Wonder of Wonders, Miracle of Miracles...

Isn't that how the song goes?

I have spent my entire mothering career desperately asking other mothers 'So, when did he start sleeping through the night?' Occasionally I would get an answer that cheered me up, like 'not till he was eighteen months old!' but the one answer that burned me every time I heard it was 'oh, around 12 weeks or so.' Quite frankly, I never, ever believed that babies sleep through the night at 12 weeks and I thought these other mothers must be cruel, unnatural beings who were letting their tiny helpless babies cry for far too long...

This theory has been borne out by all of my children, all of whom have required sleep training to be able to sleep through the night. When Adam was a baby and we lived in the apartments we once had a 2am visit from a security guard to let us know that our baby was crying... like we hadn't figured it out yet and like I hadn't actually been pacing the halls with him for the last three hours. Slept through the night at 9 months.

Then came Ellie, the baby who would go to bed exactly once per night, but would wake up to be fed three or four times a night. You can do the math. Once she was up that first time she would never be put back down in bed, and so I spent six months sleeping upright in a chair holding her. Slept through the night at 9 months.

Then came Kate. We started sleep training her at six months because I was desperate. The first night was a nightmare. I can't actually say how many hours it took her to fall asleep, because then I would probably be accused of child cruelty. It was less than eight. But more than six. Slept through the night at eight months, and I thought that was huge progress!

And then came Nicholas. We are on day five of sleeping through the night, all by himself, no interventions or sleep training required, at 13 weeks old.

I am starting to believe that such wonder babies might actually exist...



... and that he might be one of them.