More and more, I am asked the question "Is she sleeping through the night yet?". This seems to be counted as an essential milestone along with cutting the first tooth and learning to crawl. The sooner it happens the better. If I reply that she isn't sleeping through, and in fact, never has, the response is a mixture of sympathy and faint criticism. Surely a child of 9 months should be sleeping through? My sister/brother/Aunty/best friend's second cousin had her baby sleeping through from 2 months/weeks/days. Worst of all is when they try and advise me on what I am doing wrong. "Let her cry for a bit," "Stick to a bedtime routine," "Give her formula,"
I'm very sorry, but no. To all of them.
Although she wakes 3 or 4 times throughout the night, I am rarely aware of it. The disturbance usually lasts only a few seconds without either of us really becoming totally conscious. She is also able to latch on at times without me even noticing. We both wake up with smiles on our faces. If she wants to feed every night until she's 5, that's fine by me. I think it has helped my milk production too. I never wake up feeling too full, and I never feel as if my milk is running low.
Sometimes when I tell people she is still waking in the night I feign frustration, rolling my eyes. I exclaim in wonder when I hear about the sleeping prodigies of other parents, but no longer. I'm going to let them know my baby has never slept through a whole night, and what's more, I'm pretty darn happy about it.
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