Are you feeding on demand? Waking LO up to eat?

sfbetht

My baby is on the small side, so I'm currently feeding her every 2ish hours and usually waking her up to eat (she's very sleepy!). My lactation consultant has me doing this until next week when she has a weight check. Just curious if others consistently wake their babies to eat, or if there's an eventual transition to on-demand feeding (i.e. she'll wake herself up every 2 - 3 hours).

J+MS

Until your LO gains their birthweight you shouldn't let them go past 3 hours and 1 4 hour stretch at night. Once they gain their weight back you can feed on demand but don't let them go more than 4 hours...ask your pedi, they can tell you exactly what ages to start all that...mine was very helpful.

istalkgeeks

We woke our DS up every 2-3 hours for the first few days, because he was also very sleepy. On the third day he started waking himself up to eat every 2-3 hours, so we just made a note to remember when he had ate last. At our two week weight check we made sure it was ok to let him sleep longer stretches and our pediatrician was fine with that. He had regained his weight back by the two weeks and a little extra.

All that said, I can probably count on both hands the number of times my DS has gone longer than 3ish hours to eat. I'm a lucky one who still gets up 3-4 times a night to feed on demand. 

sillypit

We woke DD up to eat until her 2 week check when she had regained her birthweight and the pediatrician said we could stop.

hayatiggs

I had to wake babies until they were just over a week old. They also had jaundice, which contributed. After we got that under control, they would wake every 2.5-3 hours on their own.

monkiem

Ds was born 3 weeks early, and only weighed 5 pounds.  That said, we have always fed on demand.  Even in the hospital we did that.  When we were discharged from the hospital, he had lost 3 ounces, and then 2 days later, he had re-gained them back.

 

sfbetht

Good to know...I see both the pedi and the lac consultant this week, so I'll check in with them.