Let sleeping babies lie?

adiaz132003

So I thought of this today cause I had a rough night last night where DS didn't settle to sleep till almost 1 am after hours of fussing and crying and I had to give in to the binky.  Then I realized he woke me at 5:30 for a diaper change and feeding. That's almost 4 1/2-5 hours of sleep.  I always hear that they need to eat every 2-3 hours but honestly, is that really necessary of they've already gone up past thier birth weight and make like a billion wet and poop diapers?  I'm gonna say let him sleep.  But I'd like everyone else's input.  Do you wake them after 2-3 hours or just let them sleep as long as they want so long as they aren't losing weight/ getting dehydrated?  You think this would greatly affect milk supply?  

purplefan1

My pediatrician and LC said I can go 4 hours at night but any more than that and they would want to see a pump at least. If they are eating well through the day, gaining weight, and having appropriate wet/dirty diapers, it sounds like your LO has figured out the difference between night and day! 

adiaz132003

June2016BabyW said:

My pediatrician and LC said I can go 4 hours at night but any more than that and they would want to see a pump at least. If they are eating well through the day, gaining weight, and having appropriate wet/dirty diapers, it sounds like your LO has figured out the difference between night and day! 

We do try and make our routine different at night.  We keep the lights off during feedings and I don't talk to him during that time or diaper changing.  During the day I just go about normal business and don't bother keeping quiet.  That might be helping.

laurendiaz02

Right now we are waking him every 2-2.5 hours to change and feed him (formula baby).  We basically just set our alarm for 10 minutes before he's due to eat and get everything ready so once we wake him we can change and feed quickly. We burp/keep him upright for 20 minutes and put him back in his crib. We wanted to have him in his crib in his own room from the time we brought him home which we have done this far, but I definitely see the convenience of having baby in your room. 

MynaBird

If he's healthy, eating, dirtying diapers -- I'd let him sleep and hope he keeps it up! 

HeartLikeMine3

My ped said let them sleep once past birth weight but not more than 6 hrs or they can risk dehydration. We've never had to wake her she's done 5 hrs a couple times but not lately. With as much as she eats all day I don't worry a bit. 

alysemci

As long as weight gain is fine and baby is healthy I'd let the baby sleep. You couldn't pay me to wake up my kids

alysemci

adiaz132003 said:

June2016BabyW said:

My pediatrician and LC said I can go 4 hours at night but any more than that and they would want to see a pump at least. If they are eating well through the day, gaining weight, and having appropriate wet/dirty diapers, it sounds like your LO has figured out the difference between night and day! 

We do try and make our routine different at night.  We keep the lights off during feedings and I don't talk to him during that time or diaper changing.  During the day I just go about normal business and don't bother keeping quiet.  That might be helping.

We've done this with both kids and I think it works wonders. My 2 year old sleeps a solid 10-12 hours at night and only ever naps and hour or so during the day 

MynaBird

alysemciver said:

adiaz132003 said:

June2016BabyW said:

My pediatrician and LC said I can go 4 hours at night but any more than that and they would want to see a pump at least. If they are eating well through the day, gaining weight, and having appropriate wet/dirty diapers, it sounds like your LO has figured out the difference between night and day! 

We do try and make our routine different at night.  We keep the lights off during feedings and I don't talk to him during that time or diaper changing.  During the day I just go about normal business and don't bother keeping quiet.  That might be helping.

We've done this with both kids and I think it works wonders. My 2 year old sleeps a solid 10-12 hours at night and only ever naps and hour or so during the day 

Totally agree. We treated day and night differently from day one and our first has been a good nighttime sleeper since six weeks. I'm sure it's partly good luck, but I'm convinced the routine helped. 

fishwife799

MynaBird said:

If he's healthy, eating, dirtying diapers -- I'd let him sleep and hope he keeps it up! 

This. 

xc1148

alysemciver said:

As long as weight gain is fine and baby is healthy I'd let the baby sleep. You couldn't pay me to wake up my kids

Same. If baby is healthy, let them sleep!

purplefan1

I just had another sleepless night because, for some reason, baby won't sleep anywhere but on me at night time. Day time she will take short naps and be fine in her pnp. Last night was as bad as our second night in the hospital. Nearly inconsolable from 1am til now(5am). I apparently did get an hour of sleep (if it weren't for my fitbit, I wouldn't have known that) but around 4am she lost her mind and screemed like a banshee. She wouldn't stay latched, was mad the milk wasn't immediately flowing, didn't want the bottle that was offered, didn't want to be held, didn't want to be put down, kicked me like crazy when i tried to feed her and did just about everything she could to push me over the edge. No clue why this night was so bad. Have guilt because she sleeps well if i just let her sleep on my chest but they warn so much about the dangers of doing so. Feel like I can't win tonight. Oh, we even broke out the pacifier. She refused that too. Was willing to give her formula if it would mean she would settle down and get some sleep.

AmberLiz99

Past the birth weight, I say let him sleep. I have never once woken one of my babies at night to feed them. Granted, they had no weight gain or other health problems, but they always let me know when they are hungry

xc1148

June2016BabyW said:

I just had another sleepless night because, for some reason, baby won't sleep anywhere but on me at night time. Day time she will take short naps and be fine in her pnp. Last night was as bad as our second night in the hospital. Nearly inconsolable from 1am til now(5am). I apparently did get an hour of sleep (if it weren't for my fitbit, I wouldn't have known that) but around 4am she lost her mind and screemed like a banshee. She wouldn't stay latched, was mad the milk wasn't immediately flowing, didn't want the bottle that was offered, didn't want to be held, didn't want to be put down, kicked me like crazy when i tried to feed her and did just about everything she could to push me over the edge. No clue why this night was so bad. Have guilt because she sleeps well if i just let her sleep on my chest but they warn so much about the dangers of doing so. Feel like I can't win tonight. Oh, we even broke out the pacifier. She refused that too. Was willing to give her formula if it would mean she would settle down and get some sleep.

I've been there!!! Hang in there! Babies cry. They just do. Keep repeating that to yourself. They can't talk, move, or express themselves any other way. If it gets really bad, it's fine to put her in her crib/pnp and walk away for 5 minutes to gather yourself. It sounds impossible but if you call the nurse/doctor they can walk you through the checks to make sure baby is healthy. I still remember by daughter's 3 hour crying spell at 3 weeks old.

Also, same thing with the sleep. My husband and I took turns holding her while we were awake- I was too paranoid to sleep with her when she was so tiny. I forgot when but eventually I started sleeping with her when she was a bit bigger, and I went to the guest bed so my husband wouldn't be around. It's so hard. Take it one day at a time!

Boonhilde

My first never slept, so I always said, don't ever wake a baby! But my new baby sleeps all day! 4 hour stretches! Then he's up all night. It's ridiculous. So now I wake him during the day to nurse. At night, if he slept too long, apart from my boobs exploding, I'd want to let him.

arteduc8

I wish my DD would sleep longer stretches. She hit a growth spurt yesterday (2 weeks old) and needed to eat every hour or less for the past 24 hours. Today we're at hour and a half stretches. Let them sleep a longer stretch or 2 and don't worry. You are lucky!