How long before your BF babies slept 12 hours?

My boys go to bed around 6:30pm and have always gotten up once at night to nurse and then go right back to sleep and wake up for the day at about 6:30 or 7am. The time when they wake up to nurse has gradually gotten later and later and now that they are just about a year old (next week!) they are getting up at 5:00 to 5:30 am. I nurse them and then put them back in their beds and go back to bed myself. Unfortunately they aren't always going back to sleep (though they are happy to hang out in their cribs)...I'm thinking it is because it's spring and the mornings are lighter and the birds are chirping. They do need the extra sleep they get when they wake up around 7am since they are crabby pants when they stay up. I kept expecting that eventually they wouldn't need to get up to nurse at all, but that hasn't happened yet. I will admit I'm getting a little tired of it, but they definitely eat a ton...it's probably the biggest feed of the day, so I'm not sure we could successfully end it at this point. I'm wondering if I should just be patient, or if there is a way that I could gently end the early morning nursing.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

Is there anyway you could hold them off and feed them closer to 7-7:30 at night? That way the might sleep till about 6-6:30. As for when my kids started sleeping 12 hrs, Donevan my oldest was 3 weeks and sleeping 7 hrs at night, and by 4 months was sleeping 12 hrs. For the twins, Nathaniel was 4 weeks and sleeping 6-7 hrs and at 7 months sleeping 12 hrs, William was sleeping 6-7 hrs by 9 weeks and 12 hrs by 9 months.

 

We feed them right before bed at about 6:15, one guy gets a 6 oz bottle and the other nurses both sides. They alternate who gets the bottle and who gets the breast every night.

 

My twins aren't 12 months, only about 7 months and they still eat 2 times a night. Yes, it gets tiring, however, they truly are hungry and should be fed and I would think the same about your twins too especially if it is one of the biggest feedings they are have. It doesn't seem like they are just snacking. Going 12 hours is a really long time to go without nourishment so they probably are really hungry. I would say be patient and help give them what their bodies need. It is hard when sleep sounds so good! My daughter always wakes up about 5 a.m. to eat and doesn't always go back to sleep, but I do let her play in her crib as she doesn't seem to mind. I just put her down for an earlier nap.

 

My girls were not BF'd but they had the same sleep pattern. I don't know if you have any other children, but my girls were my first. So I'd feed them at 5:30 am and then we all went down for a nap at 7 am.

My son is just starting to go 10 - 12 hours. He started sporadically about a month ago, but so far this week every night he has gone from 7 pm til 5 am. When I feed him at 5 the lights are off so he's gone right back to sleep and so have I.

If your twins are like my girls then I'd try to do the early morning nap! My girls started sleeping later on their own the 2nd year.

 

I don't remember my DD sleeping that long until about a year. I just wanted to pop in here to say thank you for posting this! Mine are 3 weeks old and I was wondering if they would ever sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time!

 

I don't remember when they were specifically sleeping 12 hours...but sleeping through what I consider the night...7-8 straight hours...they were 5 months.

 

My twins didn't sleep straight through until around 15 months. my singleton doesn't sleep straight through yet either.

 

We did a dream feed at 10 PM until they were 9 months old. With the dream feed they slept from 7 P-7 A by 8 months old. Once we dropped the dream feed, they slept through. If they tried to get up before 6:30 am we would turn the mobiles back on, give pacis back bit not get them up. They quickly learned that 5:30 was not necessary and they could wait one more hour for a feed. As long as your boys are good weights, they should be able to make it 12 hours, but early waking can be habitual.

 

My girls ( breastfed) slept through the night when I weaned them at 28 months old

Disclaimer: none of my kids have ever been good sleepers whether breast or bottle fed so my experience is really worthless lol!!

 

Mine slept through 12-13 hours a night (usually going down at 6-7 p.m. and waking between 6 and 7:30 a.m.) just before they were six months old. I made an effort though to get them to grow out of their last night time feeding. My son was easy as I was also taking away his paci (got tired of replacing it every time he lost it at night) and when he found his thumb to suck he suddenly slept all night long! My daughter took a few times of letting her cry it out for a bit, although it was maybe 30 mins or so of crying at a time if I remember correctly.

Since yours are already doing quite well, have you tried just letting them be awake or fuss in their beds for a while instead of nursing them so early? Even if you just try to move the feeding time back maybe 15 mins every few days then eventually they'll adjust and sleep later? Or you could just let them fuss through til 6:30 or 7 and get it over with? I still to this day don't nurse before 7 unless they are sick or something else is up with them. My daughter will often wake before 7, but I don't go to her until it's 7 o'clock.

 

yeah, that's a habit! ugh!! I'd offer a bottle/sippy of water or paci instead. they won't like it and hopefully within a few days will sleep... (note bottles/soft spouted sippies are a bit messy in a crib since they leak when the nipple is touched... so see what hard spouted ones you can find... or just hope that the habit is broken soon).

they might be teething too, teething was hell! I hated every minute...

as for when sttn. mine were 8 hrs at 8 wks, and then by 3 mo, I believe it was 12 hrs a night... BUT at 6 mo when those dang teeth came in it was up 1x or more a night for a few months. I remember being very tired of it all near a year, and did the water trick. it was cranky time again near 15 mo. for us when more big teeth came in.

so sorry!

 

When you say they were sleeping those lengths, do you mean with out waking at all for a paci or anything? My twins will sleep from 8:30-4am but often wake for a paci.