Who Gets up at Night?

We co-slept. For the first 2 weeks while I was healing from the birth, he would get up to change the babies before their feedings and then hand them off to me. After that, it was all me all the time, until it was time to nightwean, then he took over for a couple of nights and I got to sleep on the couch (blissfully alone!) while they worked that out. The kids co-slept with us until they were about 3yo, then moved into their own rooms when they rarely needed us at night (my daughter's former nighttime issues notwithstanding).

I can't imagine having to get up and go into another room to get a baby to feed them, and then have to put them back down in that room and walk away. In the middle of the night. More than once. For like a year? No way. That's just a recipe for crazy, at least for us. They cried, I rolled over, everyone slept well.

We formula fed. DH handled all night time duties before 2 am, I handled all after 2 am. That was just because I was completely non-functional if awakened soon after falling asleep and he could never fall back asleep if awakened closer to morning. We both work outside the home. If I had BF, I would have pumped and we would have done the same thing.

We also co-slept. Baby's already right there. Just role over, latch on and go back to sleep. (and wake up later and cover up boob).

Obviously I changed diapers as needed, but not unless it was poopy and not after the first couple of months.

As a breastfeeding SAHM I was the one feeding and changing at night. BUT, I always brought the baby to bed with us after the first feeding, so even though my husband never had to "get up" he also never got perfect sleep.
No way could I get up and down all night and function during the day. No WAY.
I will say those days of waking up next to a happy, fat, snuggly, warm baby between us were some of the happiest moments in our lives. Truly.

We just had our second on Sunday. While I'm on maternity leave I'll get up with him on weeknights while the hubs sleeps and he'll do weekends. (We formula feed.) When I go back to work it will probably be whoever hears the baby cry. Usually hubs, because I'm a hard sleeper. Unless he's not sleeping through the night yet, then we'll come up with a new plan. Hopefully he's as good a sleeper as big sister was.

I was a stay at home when my kids were young so I always got up. Thankfully they almost never got up at night. All four of them slept at least seven hours every night from when they were born. If it had been different we may have had to change things up a bit.

Since I was a stay at home it seemed only fair that I be the one to get up at night. but, I kept the babies close while they were still night feeding before moving them to a crib at around 3 months after they were consistently sleeping through the night. I co-slept during that time with my oldest because he did not like the bassinet, but my youngest used the bassinet which I preferred. My husband would then usually let me sleep in on Saturday.

For us, it depended on who needed more sleep that night. Usually, hubby got to sleep and I would get up, because he had to go to work in the morning. He drives heavy equipment as part of his job, so going in overly sleep-deprived was NOT an option. Though he was really good about getting up with our daughter if she was up too much, or if I had had a stressful day. When I went back to work, he would get up with her about half the time. (I had a very hard delivery, and wasn't medically cleared to go to work for almost 4 months.) By then she was sleeping better, and only waking up two to three times a night.)

We also did a combination of co-sleeping and bouncer sleeping (she had reflux, and a lot of the time would only sleep if she was inclined in the bounce seat.), so that made things a LOT easier on both of us. Hubby or I could get up to change her, then let her nurse back to sleep while I dozed. I am such a light sleeper that I could nurse her while dozing, and be perfectly aware and able to burp her, and then either position her safely for sleeping or move her to her seat.

Both our kids were foster to adopt and came from fairly significant neglect with no consistent caregiver. They are both fully adopted now. With the first ... He came at 5 weeks and we traded off, but he slept in his crib in our room for probably 6 months.

Our second, was 3 months when she came to us. Her neglect happened primarily at night, so she had already learned crying didn't get her needs met, so she stopped crying. But, she still needed us, so she would only whimper ... Very softly. I sleep like a rock and still don't hear her, so my husband gets up with her at night. If she wakes before I fall asleep, I handle it.

Our oldest finally comes in on his own in the middle of the night, so no more waking a for him ... Youngest still awakens 1-3 times a night and needs soothing. She has very little in the way of self-soothing skills, due in large part to the neglect. CIO is not an option for us ...

With my first, I got up for all middle of the night feedings and my husband stayed up and gave the last late night bottle (e.g. 11 pm or so) while I went to bed by 9. We realized my husband did not do well with interrupted sleep and that I tended to wake up even if my husband was the one who was "on duty" so this arrangement worked for us. I was still pretty tired, but at least I was able to get a stretch of sMy second I exclusively breastfed so I did all the feedings and getting up.

My kids are older now, but usually they wake me up if they need something at night.

First two babies we both worked. I went to bed early with the baby (around 8 pm). DH would deal with all the waking up until 2am. Then from 2am to 8 am, I'd deal with the waking. We found we could both function well if we got a solid 6 hour block of sleep.

With the last two, I didn't need as much sleep anymore plus I no longer worked. Therefore, I got up with all the feedings. But, the last two were easy and were sleeping through the night by 7 weeks old. Not to mention when they did wake up early on, it only took 15 minutes max to change, feed, and get back to bed.

With our first, we were both working full time. We used formula with her, so we traded off nights. With the second and third, I stayed home full time so the weeknights were all on me. He would get up on Friday and Saturday nights to give me a break which I greatly appreciated.

I have 5 children. I'm a single mom now and have been divorced since my youngest was about a month old(She's 5). Even when I was still with my ex, he never got up with our children. Not once. It was all me. I live with my SO, and he has his own children too. If any of them wake through the night they automatically come to me.

I've been a SAHM for nearly 5 years, and I've been the one to get up with the babies during that whole time. Now and again my husband will get up and hold the baby or change his diaper while I run down to prep a bottle (I don't BF), but other than that, it's me. He's gotta be at the top of his game every day, but I can let things slide if I'm too tired to do them.

When I was on maternity leave, I did the getting up. When I returned to work and formula fed, my husband got up most times. I have really hard time getting back to sleep at night once woken up and am a very light sleeper. My husband can fall back asleep instantly and was never bothered with getting up. I also found we both slept better when they were in their own room. We just weren't big on cosleeping. We bought a house so that the bedrooms were in close proximity of each other. We also never used a monitor at night since we could hear the baby from our room. Worked well for us.

Because I nursed, and my husband wouldn't hear a crying baby in his sleep even if the kid was screaming in his ear, I did all of the night wakings until they slept through the night, which was between 18 months and 2+ years. We both work full time. I co-slept with the babies until they were around a year old and then moved them to a crib in their room but mine still got up once or twice a night after their first birthdays.

It was a long few years.

I got up, each and every time. I didn't mind and I didn't do much else but tend to the baby. So I got up fed and changed the baby then went back to bed. Dad was on big sister duty. We learned with her that Daddy has a weak stomach for the miracle that is baby stench. I also had my father and brother with me for a month after my son's birth and my mother for the first two weeks. They helped keep the house in order for me while I rested and recovered.

I sleep in if and when my baby does on the weekends. I do get to nap when he does so that makes up for being "on-call" all the time. :)

When my boys were infants they were breast fed, so I got up with them at night. My boys didn't wake up at night past infancy, except for the occasional upset stomach. In that case we would both get up, one to comfort the sick kid and the other to clean up the mess.

I stayed home, I got up. Everyone slept in their own room in their own crib, the day they came home. Always heard them when they cried. Worked well in this house. I could have never slept with them in room making little noises, grunting, etc.

I have 2 kids.
With each one, I am the one that gets up.

It doesn't matter how/what/when/if the kids wake/where they sleep pr not/regardless of who works or not or who is home or not, for whatever reason or if they are sick/no matter how old they are.
I am the one that gets up.
And when my kids were babies I was breastfeeding.