Is he normal ? im getting worried...

[kellysomer]

I am a bit worried about Morgan... he is now 3 and a half weeks and everyone says he should be feeding every 3-4 hours. He just isnt interested, he is happy and healthy but only feeds 5 times a day, he will go up to 6 hours without feeding in the day and up to 6 and a half at night. HV and Mw's have told me i must wake him up and get him to feed regularly and bf newborns should feed 8-12 times a day!!! i do appreciate this but now am now not sure if i shoud wake him as a) if i do he isnt hungry, he refuses to feed and gets very upset and hard to settle back to sleep and b) surely if he is asleep he cant be hungry otherwise he wouldnt be happy and asleep? When he is hungry he feeds like a dream.

He is now just about back to his birth weight but he looks huge to me and healthy, he is very long and skinny but on the 25th centile so fine and is gaining weight.

Should i continue to be led by him and feed when he asks for it or should i wake him and try every 3 hours?

Your opinions on this would be great... i dont know what to do....

 

[Sarah&Braydon]

i was told to feed bray every 3-4 hours and he just was not interested
so i just fed him wen he wanted it, has never done him any harm hun
i think u know if ur baby is hungry happy healthy and he doesnt seem to want it so just carry on the way u r

 

[Beany]

I would be inclined to let him sleep if he is gaining weight steadily. Had he not been gaining or losing weight I would be wanting him to feed more regularly.

 

[kellysomer]

He lost weight to start with but now is back to his birth weight, so is gaining. With DD she lost loads of weight and i was told to go to bottles, he is gaining tho and never lost as much weight as her so he must be getting enough of the white stuff i suppose! HV said his weight loss was well within the allowed percentages, i think it was 7% he lost?

You would think having a baby that is like this would be easy but it worries me terribly sometimes. The other night i went to bed and fed him at 11pm i woke at 5:30 am and he was still asleep, so i woke him and fed him but i either feel bad for waking him up or bad for letting him go so long, i cant win.

 

[weenik]

Dylan lost a lot of weight and I was also told to wake him every 3 hours to feed him - in fact I felt like I was getting into trouble if I said he slept for 5 hours! I tried to wake him to feed him a few times, but it never worked so eventually I just let him tell me when he was hungry and it worked better for both of us. Personally, if he is gaining weight and having wet/dirty nappies and seems happy then I would just feed him when he wants fed. It's so hard to know what to do but I believe that mum's know best xx

 

[Squiglet]

If he's producing 3/4 poopy nappies and around 4 to 8 wet ones a day, is gaining weight, seems happy and alert, then just let him be. babies need sleep when they are growing and they do not have the concious ability to starve themselves. Theres no point imo to wake a sleeping baby for a feed when they refuse to eat then get grumpy cos of lack of sleep.

 

[Zodiac]

Hi there,

From my own expereince - my LO was 6 weeks premature, and because of this he did spend most of the time asleep at first & was in special care for 2 weeks.

We were told to wake him up every 4hrs to feed because he was that little to start with (5lb 4oz) that all his energy was going into growing, so we were told to keep him asleep as much as possible to conserve his strength - so no stimulation at all apart from feeding & changing.

Not sure if your LO is also prem and/or very small in weight. But if HV has said not to let him go more than 5hours without feeding, then it may be to ensure he is getting enough energy to grow becuase he is little.

Take care.

 

[rachie29]

Holly was the same, we were told to wake and feed her every 3 hours but every time we did she just fell asleep at the breast.

She lost 11oz at first and had jaundice. Shedid fall into a pattern eventually but I dont think we ever fed ever more than 5 times a day. Granted it took a very very long time at each feed....

 

[kellysomer]

3-4 poo's a day!??? he only poo's every 2nd day!!!! he does about 6 wet nappies a day tho.

He isnt small or prem but was born with a few complications and had jaundice but thats gone now...

I have been feeding on demand the last 2 days and he is so happier with not being woken to feed, think i just got a lazy baby. Also he only feeds for 20 mins at a time but i have a very fast let down of milk so he gets plenty, it just squirts him in the face unless he latches on quick lol

 

[tasha&Harley]

i just feed harley when she wants feeding. some days she will sleep for a long time and will not have many feeds or some times she will want feeding more regularly. I think it just depends i think you should worry if he seems like he never wants feeding and your always having to wake him to have a feed.

 

[kimmumof2]

my dd1 was like this also and my hv sed no need to worry as long as she was gaining weight and altho she was always under the average for weight and height etc she gained weight and grew steadily so nothing wrong with her and there is nothing wrong with her appetite now and she is 5yrs.


xxxxxx

 

[mary70]

i was told to wake hannah ever 4 hours in the day and every 5 hours at night but she was prem, i think i would keep an eye on his weight but i think he should be having more dirty nappies than that i was told at least 2 a day

 

[lisa&alex]

dont worry hun as long as hes gaining.. he will start feeding more over the next few weeks so dont worry, you can try and feed him longer if hes asleep by rubbing his face and feet, that way hes doing the same amount of feeds but hes getting more

 

[valentine]

I don't agree with the nappy thing. If your baby is breastfed, then its perfectly normal for them only to poo once or twice a week - there's so little waste so everything from the milk is absorbed by the body.

Good luck kellysomer!

Valentine Xxx

 

[Red_Fairy]

emily just wouldnt eat ibn the first week and a half, my midwife told me to start feeding every 2 hours - and be very insistant. I tried to do this (it was just so hard as it would take like an hour to get 30mls down her) i wasnt as stricket as '2 hours' but i would try every time i had a spare 10 minutes.
maybe it worked, maybe she just gained her appertite as sinse then she now 'demands' food ever 3-4hours and is taking more then 90mls now.

I feel happier (even tho its harder work) as its not a constant worry 'is she fgetting enough food down her)