Stay sleeping, or wake up and feed?

ct103 · May 2013

Mobile: Stay sleeping, or wake up and feed?

DD is 3wks and has started sleeping 4 hour stretches. My LC and pedi both say she should be eating no longer than 3 hrs apart. So, when I wake up and realize how long it's been, I wake her up and feed her. This results in a crappy feeding session; she pulls away and fusses, leading to general fussiness even when not eating. Should I be letting her sleep until she wakes up naturally?

Ladiebug710 · May 2013

As long as baby has regained their birth weight, you don't have to wake to feed any more. Is there a specific reason the pedi wants you to continue to wake baby, is there a weight issue?

Shaungela · May 2013

Ladiebug710:
As long as baby has regained their birth weight, you don't have to wake to feed any more. Is there a specific reason the pedi wants you to continue to wake baby, is there a weight issue?

This is exactly what i was going to say... ask them why... we stoped waking after 2 weeks.

ETA: She slept for 10hrs last night

hopefulmom81 · May 2013

Ladiebug710:
As long as baby has regained their birth weight, you don't have to wake to feed any more. Is there a specific reason the pedi wants you to continue to wake baby, is there a weight issue?

This exactly. DD started giving us 5-6 hour stretches and gained weight like a champ, so they had no issues with it.

blessedhope · May 2013

at her 2 week check up my pedi said not to wake her to feed her- she will let you know when she is hungry. Unless of course she is underweight or there is another reason. Also, is she eating enough during the day? If she is getting plenty during the day she should be fine during those longer stretches at night.

ct103 · May 2013

Thanks ladies! The advice to feed every 2 to 3 hrs was given to us at her 1 wk appt. We never had a 2 wk appt because she had gained weight already and they were extremely pleased with her health and weight. They just failed to mention that the 2 to 3hr rule only applies up to 2 wks! And come to think of it, my LC told me to feed every 2 to 3hrs when she was telling me how to treat my clogged duct, which has since healed. Thanks ladies! I'm still gonna call probably the nurse just to let her know what's going on, but you all just made me feel a lot better about the situation!

orangegoggles · May 2013

Yea I agree. I would only wake if there was a weight issue or if she had her days and nights confused and was sleeping too much during the day. She needs her sleep, lots of growth is happening.

kwilson158 · May 2013

I have always been told to "never wake a sleeping baby" if she is good with her weight I would not wake her to feed. she will wake up when she wants to eat.

krwact · May 2013

I'm glad you asked this. I've been setting my alarm and getting up every 3 hours since he was born (one day apart from yours!) and I'm exhausted! Granted, he's a preemie so the rules may be different, but I forgot to ask my LC and my pedi at our appointments this week. I'll wait until next week to make absolutely certain as he's still under 6 lbs but this gives me hope that more sleep is in my future!

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