What does “sleep through the night” actually mean?
Not surprisingly, this means different things to different people and it strongly depends on the age of the child. Sleeping through the night involves several hours of consolidated sleep. For a 5-year-old this might be 10-12 hours. For a 3-month old preemie, this might mean 3-4 hours because she needs to eat during the night. I recommend viewing any specific numbers to be general guidelines. Better indicators of sleeping well “through the night” are that your child is happy, healthy, and waking for the day on their own when given the opportunity.
