Waking to feed

[dnstrawberry]

I brought my perfect little newborn DD home on Thursday night, and she's already sleeping like a champion, but I don't know how often I should wake her to feed as I keep getting mixed reviews. Some say wake every 3hrs, others say if a baby is sleeping then let them sleep. Any advice?

[ilovepowerhoop]

Leaving to sleep is ok when they are a bit older. I wouldn't let them go more than 3 hours during the day or 4 hours overnight especially if breastfeeding.

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

I lifted dd for a feed every three hours in the day time and every four at night, so
7am
10am
1pm
4pm
7pm
11pm
3am
7am

[SeptemberBabies]

Are you breast or bottle feeding?

The worry with baby sleeping more than 33 or 4 hours between feeds as a newborn is that they will not put on weight and may lose weight.

[Antarctic]

Personally I would never wake a sleeping baby! Unless you have concerns about her feeding / weight issues.

[purpleroses]

I'd check with your midwife as it depends a bit how big your DS is and whether feeding well/gaining weight OK.

But pretty much as said above - a very new baby shouldn't go more than about 4 hours between feeds even at night. There's a risk they don't feed enough, then don't have the energy to feed properly.

[ilovepowerhoop]

The baby is only a couple of days old though so should not be left to sleep for hours on end as they will not feed enough and then will be even sleepier

[workingtitle]

Agree with the advice not to let sleep for too long. It's a vicious cycle as get even sleepier and harder to rouse to feed as ilovepowerhoop says. I speak from experience!