“Have you heard of these mystical babies that sleep 7-7 or “through the night?”
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There is no standard definition for “sleeping through the night” because truly NO ONE sleeps all night without waking. We all lightly rouse between sleep cycles, we just eventually get better at falling back to sleep unassisted. We might adjust the blankets, roll over, get up to pee or get a drink, check the clock, etc, but then we fall back asleep without needing help from our parents. Babies don’t have this option- they can’t tell us if they are too cold or hot, or in pain, or if they are thirsty or hungry, or if they just need some reassurance that we’re still close by. So they might rouse and start crying, looking for us to help them get back to sleep. This is NORMAL infant behavior, especially in the first year and especially for babies who are breastfed.
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Consolidation of sleep, or the linking of more than one sleep cycle, is developmental and totally dependent on each baby’s unique time table. By 3 months, about 70% of babies are consolidating sleep (either day or night) but by 4 months (hello progression!) about half revert back at some point (Sweet Sleep).
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“Sleeping through the night” is generally defined by researchers as ANY 5+ hour stretch during the night. If you’re breastsleeping and your baby lightly rouses, feeds, and goes right back to sleep, this is also considered to be sleeping through the night.
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So how many babies out there are sleeping through based on these definitions? Comment below!
Post by @heysleepybaby
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