Some babies consistently sleep for longer stretches by 3 or 4 months, and many will sleep through the night by 6 months. Others won't until they're older.
Here's how: Reduce the time your child feeds by 2-5 minutes every second night. For example, if your child usually feeds for 10 minutes, feed for 8 minutes for 2 nights, then 6 minutes for the next 2 nights, and so on. Re-settle your child after each shortened feed with the settling techniques of your choice.
Most babies don't start sleeping through the night (6 to 8 hours) without waking until they are about 3 months old, or until they weigh 12 to 13 pounds. About two-thirds of babies are able to sleep through the night on a regular basis by age 6 months.
Many babies continue to breastfeed to sleep until they are two years old and even later. Slowly they seem to need it less and less until they fall asleep lying next to you or you just put them to bed one night without that last breastfeed.
Most infants will be able to sleep through the night with one or two feeds by the time they are 6 months old. However, every infant is different and will have their own pattern of sleeping. These sleeping habits will change as they grow and develop.
Once the feeding is complete, you keep your baby awake until it's time to sleep. That could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on your kiddo's age. Then when it's time to put them down for a nap, they fall asleep in any way that does NOT involve feeding.
There are several ways of re-settling baby. Hands-on settling is one option where you comfort your baby with gentle 'ssshh' sounds, gentle rhythmic patting, rocking or stroking until baby is calm or asleep.
To help your baby sleep until 7am, it's essential to develop a calming and predictable bedtime routine, such as bathing, reading a story, or singing a lullaby. This routine will signal to your baby that it's time to sleep and make the transition to bedtime more comfortable.
Use the “core night method” – once your child is capable of sleeping for a certain length of time through the night e.g. 10:30pm to 3:00am, and does so for three to seven nights consecutively, you no longer need to feed him/her during this span of time.
Bedtime should be no later than 7:00-8:00pm. If you are finding that baby starts to wake frequently at night or earlier in the morning than usual, try scaling back bedtime even more, possibly to even 2.5-3 hours after the last nap ends. This is a normal pattern as we get closer to dropping the second nap.
Usually, this involves getting your partner involved. For instance, they can take some of those night feedings, or bring the baby to you if you are breastfeeding. You also can consider having extended family or a postpartum doula/baby nurse come over regularly so you can catch up on sleep.
Although newborns generally sleep 16-18 hours each day, unusual sleepiness may be an indication that your baby is underfed. If you're having trouble waking your baby to eat or keeping your baby awake at the breast, try applying a cool, damp cloth to your baby's forehead and face.
The Moro reflex is the cause of your newborn baby to sleep with his arms above his head. This reflex, commonly referred to as the “startle reflex”, disappears by 6 months of age.
As a rule of thumb, a truly hungry baby will rarely choose sleeping over eating. So, if your baby falls asleep in your arms without taking a full feeding, it's likely he was tired — not hungry.
The average adult sleep cycle lasts between 90 and 120 minutes (with 20 to 25 percent in REM). In contrast, your infant's sleep cycle lasts only 50 minutes (with 50 percent in REM) until they're six months old. These shorter cycles and frequent REM phases are what causes restlessness in your baby.
This is because their timing systems for the 24-hour day are not yet fully formed at birth, and they won't function consistently until a baby is about two to six months old. So the short answer to the question is this: babies don't sleep through the night because they can't.
They Need a Better Nap Routine
If they don't have a consistent nap schedule and they're sleeping too much, they may not be tired enough to sleep through the night. On the contrary, if they're not sleeping enough during the day, they may be overtired at night.