Waking for a feed?

[Sophrosyne1]

My breastfeeding newborn is now 1 week old, she doesn't wake and cry during the night but I have been waking her every 3-4 hours for a feed. Is this OK? Where do you stand on waking babies for night feeds?

[youcannotbeserious]

I believe you should wake to feed at that age.... Not sure when the HV would recommend to drop the night feed, but a few of the ladies in my PN group (I'm on the May 08 group) have babies that are sleeping through, probably from about 7-8 weeks old.

My DS still wakes at least once a night for food, so I've never HAD to wake him, IYSWIM...

[LackaDAISYcal]

Sounds to me like you are doing the right thing . You need someone like tiktok along, but as far as I know, it's important that BF babies have night feeds as this is when your hormones production at it's highest and your supply gets stimulated into producing more milk.

Is there an underlying reason for her sleepiness? Babies with jaundice can be very sleepy.

Found something on kellymom.

"Sleepy baby. For the first few weeks, some babies are very sleepy and only demand to nurse infrequently and for short periods. Until baby wakes up and begins to demand regular nursing, nurse baby at least every two hours during the day and at least every 4 hours at night to establish your milk supply"

There are also some external links

I hope this helps

[Sophrosyne1]

Thanks for that. She has had jaundice, although it is getting better now, and has been rather sleepy. She does wake and cry for a feed during the day, just not at night. From your advice it sounds like I'm doing the right thing but will check with HV tomorrow to make sure.

Thanks again,

Soph x

[witchandchips]

If she is feeding very well during the day, weight gain is fine, lots of wet nappies etc then think you only need to wake her if she has been asleep for 5 hours or so.

[LackaDAISYcal]

Just be aware Soph that HVs aren't always the best people to give BFing advice . Although some are great and are very well trained, sadly the majority only have minimal training in BFing support due to funding constraints.

The BFing charities all have very good helplines. Their numbers are on hunkermunker's blog

There will also be a Baby Cafe close to you hopefully. They are great for meeting other BFing mums and there is always a breastfeeding counsellor on hand to help with any problems or queries. If not, your local Sure Start centre or your HV should have details of locally available support

[Dawnie6577]

I always had to wake my DS up as he had jaundice (which I think can take a while to get over and milk is best way to get rid of it).
I think for the benefit of making sure you make enough milk for when he does wake up more in the night, it is a good idea to wake to feed.
I used to worry so much that DS wasn't waking, but then the time came when he would wake 3 - 4 times a night (should have appreciated the peace and quiet whilst I had it!).
As a novice mum, I think you're right to keep waking.
I am sure he will start waking spontaneously soon ... then you'll be wishing for sleep!!

[Dawnie6577]

Sorry just spotted you have a daughter, not a son, apologies!

[babyOcho]

I'd wake in hot weather just because I am paranoid about dehydration. If there was a jaundice concern I would wake as well.

In the early days I would always set my alarm to wake and feed my DD... I never had to, she always beat me to it!