Answer Me This
May 31, 2007 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under breastfeeding, sleep
How can a child wake up to nurse at 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. yet sleep through a piercingly loud alarm clock buzzer at 8 a.m.? I’m glad she didn’t wake up to my alarm, but still….
The other night she actually slept from 9:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. without needing any settling from me or my husband. Not a peep! While we’ve made a lot of progress in this area, the ways of toddlers and sleep remain largely a mystery to me!
[Edited to add: Just for reference, I thought it would help readers to know that my daughter was two years and five months old when I wrote this.]
Sleep is more sound on a full stomach—-and/or the call of an empty stomach is far stronger than that of alarm buzzer?
LOL my daughter is the same way. It’s amazing how some LOUD sounds they will sleep soundly through and some other quiet sounds, like me trying to sneak away for some alone time, will wake them up right away.
Kristina, I think you’re right! Besides, come to think of it, who wouldn’t rather wake up for some warm milk vs. an alarm
Shelly, my daughter is the same way! I never understood when people talked about vacuuming the house while a child was napping. I certainly couldn’t do that with my first, but my second sleeps right through it!
I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who’s child still needs to nurse a few times per night. I have an alarm on my cell phone (hubby uses the regular alarm clock) and Matthew sleeps right through it each morning, thank goodness!
Rachel, we had night-weaned (with only one nursing “when the sun came up” = anytime after 5 a.m.) but then my daughter got rotavirus followed by a terrible cold. She needed all the nursing she could get! The good news is that now my supply is plentiful again and she’s growing like a weed LOL. I think she will be ready to agree to let the “mum-mums” sleep all night long again soon.
Angela, it’s interesting you say this because Matthew was nearly night-weaned until he got a really bad cold and ear infection at Easter. he never slept through again! I have been trying to look at it like it’s keeping my supply up so I can stay positive about being tired haha. Here’s to both of ours letting us sleep all night soon!