I'll only address one part of  Jan's question - sleeping through the night.

Here's what I tell parents:   This is one of  the most overrated concepts in
parenting.  It's fueled in part, from  people who don't know squat about
babies who are trying to make intelligent conversation.

Think about it.
When you're pregnant people ask "When are you  due?" and "Are you having a
boy or  a girl?"
When you're so pregnant you're uncomfortable  and  feel like you're going to
burst   they ask "When ARE you due?"  "Are you   STILL pregnant?"
When you  have the baby  they can  ask  "What date, time,  how long, what
weight, what's the name?"

And then: The baby is  anywhere  from a week  to a couple months old and
people  have no idea what to ask [after  all babies don't  do much the first
few months -eat -sleep -poop] and since it's not  polite to ask about poop
and  all babies   eat the same thing  (don't they?)    ask "Is baby sleeping
through the  night?"

I tell parents: You'll get asked this question way too early and by people
who want to tell you that THEIR grandchild  slept  thru   the night at   xyz
days  (and  of  course that means their baby is  so much more  ADVANCED).
Such baloney.

"sleeping through  the night is officially 5 and a half  hours  at a
stretch - that's it." [since  a lot of babies are sleeping 5 hours at a time
by  the time the question is brought up at a visit the extra half hour
sounds like what it is - another half hour...]   What matters is that you
feel fairly rested  when you get up in the morning.    If  you're staying up
til 11 so you can wake the baby to feed so maybe she'll sleep 'til 5am,
you're  missing the whole point.   If you're   tired by  9:30pm - go to bed.
The  baby will wake to eat when she needs to.
AND  feeding  your baby cereal/formula etc.,  won't make baby sleep through
the night any sooner.  Some kids do it  early some at 12 pounds, some not
til kindergarten.  If baby  is taking 5  hour naps  during the day, try to
shift those to night time,
but otherwise do what works best  for  you  and your spouse, and   avoid the
early "baby competition'' stuff.  Enjoy your baby.

Gail Hertz, MD, IBCLC

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