Did You Have a Breastfeed Baby That Truly Slept Through the Night?

Baby's wake up all the time through the night. It's a rumor they sleep through the night...lol. They get hungry, want attention, grow, etc...and they wake up.

3 BF babies who never slept through the night consistently. Maybe here or there but not for long stretches. There were changes at 4 months, 6 months and 8 months with sleeping.

I think the Baby Whisperer has some good advice, but her breastfeeding advice is not good. Breastfeeding is not meant to be on a schedule, it is meant to be on demand.
My (now) seven month old started waking up more around four months. I think it was a growth spurt. I nursed her when nothing else soothed her, and now at 7 months she is sleeping 11-12 hours straight at night. I nuse her often, on demand, during the day. I did the same with my oldest.
Good luck!

Your baby is probably growing. Feed her.

How do you know she's not hungry? I've never heard of a breastfed baby sleeping through the night at this age. They digest breastmilk so quickly that yes, they are waking up hungry, especially when they go through growth spurts.

I don't know who the "baby whisperer" is but mine were truly fed on demand which meant they naturally ate more, and more often, when they were growing (which of course happens in unpredictable spurts) and less often in between.
Why would you assume she isn't hungry after 4 hours? That's a LONG time for a BF baby. None of mine went that long between feedings until at LEAST 12 months, when they started eating solids.
Yes, I was miserable and exhausted but it passed, like many other phases do. Now I get to stay awake and wait for teenagers to get home safely.
Honestly, do we EVER get a break?! Not really, that's why I only had three, even though I thought I wanted more!

You are probably expecting a little too much from her at 4 months. My 8 month old still wakes at night to nurse at least twice every night. Now, could I have pushed harder to train him? Probably. I have varying degrees of good and bad sleepers, but nobody was doing a good job consistently until about 6 months old. If you have already pushed her to every 4 hours nursing during the day, then she is truly most assuredly hungry at night. You are probably going to have to give a little on something: either nurse her more often during the day, or expect her to need to nurse at night.
Also, please remember that for babies, nursing is their everything. It reduces the pain of teething, it calms them when they are upset, it warms them when they are chilly (being cuddled in your arms), it reminds them you aren't gone. It gives them the touch from you that they crave. It is SO much more than just nutrition. You have to give her what she wants so she's independent enough not to need it later.
Good luck!

Remember that "sleeping through the night" is really more like 5 hours than 8.

I personally nursed on demand because babies don't get the memo or the instruction book. Maybe she needs more at night, just because. I bet I was nursing through the night with DD at that age, because, frankly, she needed it. Breastmilk is digested faster than formula. My DD is 4 and sleeps in her own bed. Comforting your child in the night is not a permanent thing. Four months is barely into infancy, and gearing up for a 6 mo. growth spurt. And teething may also be involved. If you absolutely must get more sleep then consider pumping a bottle before you go to bed and then having someone else give it to her.

My breastfed baby did sleep through the night early on - 6 weeks (and by sleep through the night, I mean went to bed before me and woke up after 6:30am). However, they will go through growth spurts, especially around this time and again around 6 months, where they just need more to eat. How do you know baby isn't hungry? Could definitely be a growth spurt. I always jut fed on demand and never followed any kind of schedule.

I nursed my daughter twice a night (usually midnight and 5:00 a.m.) from day one until she was a year old. Then she slept through one feeding, then the other, and quit needing those feedings on her own by 13 months. I never considered not feeding her when she woke up.

Most babies go through a growth spurt at about this time, so I bet she IS hungry when she wakes up.

During the first 6 months at least, the only thing you can count on with absolute certainty is that as soon as you have a routine down, baby will change it. They are constantly growing and constantly changing. Enjoy the periods where you have a great routine down and baby is still a willing participant. But recognize that something in baby will grow/change/develop and completely toss your routine out the window.

While you've gotten some great tips from your book, you have to keep in mind that these are general guidelines that work fairly well for most babies. These are not absolutes, because your daughter is unique. She has her own set of needs, and they may not align 100% with the book. Remember the guidelines and suggestions, but when your daughter doesn't respond perfectly, it's time to make some adjustments.

Both my kids were nursed to sleep, and they were never snackers (after the first month). I fed on demand, always.

My rule was always, when baby wakes in the middle of the night, 95% of the time it's because baby is hungry.

