> Or is this a case of "the average baby doesn't sleep through
>the night until at least 6 weeks" and since this is not average it makes
>people nervous?  I did a search of the archives and could not find this
>addressed.  When is it "safe" to let a baby sleep through the night?


I would say that the average baby doesn't sleep through the night until at
least 3 years -- if by average you mean a baby who is breastfed and
cosleeping and whose parents respond to their cries.  There is nothing
normal about a baby sleeping through the night at 6 weeks.  I would be
worried about this baby.  Babies who sleep through the night at this young
an age are at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  One wonders if the
baby doesn't have an undiagnosed condition such as a heart defect or
perhaps mosaic Down Syndrome or something else that causes babies to sleep
way too much, for too long at a time.  I would suggest that these parents
take the baby into bed with them (assuming it is in a crib now) and set the
alarm to wake them every 3 hours and try to rouse the baby to nurse.  It
may be that the baby is perfectly fine and just way out on one end of
normal variation.  It may be that the baby did this for a few nights and
will never do it again.  Or it may be that there is something the matter
with the baby.  Rather that just say "Oh, this is great, lucky us" I would
be very concerned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Katherine A. Dettwyler, Ph.D.                         email:
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Anthropology Department                               phone: (409) 845-5256
Texas A&M University                                    fax: (409) 845-4070
College Station, TX  77843-4352
http://www.prairienet.org/laleche/dettwyler.html

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