My pediatrician wants my twins to sleep through the night at 2 months.

by Stelian
(New York City)

Question: Is it normal to have two twins sleep through the night at only 2 months? While our girl can probably do it, our little boy can barely stay without food beyond 4 hours of sleep. Is it too early for such a seemingly "forced" pattern?

Thank you.

Stelian

Heidi's Answer: Dear Stelian,

Not everyone has the same amount of hours in mind when defining 'baby sleeping through the night' but I guess you are talking about a 5-7 hour night.

There are indeed babies who do this at 2 months old. They are not extremely rare, but they are clearly a minority.

Feeding every 4 hours is more like a typical 2 month old baby.

This said, it is OK for a two month old baby to sleep for longer IF she feeds enough (enough wet diapers and normal weight gain) outside of those sleep-through hours, is fully healthy and grows and develops normally.

But it is NOT OK to force this on a 2 month old. If he is asking for a feed every 4 hours, at this age, you can be quite sure that he needs it. Stretching too long before feeding again, or over-feeding hoping for a longer sleep stretch is then unhealthy.

Besides the feeding, (newborn) sleep patterns are best left to develop naturally - with gentle guidance - to help develop the best sleep habits towards childhood (and for the rest of their lives).

So to be honest, it is quite surprising to have your pediatrician suggest this. It may be a good idea to discuss it further with him/her and ask for the specific reasons behind his advice?

To prepare for later on - i.e. set the right stage for sleeping through nights as soon as they are able to - you may find my book No-Tears Sleeping Through the Night helpful.

Wishing you all the very best with your twins!
Kindly,
Heidi