In my opinion, baby gonna do what baby gonna do. I found that I would need to go to sleep immediately upon nursing my son to sleep. Sleep patterns change all the time depending on growth, awareness, teething, ect. Just do what's in your heart. You are lucky she is such a good sleeper.

I am guessing she really is hungry at night, even if she started out sleeping longer stretches at night before. Sucking on her hand is more often a sign of hunger.
I had one of three that started out as a long sleeper. But it would come in waves. She'd always pick up her night nursing any time she was going through growth spurts, meeting milestones, teething, we had a super busy and therefore stimulated day, she spent less time with me that day etc and so on.
All 3 of mine could nap on the go. We never had an infant car seat so we had to take them in and out of the seat each place we went and then put them in the stroller, sling or arms. My second was so used to being on the go that it was easier to put him in the sling and walk around to get him to sleep when we were out then put him in the stroller once he woke up to stretch out.

J.:

My daughter was formula fed. She was sleeping the night through at 8 weeks.

My oldest son was sleeping the night through at 6 weeks. He only woke up if he was sick or needed a really bad diaper change! :) He may have woken up when he was teething - but he was mostly fussy during the day and slept well at night.

My youngest son? didn't sleep the night through until he was 13 months old. it had to do with his ears.

YES!! you can have a good sleeper that naps on the go! I didn't read the baby whisperer. I fed on demand with my last two. I don't believe they were dependent upon me for soothing....

I never scheduled nursing. If the kid is hungry I feed them. All four of my kids slept through the night, 8 to 8, from the day they were born. I never remember anything going strange with their schedules though my girls stopped napping at all by one and a half but I wasn't nursing them at that point.

Sometimes they woke up early but since I always fed them first thing in the morning, okay changed them first, I just fed them and if they fell back to sleep then, whatever. Thing is if you have been sleeping since ten then you *are* hungry at six in the morning so whether you should feed them has nothing to do with whether they fall back to sleep.

Never under estimate the power of teething (pain!) and growth spurts (hunger!) to interrupt sleep...

Actually you don't know she isn't hungry...breast milk is metabolized quickly and going 8-10 hours (overnight) is too long. She also may be thirsty. It's warm, or in winter, it's dry. Don't you ever need a drink of water in the night? You said YOU need her to sleep, but with a 4 month old baby, it should be about her needs. She is too young to be manipulating you, and if you are truly feeding on demand, just nurse her at night. I would put baby in bed with me for a little bit so I could sleep too. Six hours is really good for such a young infant!

Yeah, my babies did this at like three months and then also around 6 six months or so due to teething etc. All three of mine were different, but overall they all slept great, with just a few bumps in the road. I did let mine tummy sleep which worked great for us, but even so, a growth spurt will wake a baby :). My attitude was always if I could give a booby and have a baby pass out, I just fed and moved on! Also some babies are snackers, my oldest breast fed constantly! But he does like to graze even today, he eats all day, and you can't pinch an inch off him, then middle nursed like 4-5 times a day, but longer, and he slept like 18 hrs a day as a newborn! He still likes big meals but doesn't really care about a snack, my last is more on the grazer side. So people differ, those things show up even in babyhood :). Good luck, I know you will figure your little one out!

My 17 week old only breastfed baby sleeps from 7-530 straight. But during the day he eats at leat every 3 hours and I top him off before we go anywhere with the older kids. He also doesn't really nap during the day unless we are out in the car, quiet time in his packs and play- for 20 minutes at a time- or if I can lie down with him at the afternoon nap- he will nap for 3-4 hours. Good luck!

This is where I started giving my boy a pacifier in the middle of the night. I wouldn't give it to him unless he woke up.

He would wake up and I would got to nurse him, thinking he was hungry, but he wouldn't swallow, it would just drip out all over us and he'd be fast asleep. So I started holding him and giving him the pacifier instead of the breast. Usually all he needed was the cuddle.

He's 7 months now, breastfeeding for meals and using the pacifier only as a place holder while I'm mixing up his solids.

All mine were up every 2 hours until 15 months old, to nurse.
So, with a 4 month-old I was up often every hour.

What helps is a lot of white noise, own bedroom, swaddle...a swing always got them back to sleep w/o nursing, too.
But I fed them when they cried, creating a habit. I am not saying I did the right thing. I was up a lot. But, that's what it was.
Good luck!