Q: As a new father, I would like to know when should a baby start sleeping through the night? Friends of mine with kids give me answers ranging from "5 months old" to "she still hasn't and she's 4-and-a-half years old"! What's normal?
A: Babies as young as 3 months
can sleep through the night. That doesn't mean yours will, however. According to the US National Sleep Foundation, about 70 per cent of infants are sleeping through the night by 9 months. But the range is broad and even at 1 year old, waking to feed can be perfectly normal.
Also, sleep researchers define "sleeping through the night" a bit differently than you or I might. Their "through the night" means midnight to 5am. Still, for new parents, even five uninterrupted hours can be a blessing.
It's human nature for parents to brag about how special their own kids are, whether it's sleeping through the night, speaking their first words, or potty training. Other parents hear this and wonder whether their kids are behind the curve, or whether as parents they're not doing something they should be. Don't stress. Sleeping through the night has more to do with reaching developmental milestones than anything else. It'll happen when they're ready.
Meanwhile, there are a few myths out there that are worth mentioning. Some parents add rice or other cereals to milk in hopes of stretching the time between night-time feeds. In studies, this has been shown to be ineffective. Even worse, in young infants it can be harmful as it decreases the nutrition the child is getting by replacing milk calories with empty starch calories.
There's also a belief that kids sleep better when there's food "sitting" in the stomach but, in reality, gastric emptying studies have demonstrated that babies' stomachs empty quite promptly: generally within an hour and a half of feeding. It seems that babies wake up and are hungry, but not that they wake up because they're hungry.
Sleep, like co-ordination and speech, has to progress through developmental stages. Sleep-wake cycles can't be rushed, but there are little things you can do to set the stage for good sleep habits. One is putting your baby to bed when she's tired but still awake, so she learns to fall asleep on her own. Another is to establish regular times for feeding, sleeping and playing so your baby develops a routine.
Gary Payinda M.D., works as an emergency physician, and would like to hear your medical questions. Email: drpayinda@gmail.com
(This column provides general information, and is not a substitute for the advice of your doctor.)