Letting baby sleep or waking then to feed?

[H16]

Hi ladies,

I need advice - my baby is only a day and half old - he been taking 30ml every 3-4 hours during day. Had a 60ml feed at 11pm and then down to sleep at 11.30pm. He woke at 3.30am but as soon as I picked him up and cuddled him for 2 mins he went straight back to sleep so put him back in basket and he still asleep now at 4am. Should I be waking him to feed him or would you let him sleep and only feed if he cries for it? I never had this issue with my daughter as she would scream for milk every 3 hours at night x

 

[Niknaknoo]

Personally I wouldn't! I was told to wake my baby as he took his time getting back to birth weight but I never did! Could you try a dream feed??

 

[Browneyed Girl]

I was told in hospital to feed every 3 hours as when they're newborn it's likely that if they go too long between feeds they won't have the energy to feed when they need to. If they're not feeding and don't have much energy they'll sleep. It's in the first day or two that they lose the most weight. My lo was very sleepy when first born and it was a struggle to get him to feed for the first few days, as a result he struggled to regain his birth weight and it took longer than usual. I would wake him xx

 

[CARNAT22]

Most newborns have a touch of jaundice (and the advice for jaundice is to not let baby go longer than 4 hours without feeding)

I had a sluggish feeder and I used to make her less comfy - so take blankets off, loosen clothing and even change nappy to rouse her so she would waken enough to feed. Although after the first few days I never had to worry about her going longer than 4 hours [she rarely goes that long now lol]

X

 

[russellmuscle]

Jackson had this lol, he had jaundice and was lime this for about a week.

Def wake him, MW told me 5h tops, id wake him and try my best. Eventually he will come round

Congrats! Xxxx

 

[Baby2sky]

My daughter was the same. I asked mw and hv who said no need to wake as she wasn't prem, jaundice or low birth weight, so I let her sleep and wake herself xxx

 

[H16]

Thanks ladies, as it turned out he woke himself up at 4.30am anyway so gave him a feed

Think prob fact he had big amount of milk before bed and he is also a 9lb 4.5oz baby is why he lasted longer than 3 hours without waking lol. Will count my blessings for the few hours of solid sleep last night x

 

[russellmuscle]

I think even if theyr not hungry they may be thirsty. 4h is long enough. I found waking jackson at 4h during the day helped him feed and sleep better. At night when he was small he would wake himself about 5h mark xxx

 

[Orion]

I was told not to let them go longer than 6 hours without food. I thankfully never had to wake my baby to feed them, but unless they have a medical need, I'd be more likely to trust that they eat as and when they need, rather than worry too much. They tend to naturally cluster feed before the night - stocking up a bit to go longer than usual.

 

[BunnyN]

The MW told me not to go more than 4hrs between feeds but that was because DS was almost 11lbs so she suspected that I had had GD even though it wasn't diagnosed. If you have GD baby can be at risk of getting low blood sugar in the first couple of days which can be dangerous. They will get very sleepy and hard to wake and sometimes floppy or shaky. That is what doctors tend to be most worried about in the first day or two. DS never had any problems with waking. DD was much harder to wake up and would go 5hrs at a time. I think she was just worn out from my long labour and needed to catch up on sleep! After the first couple of days she never slept that long again until she was almost two!

 

[Mummybexee]

They say newborns should be fed every 3-4 hours and to wake them at 4 for feeds. My newborn went 6 then 7 hours and midwife re iterated jaundice and tiredness make them less inclined to feed so to help them by feeding. Stir them up with a nappy change first maybe x

 

[Coletteypie]

As long as your baby is having plenty of wet and dirty nappies, doesn't lose weight then I would let your baby sleep. My baby is just a naturally great sleeper. Was sleeping 5-6 hours overnight since the day we took her home. First few weeks I worried about her not taking enough but she was showing all the signs of eating enough and she was putting on a good amount of weight.

Trust your instincts. As long as all the signs point to a well fed baby then I don't see the need to wake them after 4 hours overnight.

My 15 week old is now sleeping 12 hours a night. Some babies just like their sleep more than others (I picked a lucky baby huh!?)

 

[littlemonkey]

When I was in the hospital with my two every midwife told us something different. One midwife totally laid into us because we let our eldest sleep just past four hours, the next midwife then said don't wake him unless he went longer than 5-6 hours.

With my youngest, I had one midwife telling me I was doing a great job by letting my baby feed on demand, having a couple of ounces every couple of hours. Another midwife said I should be forcing him to take more per feed and he shouldn't be feeding that often!

If he's a good weight and there's no health concerns, personally I would just let him sleep at night.

 

[Smileygirl]

It's important to wake the baby for feeds until they have regained their birth weight. We were told to feed every 3 hours in the day and every 4 during the night. Newborn babies don't always wake for feeds when they are little and if you leave them, they can sleep too long and then not have the energy to feed. Medical professionals give this advice so I think it's important to follow it, rather than going on personal hunches.

 

[littlemonkey]

It's important to wake the baby for feeds until they have regained their birth weight. We were told to feed every 3 hours in the day and every 4 during the night. Newborn babies don't always wake for feeds when they are little and if you leave them, they can sleep too long and then not have the energy to feed. Medical professionals give this advice so I think it's important to follow it, rather than going on personal hunches.

No medical professional ever gave me this advice unfortunately.

Neither of my babies lost weight after they were born either.

 

[russellmuscle]

Mine wasnt a personal hunch.

A few of the girls have says theyre mw have advised different things...

Xx