ah, thanks for that - I take it you lift baby from the cot? Does yours wake up when you lift them......do you do a nappy change too? I used to always change nappy before feed with my first

 

[Dragonfly Fi]

I was thinking more hearing them cry in the night and then leaving them without attending to them, i can understand (with a later child) attending to them and then leaving them a bit grumbly to go back to sleep

Cry it Out has been researched and found to damage a childs brain... there was a bbc news documentary on it, i will try and find the link

 

[Lulu_Laroo]

Can anyone tell me what a dream feed is & how to do it - i've never heard of it before.

A dream feed is basically feeding your baby whilst he/she is still asleep. Poppy will (most of the time) take the bottle and start sucking in her sleep. Every now and then she's so sparko that I can't get the bottle in, so I wait a while and try again. I still burp her afterwards, and she usually stays asleep for that, too.

Ah, thanks for that - I take it you lift baby from the cot? Does yours wake up when you lift them......do you do a nappy change too? I used to always change nappy before feed with my first

Yes I take her out of the cot, and will do a nappy change before I feed her. She'll sometimes stir a bit when I change her nappy but she seems to be in such a deep sleep at that time of night that it doesn't bother her.

 

[Constantstar]

O sleeps from 10 -6.30 - 7 ish without a feed in-between but trying to edge the 10 feed earlier and earlier! We r now on 9.30- 6.30- 7 ish x

 

[rbryan0205]

amelia slept from 9-4 for ages and i would class that as sleeping through as it was 7 hours it took me a lot of hard work to get her to sleep through till 7 but i think i would dream feed my next baby at 12 to hopefully get them to go 12-6 x

 

[rbryan0205]

O sleeps from 10 -6.30 - 7 ish without a feed in-between but trying to edge the 10 feed earlier and earlier! We r now on 9.30- 6.30- 7 ish x

i once read a study stating that once a baby got into waking at a certain time in the morning it wouldnt matter what time you put them down at night so hopefully not take you to long to get the bedtime earlier x

 

[Constantstar]

O sleeps from 10 -6.30 - 7 ish without a feed in-between but trying to edge the 10 feed earlier and earlier! We r now on 9.30- 6.30- 7 ish x

i once read a study stating that once a baby got into waking at a certain time in the morning it wouldnt matter what time you put them down at night so hopefully not take you to long to get the bedtime earlier x

I hope so!! xx

 

[scottishlassie]

My LO has just started sleeping through the night, I used to do a dream feed but we've decided to let her sleep now, so we get her changed and fed and settled for bout half 10 - 11, and she sleeps til about 6.30 - 7.30am . And she's seemed much happier now that we don't wake her for feeds at night. She's awake for most of the day but not upset or anything, just babbles away.xx

 

[Jacki2010]

Olivia sleeps 10.30 - 6-6.30 and then has 3oz and sleeps again until after 9am. That's my conclusion of sleeping through, she sleeps over 6 hours xx x

 

[KellyHook]

i am going to put charlie in his cot at 9pm tonight and come downstairs (1st time in leaving him in the room on his own) and not wake him up at 11.15 as i normally do and see how long he sleeps!

 

[Constantstar]

i am going to put charlie in his cot at 9pm tonight and come downstairs (1st time in leaving him in the room on his own) and not wake him up at 11.15 as i normally do and see how long he sleeps!

That's basically what we did with o. He was getting a 2 am fees but managed to sleep till 4 am ish and with encouragement slept through xx

 

[Lulu_Laroo]

i am going to put charlie in his cot at 9pm tonight and come downstairs (1st time in leaving him in the room on his own) and not wake him up at 11.15 as i normally do and see how long he sleeps!

I tried this last night (not giving Poppy her usual midnight dream feed) and she still slept from 10.30 through until 8.00. So I think we'll drop the dream feed altogether if she doesn't need it!

 

[littlemiss83]

i am going to put charlie in his cot at 9pm tonight and come downstairs (1st time in leaving him in the room on his own) and not wake him up at 11.15 as i normally do and see how long he sleeps!

I tried this last night (not giving Poppy her usual midnight dream feed) and she still slept from 10.30 through until 8.00. So I think we'll drop the dream feed altogether if she doesn't need it!

Thats an excellent wee sleep!! Bet you were well chuffed!!

 

[Belfast girl]

emma is 13 weeks and for the last couple of weeks i have classed her as 'sleeping through'. we put her down at 7, do a dream feed at 11 then she sleeps til 7 ish. (sometimes i have to wake her at 9!)

its great but the big disadvantage to this is that its hard to get enough milk in her in the day, she takes 4 weeks to put on a pound and has dropped from the 9th to the 5th centile so i won't be stopping the 11pm dream feed for a while!

besides, i love that feed, its so warm and snuggly and you get the cutest sighs and sleep smiles!!

 

[KellyHook]

i am going to put charlie in his cot at 9pm tonight and come downstairs (1st time in leaving him in the room on his own) and not wake him up at 11.15 as i normally do and see how long he sleeps!

I tried this last night (not giving Poppy her usual midnight dream feed) and she still slept from 10.30 through until 8.00. So I think we'll drop the dream feed altogether if she doesn't need it!

Well Done Poppy!! Well Charlie did well, but not as well as little poppy! he slept from 8.30pm - 5am and then he drank only 3oz and slept till 9am which i was still pleased with...

 

[Jacki2010]

Aw well done Charlie, that's what Olivia does, she only has 3-4oz at that feed then goes straight back asleep xx