When Will My Baby Sleep Through the Night?

A common question that is asked by potential clients is, “when will my baby sleep through the night?” The truth is that every baby is different. Most babies are capable of dropping night feedings and sleeping through the night somewhere around 6 months.

Some experts say a baby has to double their birth weight, while others say your baby has to reach the magical number of 13lbs. There are many different theories on when a baby should be able to sleep through the night. For that reason, I never tell parents an exact age. You know your baby best and you should follow your doctor’s recommendations. You know how to read your baby’s hunger cues, cries, and you know how long she can go without needing her next feed. It is best to use your instinct as a guide, while keeping the numbers and statistics in the back of your mind. Your pediatrician will have the best answer based on how much weight your baby is gaining and if she is getting enough calories during the day. I would suggest to give your pediatrician a call if you are concerned or not sure about how much and how often your baby should eat during the night. Many pediatricians also recommend to wake your baby for feeds if they are sleeping more than x amount of hours. The reason for this is to make sure your baby gets an adequate amount of nutrition since she is still so young. Please check with your pediatrician to see how often your baby should eat during the night.

Once you get the “ok” from your doctor that your child should be able to sleep through the night without feedings, you can focus on sleeping through the night. It is important that your child learns to self-soothe, as that will help your baby transition between sleep cycles during the night. So this means that your baby should be falling asleep on his own at bedtime and throughout the night. Your baby should not need to rely on sleep props such as being rocked, swayed or bounced to sleep. Your child should not need to be nursed to sleep at night or during the night. Your child should be able to smoothly connect one sleep cycle to the next without crying out for help from Mom or Dad to help get back to sleep. When your baby can truly master this skill, he will be able to sleep through the night.

If your baby is still struggling with sleeping through the night, and you’re ready to start working together, let’s set up a time to chat!

Some things to think about when deciding when you want to start sleep training your baby/toddler: