do you wake a baby up for a feed?

[hayley]

i'm reading a book my mum got me.. it's called enjoying the first year with your baby... aparently all the stars followed it... just light reading really - not to take literally... it's written by a nanny who has 3 children of her own. The part on feeding says wake your baby up for feeds.. from day one! to help get them into a routine.. the only feed you don't wake the baby up for is the middle of the nite feed.. (6am, 10am, 2pm, 6pm, 10pm, roughly between 1 and 3am let baby wake up naturally for this feed) She also says to give the baby cool water for this feed (not milk)... i thought it was best to let the baby tell you when it wants feeding... and not to wake them up. (forgot to say - i'm bottle feeding not breast on demand)

what did you find best?

x

 

[rach]

i wasnt lucky enough with luke to be able to wake him from day 1 he woke every 2 hours and screamed the place down till he got a bottle it wasnt till he was 2 months old that he got into a nice routine xxx

 

[Lindsay]

I am breast feeding on demand. At the beginning Jacob was quite a lazy baby and slept lots (wish he still did now!!!!) so I had to wake him to feed him cos my boobs were massive and sore and needed to be released from milk, plus when you are breastfeeding you need to feed to produce more milk. We are in more of a routine now with feeds and he is also awake a lot more during the day so doesn't need to be woken.

Xxx

 

[Rosieroo]

I was of the understanding that if a baby wakes in the night for a feed its because they need the nutrients from the milk, if you give them just water then they wont be getting any. Personally those sort of books annoy me as surely it's a given that most babies don't sleep through the night and I feel that books like that make women think that their babies are waking out of habit not because they are hungry. As far as I know babies under 6 months need a night feed if they wake for one, obviously if they don't then fab, but that you do have to give them milk if they wake not water

Anyway, I thought the stars all had nannies

 

[Dee1985]

i have always been told if a baby goes over 4hrs in the day when they are a new born then to wake them for a feed. with Harley i was able to leave him if he slept through the night as he was a healthy weight but because Dior was so under weight she would never wake for a feed and i had to force feed her every 2hrs day and night untill she was over 6lb....

grrrrr the most tiring time of my life

im still feeding Haley every 3hrs in the day then at night he will go 6 hrs

 

[hayley]

i thought the same... i've never been around babies but i'd say that they need a real feed during the nite due to their tiny stomachs not being able to hold enough food to last so many hours... that bit did throw me a little... but it was the waking a baby up that has confussed me... i don't know why but i thought babies will naturally wake up approx every 3 to 4 hours for feeding... maybe they do.. but if a baby sleeps longer than 4 hours does this mean it's not hungry? and that its cruel to disturb them?

I was originally just going to go with the flow... let the baby tell me when it needs a bottle, but after reading this i thought i'd ask a few mums. I've never been around a new born before... non in the family.

x

 

[hayley]

that made sense dionne... i think i was posting the same time as you! you've answered my question... about a baby sleeping longer than 4 hours.

God would hate to have been you in those early days feeding dior every 2 hours must have been a nite mare!

x

 

[Lindsay]

Yeah from day 1 Jacob has always woke in the nights for feeds, I have never had to wake him, just during the day at the beginning. I have been told by m/w and h/v not to give him water as he gets everything he needs from milk. I bought the contented little baby book but have thrown it away, there is no way you can follow her routines, babies needs are so different to text book as you will soon find out, lol!!!

Xxx

 

[hayley]

lindsay i'll probably laugh at this post when the baby is here... what was i thinking about! trying to follow a book... i suppose every baby is different - just like every pregnancy is... i just like to know as much as possible before baby arives.. but then nothing can prepare you for when they are actually here... those sleepless nites... i'm actually looking forward too.... but then i can say that now!

x

 

[Nicky_Jones]

My MIL has told me that I should feed only water at night and that she was advised this by her midwife. However I don't actually have any intention of taking her advice especially as the other day when my hubby told her (on being quizzed) that I intend to breast feed for the first 6 months her reaction was "you shouldn't breast feed for anywhere near that long!". Right, OK.

 

[Strangeness]

I fed on demand. You soon know when they're hungry. For the first couple of days I had to feed Aaron every 2-3 hours because he was jaundice but after that he went every 3-4 hours without me having to wake him for a feed.

