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Babies: 0 - 3 Months
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Do you wake LO to feed? Advice please
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Our DD was born 3 weeks early, and was healthy but a little lean and needed to build up some body weight. We were advised to feed her every 3 hours, no matter what time of day, to make sure she was getting calories and gaining weight. Because she was born early, and she was acting kind of sleepy, their fear in the hospital was that she wouldn't know to wake up on her own and wake us when she was hungry; they worried she would sleep through her hunger, hence we had to wake her to feed her, even throughout the night.
Well, she's 6 weeks old now, and has put on three pounds since birth. She now has nice chubby cheeks and little fat rolls on her thighs. Asof her last doctor appointment, she is now in the 75% percentile for her age. She is also much more alert during the day. However, DH and I are STILL setting our alarm clocks throughout the night to get those feedings in, because no one has told us otherwise.
Have any of you ladies been in this similar situation? When did you finally stop setting your alarm clocks and just let LO decide on their own when to wake up and eat? DH and I would love to give this a try, perhaps giving us more sleep, but we don't want her to go hungry if she doesn't tell us. But I think she would tell us, because during the day, she whimpers and gets crabby when she's hungry. I do think she would give us some indication that she wants food.
Any insight or advice? How did it go for you ladies who NEVER had to wake up LO to feed, even right from the beginning? Thanx!
O13 March Siggy Contest: AnArChY (I do what I want- & I want FOUR GIFS!)
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Re: Do you wake LO to feed? Advice please
At DS's 2 month checkup, the pedi said he should still be eating every 4 hours at night when. At the time DS was sleeping around 4 - 5 hour stretches. Even after I was told that, last night was the first time I ever woke him up to eat. He went 8 hours and I had a dream about running with engorged boobs and woke up with super engorged boobs. I figured I could pump or I could feed DS. I chose to wake him up and feed him.
DS was 5 weeks early and we only had to wake him up to eat until 2 weeks old. Now we just wake him during the day if he doesn't wake up on schedule. At night we let him tell us when he wants to eat. He's 9 weeks and has gained about 4 lbs.
I think it's fine to let your LO sleep at night but ask your pediatrician if you aren't sure.
Our Son was born at 37 weeks, he had to be woken up for feeding early on in the first week or two. He lost some weight in the begining and he slept all the time so we would have to wake him up to eat sometimes. Every 2-3 hours we were told. Now he wakes up and lets us know when he is hungry.
I wouldn't worry about timing it, your baby will let you know if she is hungry or not. If you're worried about it, check your timer, is she waking up? How long until after the alarm goes off before she actually wakes up to let you know she is hungry?