Can a 5 week old STTN w/o sleep training?

[HeliMom]

I was in the car with my MIL and we were talking about DD's sleeping habits. She bragged that all three of her boys STTN at 5 weeks with out any sleep training.

That's just nuts right? A case of selective memory? I mean all her boys were cloth diapered and 2 out of 3 were breastfed so I can't even imagine how that would work. Although on the other hand I am insanely jealous of DH 's ability to fall asleep anywhere doing anything at the drop of a hat. Maybe they are all just super sleepers?

ETA: Overwhelming response that it's possible. I guess my MIL issues had me jaded. Oh how i wish I could sleep for a 5+ hour block.

[Ruthla]

My DS slept through the night (6+ hours) at 5 weeks old. He continued doing that until he was about 8 weeks old (and I'd returned to work.) My daughters never did. Actually, I'm not sure if DD2 slept through or not, as I didn't have a clock facing the bed and I had 2 babies waking me to nurse- it's entirely possible that DD2 slept more than 5 hours at a stretch sometimes and I simply didn't notice.

[eclipse]

My DD slept through (what I consider sleeping through, which is more than 6 hours! I count 8, myself!) at 5 weeks without sleep training. If you go by the 6 hour definition, she pretty much always did. My boys, however, did not.

My mom says my brother, sister, and I all slept through from a very young age, and she didn't believe in sleep training either. We were all formula fed, though, and that does sometimes make a difference.

[happysmileylady]

Sure! My dd2 started sleeping a 5 to 6 hr stretch when she was 4 wks old, exclusively BF. She slowly worked up from there, until she was about 4 months old, maybe 5 months, and going a 10 to 12 hr stretch.

My first one was the exact opposite. She wasn't a good sleeper until she was in school, with or without sleep training, I tried both!

[mamazee]

My younger one did, but it seems like it would be either really good luck or selective memory (or maybe both LOL) for three out of three kids to sleep like that.

[fruitfulmomma]

Define STTN. Do you mean 8 hours of totally uninterrupted sleep? (I think the medical definition is 5 hours.)

When people ask me if the kids are STTN I have no problem saying yes because I don't think that 1-2 minutes of awake time every 3-4 hours throughout the night is a big deal. We bedshare and I can nurse in my sleep, so yes, from about 4-6 weeks onward they've gotten used to the routine and I am not up changing diapers. They shuffle around a bit, I stick a boob in their mouth, and they go back to sleep. Neither one of us is up.

[Ceinwen]

My second dd started sttn at 4 weeks old - then I discovered (via my midwife) that she'd lost over a pound of weight and was starving. I wasn't making as much milk as I thought, and she was sleeping as a measure of self preservation.

Very scary.

[pinky]

I think it's possible. My older dd did. Of course, she started nightwaking like crazy again when she was 6 months old.

BUT

I sometimes think that when parents say STTN, they mean that they (the parents) are sleeping through the night. Whether the baby in a crib in the next room is STTN is a whole other matter.

[HappyMommy2]

Mine did!

[HeliMom]

Her definition was she'd feed the boys at 11pm and they'd sleep in their cribs until morning.

Oh man I really am jealous now. Haha!
My DD is 15mo and wakes me up 1-2x a night for the potty and 3x for nursing between 8pm and 7am. We co-sleep so the feeding nursing barely wakes her and the potty trips she's half-asleep as she goes. I have terrible sleep habits however so I can't fall right back asleep. I haven't had had uninterrupted sleep in a very long time. I just thought that was part of the deal.

[rightkindofme]

Given that the definition is 5 hours, mine did.

[Strong Mama]

Yes, both my boys slept 6 hours + at 4 weeks old.....i was just lucky, i guess.

[triscuitsmom]

My second did... in fact he did it right from birth almost.

Unfortunately it meant that he was falling into a deep enough sleep he would stop breathing and not start again until someone stimulated him. It continued until past his first birthday with lots of tests, drugs, and doctor and hospital visits to try and determine cause and a lot of stress and worry for us.

It reaffirmed for me that it is absolutely biologically appropriate for human infants to wake through the night most of the time. I didn't do anything to try and make him sleep through the night but it's left me actually hoping that my baby due any day doesn't... we weren't sleeping anyway, we were constantly checking to make sure he was still alive

[mama_ani]

Three of my five children started sleeping through the night at 3 weeks. 10-12 hours a night, it was glorious. At five months they stopped STTN and didn't again until close to age 3.

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

My DD was sleeping 6+ hours at 4 weeks old, and since then has kept that and only getting up to nurse briefly a few times a night. We've never ever done anything like sleep training.

It helps to adjust your definition of STTN. With co-sleeping and breastfeeding, if DD wakes up I roll over and nurse her. We're both awake less than 3 minutes, usually more like 30 seconds. I'm sleeping better now than I did pre-pregnancy!

[frugalmama]

My DD STTN from birth - but she never napped which more than made up for sleeping for 8+ hours nightly. She did however nurse in her sleep with encouragement from me since we co-slept. Mama was not comfy after 4 hours of no nursing! She also is a very deep sleeper as well, and tended to sleep crawl which has turned into sleep walking.


So yes it can be, but I don't think it's that common.

[kalamos23]

Well, I'll be the no vote - DD has never slept through the night (5+ hours straight) and she is 2 yo... we do cosleep and I EBF until 11mo (well, she had tastes of food, but nothing worth mentioning until 11mo). She is still nursing.

[tallulahma]

Originally Posted by fruitfulmomma

Define STTN. Do you mean 8 hours of totally uninterrupted sleep? (I think the medical definition is 5 hours.)

When people ask me if the kids are STTN I have no problem saying yes because I don't think that 1-2 minutes of awake time every 3-4 hours throughout the night is a big deal. We bedshare and I can nurse in my sleep, so yes, from about 4-6 weeks onward they've gotten used to the routine and I am not up changing diapers. They shuffle around a bit, I stick a boob in their mouth, and they go back to sleep. Neither one of us is up.

This exactly!

Except for when teething or sickness hit.

[momoftworedheads]

How big were her babies? My oldest son was 9 lbs 2 oz at birth and 13.5 lbs at 6 weeks. He slept through the night then.

Your MIL may have selective memory too. My Mom likes to tell everyone that my siblings and I were all potty trained before we were 2, however I can remember my younger brother and sister wearing diapers until they were almost 3.

[hollytheteacher]

Mine did!!! He ALWAYS slept! I had to wake him up to nurse him sometimes because my milk was so full and he would just sleep and sleep. That all changed as he started teething and becoming mobile, but as a newborn sure! He was only awake long enough to nurse during the day, then he'd smile, poop, and go to sleep lol,