All babies are different though hun, you'll naturally go with them! No book can tell you because your baby could be the total opposite of whatever they say. If only babies did come with books, it would be loads easier

 

[Lucy]

Hi

When my daughter Olivia was just born she seemed to wake every 2-3 hours for a feed and at this age she didn't seem to differentiate between day and night!

When my care was handed over to the HV after 10 days she told me that if the baby went for longer spells at night then she'd just make up for it during the day and that I shouldn't wake her for a feed.

I think if your baby is fullterm and doesn't have any special needs then feeding on demand is the way to go for the first few weeks. This wee baby has come from the womb environment where food was sent constantly from the umbilicol cord so to suddenly make them go into a feeding routine to me seems a bit cruel. When you're holding your newborn it's very apparent that they can't make out much through sight etc so feeding is one of the really comforters they have.

Don't worry, I tried to read some books advising on routines towards the end of my pregnancy and thought I had gained a lot of knowledge by doing so but when my little one arrived I had to forget most of the advice as my baby didn't seem to be any of the "types" written about!

Lucy
p.s one book I'd definately recommend is the "happiest baby on the block" by Dr Harvey Karp - its a small paperback and think it makes a lot of sense

 

[beanie]

I think these types of books made my PND worse as Seren was not a baby that wanted to go into a routine at all and it made me feel like such a failure for not being able to go more 4 hours between feeds etc. My HV said that demand feeding is recommended for both bottle fed and breast fed babies.

Burn the book, I have 2 you can add to the bonfire

 

[Urchin]

My MIL has told me that I should feed only water at night and that she was advised this by her midwife. However I don't actually have any intention of taking her advice especially as the other day when my hubby told her (on being quizzed) that I intend to breast feed for the first 6 months her reaction was "you shouldn't breast feed for anywhere near that long!". Right, OK.

Sounds like she hasn't got a clue what she's on about. Good for you for ignoring her advice!

 

[Urchin]

I think these types of books made my PND worse as Seren was not a baby that wanted to go into a routine at all and it made me feel like such a failure for not being able to go more 4 hours between feeds etc. My HV said that demand feeding is recommended for both bottle fed and breast fed babies.

Burn the book, I have 2 you can add to the bonfire

I agree they can cause or worsen PND. Especially the ones with a timetable you have to follow everyday. Some babies love routine, some can't get along with it at all and trying to make them is a recipe for PND.

 

[Jo]

I'd just go with the flow hun as you will soon notice a pattern to the feeding times and i def would'nt give water to a newborn at night, maybe when they are a few months old and are thirsty more than hungry.

BURN THE BOOKS

 

[Keely]

ellis is not waking for feeds in the day and when feed is only taking 1 ounce so MW has told me to feed him every two hours, last night he was stirrin around the times i should be waking him.... so fingers crossed he is learning.

xxx

 

[Hypnorm]

read the books take their advice with a pinch of salt, and then read your baby, just taking time out to watch her or listen to her cries they area ll different.
i did wake ewan for feeds when he was a week old but only cos he initially was 8lb and he had gone down to 7lb in a week and the MW was saying i might have to go back to back to hospital with him!
there was NO WAY i was going back so i woke him or tried to! every 2 hours!
Then he was demand fed he fed every 1.5 - 2 hours waking 2-3x a night taking about 45 mins per feed.... v tiring!

as for mil and mothers advise they are of the age where you swaddled and fed on a strict 4 hour routine... i would have got loopy if i'd tried to get ewan on a 4hour set time! he gradually settled around 4-5m.
eve tho my mum insisted he was feeding too often!!

 

[Eveadel]

I have been waking my baby every 3 hours ish for a feed as she was a little dehydrated on Sunday and the midwife advised to do this. She is now actually waking up on her own now.

 

[cassi]

I want to find a good routine to follow but i dont want something to suit me, i want something to suit Jakob because at the end of the day he comes first not my sleep. And i think alot of these books make out that you can programme babies to work to you're routine!! its silly. there is one woman at my nursery who has her 4 month old baby on a sleep limit!!! i mean come on, 15 minutes in the morning, 1 hour after lunch, and 15 minutes max in the afternoon (we have to wake her up when time is up, even though she wont even get into a deep sleep in this time! just so she will sleep longer for mom at night...