Its Normal for Baby to Wake During the Night

Did you know that it is totally normal for babies to wake up during the night? Mostly they wake up because they want to eat, but there are other reasons, too. Babies cry and wake up for a reason. This is how they get their needs met.

I'm not a believer in letting baby "cry it out" for two reasons: 1) they are in the developmental stage of trust vs. mistrust. They need their mom and they need to know that she will be there for them. They are used to always having mom around (i.e. 9 months in the womb) and it is normal and natural for them to cry out for comfort and reassurance. (Dad can comfort baby, too!) In college I studied Reactive Attachment Disorder in children and I can tell you from my own observation that children who consistently do not get their needs met when they cry out, do have problems. There is a wide range of consequences but their are consequences. 2) babies need things. They need their diaper changed. They need to eat when their body tells them they are hungry. They need help staying warm or cooling off when they get too hot. They are helpless and therefore cry out for us to meet their needs.

There are many interesting studies on infant sleep patterns. You can read them HERE. I think a lot of what helps us as parents to cope with the many changes a baby goes through is to know what is normal & what we should expect. No two babies are exactly alike, though. As with most things regarding babies, use these recommendations as a guide, not a rule.

Before 6 weeks old, babies should not be sleeping longer than 4 hours at night. If they do, they should be woken up to eat, if mom is breastfeeding as this would greatly effect mom's milk supply in a negative way. After 6 weeks, its really a toss up. Baby may sleep 6 hours a night. Or maybe wake up every 2 hours to eat. Every baby is different and each baby will begin to sleep through the night when they are developmentally ready.

HERE is a great link with information and suggestions on sleeping through the night. Oh, and just FYI, what you have heard about giving babies cereal at night to help them sleep longer isn't true. Kellymom.com has some great links on this topic.