What Baby Wise says about Sleeping Through The Night

Read this one first.
Here is what Babywise says about sleeping through the night:
Of breast-fed girls, 86.9% were sleeping through the night between 7 and 9 weeks and 97% were sleeping through the night by 12 weeks. (Sleeping through the night in Baby Wise terms is 7-8 hours.)...
Of breast-fed boys, 76.8% were sleeping through the night between 7 and 9 weeks and 96% were sleeping through the night by 12 weeks.
In addition, 80 percent of babies in our survey began sleeping through the night on their own - without any further parental guidance apart from routine feedings. It just happened. Some periods of night crying were experienced by the remaining 20 percent of children. Most of this took place over a three-day period and the crying bouts averaged between five and thirty-five minutes in the middle of the night. On average it took three to five days for a nine-week-old to break the old patterns of sleep and establish new ones."

When I read things in Baby Wise I tend to go through the stages of grief:
1. Shock and Denial- there is no way that is true! They must be drugging those babies! They didn't have a baby like mine in their study.
2. Pain and Guilt- I guess I must be doing something wrong since my babies aren't following their statistics.
3. Anger and Bargaining- If I didn't already have a child, or if my baby was an Angel baby, I wouldn't be having any problems (both not true). If I had a bigger house, she would be sleeping through the night already because I wouldn't have to hear her as much!
4. Depression- She's never going to sleep through the night.
5. Acceptance- Wait. These statistics show it's possible. We can do it! Some crying now mean more sleep later. I have to try!

I think it's important to recognize what is in the realm of possibility but also not to get too down on yourself for perceived failure. Some Moms are just not able to work on sleeping through the night because of where they're at. It is often easier to get up and feed than to listen to crying. In that case, the immediate needs of the Mom or family outweigh the longer term goal of the baby sleeping through the night. That's okay! Every family has the right to make decisions that are the best for them. However, I hope that this posting and others on this blog are helpful for those who do decide the long term goal of sleeping through the night is a priority now.