When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night & What Might Be Preventing It– Nested Bean
By: Nested Bean
Tags: Babies Sleeping, Baby, Baby Sleep

When Do Babies Sleep Through the Night & What Might Be Preventing It– Nested Bean nested bean May 11·6 min read

The sleepless nights that come with having a baby are no joke. 2 AM feedings, 4 AM diaper changes…it’s not easy. Now, after what feels like an eternity of sleepless nights, you’re asking yourself “when will my baby finally sleep through the night?”

In this article, we will go over:

1. When babies are developmentally able to sleep through the night?

2. At what age can you typically expect babies to sleep through the night?

3. What might be keeping your baby from sleeping through the night?

Getting your baby to sleep through the night is a common challenge for parents. As I’m sure you’ve already realized, your definition of sleeping “through the night” might not mean what it used to. Before baby, you considered sleeping through the night to be a full 8-hour snooze, whereas now you might be only getting a half hour to an hour of sleep at a time. At this stage, even getting a 4 to 5 hour stretch of sleep will feel like sleeping through the night. While the 8-hour stretch of sleep might not happen until closer to 6–9 months old for most!

The good news is your baby will sleep through the night! With a little bit of effort and a lot of patience, it will happen! And we’re here to guide you through it.

Development: When are babies able to sleep through the night?

Here’s a little-known fact: when babies are able to sleep through the night and when babies actually do sleep through the night are two different stories.

Sleepless nights are somewhat expected when you have a new baby. Newborns sleep a lot, but they only sleep in short intervals waking up frequently to be fed. This stage is where that patience comes in. Many doctors refer to the first 3 months of the baby’s life as the 4th Trimester. During the 4th Trimester, you’ll notice your baby’s sleep patterns are very erratic, and that’s completely normal. Although you can introduce good sleep habits during this time, it’s more important to focus on loving and caring for your little one, doing whatever you need to soothe them and make sure they’re getting all the food and sleep they need. During these first 2–3 months, you are getting them used to the outside world while bonding with your baby. Don’t worry about spoiling your baby or creating bad habits. There is no use training your baby. Just respond to their needs.

FROM THE EXPERTS — WHEN IS MY BABY READY TO SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT?

“First, it is most important to talk with your healthcare provider about your baby as every baby has various needs at each stage developmentally. Has your baby hit their milestones where your doctor feels baby has the capability to sleep through the night? Many babies need to keep night time feedings in place to help extend their overnight sleep and help baby not go into sleep deficit as their body still requires the feedings to help them thrive. Do not rush to remove the feedings before baby is developmentally ready.”

- Kelley Thompson, Serenity Sleepers

After this so called 4th Trimester, you’ll start to notice a more predictable sleep pattern emerge, which means sleeping through the night is getting closer! As your baby is slowly reaching the following milestones, his sleep is getting longer gradually. Each baby being different, you may see them fall into a more predictable sleep pattern and have longer stretches of night time sleep any where between 10 weeks to 6 months. Getting familiar with what these milestones are will help you set some expectations:

1. Moro Reflex has decreased or stopped. Moro (startle) reflex is an involuntary reflex all babies are born with. This is a sign of a still developing nervous system. The moro reflex will gradually ease and cease to awaken your baby mid sleep. You can calm your baby and help them sleep through this reflex by swaddling them. Although the moro-reflex is completely overcome by 4–5 months, your baby can be calmed with swaddling to help them sleep through this reflex.

2. Your baby is gaining weight at a healthy rate. One of the reasons your baby needs to feed so frequently- even in the middle of the night — is because they need those nutrients for their growth and healthy development! Your baby will NEED those night feedings until they have established a healthy pattern of weight gain and reach the proper age-weight milestones established by your pediatrician.

3. Night feedings have started to decrease. Newborns have very small tummies. They are unable to take in large quantities and hence need to eat more frequently. As they grow so do their bellies. At 10 weeks to 6 months, your baby may be able to eat more and spend more time sleeping or playing between feeds. As your baby reaches healthy weight milestones, as approved by your pediatrician, the number of night feedings should begin to decrease. Your baby is now eating more during the day and can stay asleep longer between feeds. However, just because your baby no longer needs to feed at night, that doesn’t mean she won’t wake up wanting and/or expecting to be fed or soothed. Many moms, especially those of breast fed babies, are used to nursing their babies to sleep. More than likely, feeding has become a soothing mechanism for your baby. Once you know that your baby is not hungry, try to change your baby’s soothing habits both during the day and at night so that an association is not created between mid-night awakenings and feeding or nursing.

4. Your baby is learning to self soothe. Just like adults, it’s normal for babies to stir or wake in the middle of the night. However, to get them sleeping through the night without crying out for you when they do wake up will require them to learn how to self-soothe. During the 4th trimester, you did whatever you could to help soothe your baby. Around 3–4 months, is a good time to start a consistent sleep routine during naps and bed time gradually teaching them to self soothe so that as they are 5 or 6 months they have a predictable sleep schedule, routine and are able to self soothe most of the times. The Zen Swaddle and Zen Sack are helpful aids as your baby learns to self soothe because thy mimic the gentle comfort of your touch. Your baby will feel your soothing touch even when you’re not there and cycle from one sleep cycle to the next thus increase their overall sleep duration. Also check tips on healthy sleep routine and schedule.

Real Mom Review

“I absolutely LOVE our swaddle!! My little one used to wake up a few times a night, mostly because she wanted to be snuggled. She new sleeps [with the Zen Swaddle] through the night until 5–7:30 am!!”

-Sara P. 9/9/2017

Some moms may expect their 2-week-old to sleep for longer stretches. Due to babies’ smaller tummies and frequent feeding needs, as you can see, such an expectation may be a risk to their health. Although these milestones are usually reached between 4 to 6 months, every baby is different. Some babies may begin to sleep 5–6 hour stretches as early as 8–10 weeks while others may not find a longer sleep pattern until past 6–8 months. Keeping your expectations realistic and working with your baby until they are able to surpass these milestones consistently will eventually help you and your baby get longer sleep stretches.

Zen Sleepwear™: the perfect solution to get baby sleeping through the night!

When do babies sleep through the night? What should I expect?

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 70–80 percent of babies are sleeping through the night by 9 months old. There’s quite a large age range for when babies start to sleep through the night. Between 4 and 6 months old is when babies start getting most of their sleep at night instead of throughout the day. As they get older, the number of daytime naps will decrease, and the number of hours slept at night will increase. Every baby is different — some parents get lucky and have a 1-month-old snoozing 4–6 hours at a time, while other parents might go a full year without a full night’s sleep. But not to worry, there are steps you can take to help your baby sleep through the night.