Night feeds for a newborn- should I wake her...

[cherrybaby]

I have a 11 day old baby who is FF. During the day we wake her (and she sometimes wakes herself) for a bottle every four hours. BUt overnight she will go 5-6 hours between feeds and I am torn... should I be waking her up to keep up her intake or do I let her sleep till she demands the food?

I don't want to do her harm by leaving it too long between feeds, but there is the whole 'never wake a sleeping baby' thing too, I am not sure what to do! I can't remember what I did with my son when he was born- it seems like forever, I feel like I am starting afresh with this little one!

Thanks in advance, Cherry

[La Que Sabe]

hey, don;t know if there's a diff between BF and FF, but i BF and DD slept through the night and i never woke her and she just woke on her own accord when she was hungry and 'asked' for it =]

[kytysmum]

i just used to let mine sleep, they will wake if they are hunrgy. Unless they wherent well then i would wake them.

:)

[codswallop]

let her sleep and get some your self!!! when she is hungry shell let you know and then no one will be sleeping, get your rest while you can:iagree:

[Leeny]

Unless she is jaundice, and you've been specifically told to wake her for feeds, I'd be letting her sleep, and resting up:)

[Mahjong]

There's an unspoken rule..... Never wake a sleeping baby :laughing:

As Leeny said, unless she's jaundice, I would let her sleep and you sleep too!

[meggs]

I agree - never wake a sleeping baby.

Lexie used to sleep like that.

Enjoy it while it lasts - she stopped sleeping like that at around 11 weeks (growth spurt) and hasn't slept that well since ...

GET your sleep while you can!!


:iagree: I was always torn too but tired not to wake her which is hard but she was always grumpy when i did so i learned quickly to leave her...

[Mrs Potts]

I agree with the other posters. Unless jaundice or other illness is an issue I wouldn't wake either. You may be lucky like I was with my DD and have scored yourself a naturally sleepy baby!

[cherrybaby]

oh YAY! She has had jaundice but that has cleared now, and she has been demanding lots more feeds today so who knows, I may well be up all night! But if she is asleep I will be too... thanks for the responses. I will stop lying awake in bed now wondering what I should do!!!

Thanks again, Cherry

[JorBai]

There's an unspoken rule..... Never wake a sleeping baby :laughing:

As Leeny said, unless she's jaundice, I would let her sleep and you sleep too!

Bep I too have always followed the "Never wake a sleeping baby rule"

Enjoy the sleep while you can hun and think yourself lucky she is sleeping:yes:

Congrats too!

[happyone2]

I disagree with everybody :o

I say keep waking bubs during the day and let bubs sleep as long as she wants during the night.

That's what I did and my DS was an awesome sleeper and learnt very early on the difference between night and day.

If she is hungry she will wake up and then feed her but if she's happy to sleep I'd let her. :thumbsup:

[grass is always greener]

I wouldnt. As the others have said, let her sleep, you will regret it when she starts doing it herself. I was told to wake Ds2 up because he slept all night from the start, but i couldnt do it.

[readytogo]

5-6 hours between feeds is fine as long as she is taking a good amount each time. If she is term she will wake when she is hungry, some FF babies will sleep that bit longer as formula does take longer to digest through the system and I'd be enjoying the extra rest while she still does it!

[EsSjAy]

As long as bubs is having regular wet nappies and is putting on weight... Then i'd say LUCKY YOU:)... It's a little milestone when they are able to sleep longer.... There is absolutely no problem with letting her sleep as long as she needs to overnight... Her tummy is growing and her feeds are satisfying her and that is a GOOD thing:thumbsup:...
You may find that she may want to take a little more during the day also now that she is sleeping longer overnight, and that is completely normal too.... Great work hun... All the best and enjoy your sleep....:sleeping: x x

[dearcorrinne]

i have to agree with everyone else.
my dd feed is at 11pm and she doesnt wake up til 8:30 and its been like that since she was 7 days old.
enjoy it.

[neostudded]

I remember asking the same thing on bub hub about my son when he was about two weeks old.He woke up about 20 minutes after I started the thread.
I can't believe he is 13 months old now :crying:
As others have said there is an unspoken rule... Never wake a sleeping baby.:sleeping:

Enjoy your bubba :baby: :goodvibes:

[cherrybaby]

Thanks everyone! She is demanding food in the daytime every 3 1/2 to 4 hours like clockwork, good little girl. I was up with her at about 11pm last night and again at 5am, not bad really! We'll see how we go tonight, I know this wont last. I remember my son being a relatively good sleeper but it all went to hell at 4 weeks, and kept declining till we got to sleep school at 10 months! So I am enjoying this for the time being.

Thanks! CHerry

[growingbelly]

My dd was like this when she was that age (still is, she does not demand to be feed IYKWIM she would rather sleep or play).

What I was advised to do was generally feed her 3 - 4 hourly and allow one 6 to 8 hour sleep each day, if that sleep was through the night that was great so I would just wake her for the day feeds and let her do the big sleep at night.

I know people say never wake a sleeping baby but i have to disagree, my DD (who is perfectly healthy according to all the doctors) would not eat if i did not make her, she would sleep all day if she could (kind of like her mum lol) an that would not be good for her in the long term. Good luck with what you decide but if you are worried ask your child health nurse and they will be able to advise you.