Should I wake 3 week old dd to feed?

[Girlsville]

Dd is 3 weeks old, was born prematurely at 35 plus 5 weeks.

She was 2.2 kilos at birth, lost a lot of weight in the first five days but since then has steadily gained weight and is putting in approx 200g a week. She now weighs 2.4kilo.

I have been feeding her 3,hourly day and night to bring her weight up. In the night I often have to wake her, and quite often she is not hungry immediately, especially if she had a big feed immediately before.

I'm not sure when I can let her go for longer in the night, say up to 4 hours. All the midwives have said different things!

Any tips from others who have been in similar situations?

I was advised to wake DS (born at 37+4) for feeds very early on, in the first week, as he wasn't waking himself. I had to strip him completely and wet his face with a damp cotton wool ball to get him to wake up enough to feed.

The midwife at that point recommended every 3 hours, but she did say 4 would also be fine. By 3 weeks he was waking himself but I would say that if your DD is putting weight on then 4 hours should be fine.

I agree with Eminybob. If the weight gain is under control then every 4 hrs over night is probably fine. I had to wake my first dd to feed her, it's miserable!

It is so miserable!! She is my third dd and the others were not prem and gained weight nicely from day 1 so this is a whole new ball game for me. Next week is her due date, so will have her weighed again and then I think will do 4 hours in the night if she doesn't wake before.

Thanks ladies!!