9 Week Old Sleeping

B.,
Congratulations on you new little boy! Sleeping 4-5 hours and then nursing is VERY normal. Most babies that are breastfed do not sleep for extended periods of time because that breastmilk is so much easier to digest. They are hungry more often than a bottle fed baby. I know you probably feel exhausted and tired, but there is really nothing you can do change his sleeping and feeding habits. Try napping during the day when he does to get your sleep in. Other than that, you have made a great decision to nurse. I nursed all three of my girls and have absolutely no regrets about it. The sleep I lost was completely worth it. I did however nurse my girls to sleep at night and they tended to sleep pretty much through the night from about 10pm-6am...you may want to try throwing in that extra little feeding while he is still small. Once he starts on baby food you can always adjust that habit. Good luck and just remember that although you are extremely tired when he wakes up fussing at 3 am...this is your time to bond. Cherish it because they don't stay little long enough....

Sounds perfectly normal to me. Plus I think at around 9 weeks he is hitting a growth spurt so he may nurse more than normal. I have never had a 9 week old sleep through the night. But that has been my experience.

B.-

I have 2 young children myself...a 1 year old and a 3 year old. I have found that both kids are extremely different. My 3 year old was a wonderful baby who slept for 8 hours right out of the womb. My 1 year old however, was a tad bit more difficult. I tried everything and he was still getting up every 3-4 hours, he was a butter ball so I know he was eating enough. As cruel as it sounds I had to let him cry himself back to sleep. He did this for about a week and the finally realized that crying for attention at nighttime would not get mommy to come in and get him. He started sleeping through the night. I know some people think it is wrong to let your kids cry (trust me I was one of them), you think they could be scared at night or the maybe sick, however in my case my baby just wanted me to come and get him at night because he was used to it. It will be a rough week, but give it a try. Good Luck

Sleeping 4-5 hours a stretch at nine weeks old seems pretty normal to me. Especially for a breastfed baby (breast milk is the perfect food, so it digests more quickly than formula). I know it is hard, but this shall pass. Hang in there mama you are doing a good job.

One book I did find helpful is the "no cry sleep solution" by Elizabeth Pantley.

Wow! If he is going to sleep on his own and sleeping for 4-5 hours stretches he is a blessing. A 9 week old still need to feed every 4 hours especially breastfeed babies. If your friends babies are sleeping longer at night it maybe that their babies are on formula. Remember that bf babies and formula ones differ. Breast milk is digested easier and does not sit in the digestive system as long as FORMULA. I personally think the crying it out at this age is way too young. He needs to eat every 3-4 hours. I used the cry out method on both mine but they were older.having an older child makes it hardto nap when the baby does so just remember that this too will pass. Before you know it you will be sleeping again. You have a blessing and i hope you emjoy you new baby.

This is 100% normal... sometimes children won't sleep through the night until they are 3-6 months old and some children (like a friend of mine's child) still wakes up sometimes in the middle of the night and she is 2.
I wouldn't be concerned with it at all. All children are different, you can't compare your child's sleep patterns with another child's it will only drive you crazy. My twin boys didn't start sleeping through the night until they were about 3 months old then around 16-18 months they would wake up in the middle of the night just so I could hand them their paci's so we broke them of that habit and at 18 months they didn't have paci's anymore. Sorry ran off on another subject. As long as your baby is healthy and happy I wouldn't be concerned. Hope this helps.

B.,
I'd say he is doing just fine if he is sleeping 4-5 hours a night. You shouldn't be worried. Even though your friends or people you know have babies that sleep longer through the night than your son, doesn't mean that there is anything wrong. This is him adjusting. Be patient and you'll find he's doing it his way! So he's normal, healthy and happy right? What more could you ask for? except for a little more sleep for yourself, right?

Hi B.
I echo everyone's responses...how great that he is sleeping 4-5 hours in a sleeping stretch! We struggled (and still do) with sleep. My son was probably 6-7 months old before he slept that much at a time. I would say you guys are doing great. Every child is dfferent and hopefully he will be sleeping even more soon!

Take care
L.

Hi B.,

I think you're doing great at 4-5 hours at a stretch! Remember while there are probably babies who sleep longer, there are many babies sleeping much less at a stretch at this age. We would've been ecstatic if our little one slept that long at 9 weeks.

If you find he's waking to nurse, and you can learn to lie on your side and nurse, that will let you both sleep & nurse simultaneously. It took me a few weeks to get comfortable but once we did, it helped a lot.

It is natural and every child is different. on the possitive side in a few months once he starts solids he will probably settle into sleeping longer at night. i went thru this same thing with my oldest and it wasn't until she started regular lactose free formula that her sleep schedule got longer and she started sleeping 6 hrs a night before feedings. if your friends children at that age are sleeping 7-9 hrs a night they are truly blessed all 3 of mine ate at night every 6 hrs.

Hello B..

One thing that used to work for me was a good warm bath. I used the Johnson and Johnson sleepy time bath, shampoo, and lotion. I would sit the lotion in some nice warm water (just to warm a little) while I gave the baby a bath. When I was done they were just about sleep. Massage, yes massage, his little body parts with the warm lotion and watch him drift off to sleep. Now please be advized that it may differ from child to child, but it seemed to work on all of my children. They were all breastfed babies. It didn't work every day, but isn't a day or two better than none? It's great that he sleeps for 4-5 hours at a time and he will need to eat more often than formula fed babies, but from time to time you need to recoup.

B.,
Sounds like you're off to a great start... and remember, 9 weeks is a bit early for sleeping through the night, although my daughter started to at 10 weeks and I breastfed exclusively too. I totally recommend reading "On Becoming Babywise" just to reinforce what you're already doing!

Every baby is different, it sounds like your little cherub is well on his way to sleeping through the night.

Good luck and trust yourself!
K.