Is this ok?

[beijingaling]

DD is 5 weeks on tues. Should I still be waking her for feeds? Two nights ago I forgot to set my alarm and she woke up bang on 3 hours. Last night it was 5.

I'm feeding every 3 hours during the day and waking her up to do so if she hasn't already woken (she rarely does!)

Thanks, yet again, for your advice.

As long as she is healthy, gaining weight and producing enough wet nappies then you just need to read her cues to find out when she wants to be fed.

It shouldn't really be "demand feeding" more "baby led" feeding. Demand infers you wait till they are screaming, Baby led means you watch her cues and feed whenever she wants it.

Well done on making it to 5 weeks :)

If you don't mind me asking. Why were you aking her anyway?

"W"aking (sp)

Not at all - and thanks for the quick reply. She was jaundiced for first 3 weeks and gained only 120g each week which the dr said was borderline too little gain. She wouldn't wake up for feeds at all as she was so dozy. She had me feed every 2hrs during thecday and 3 at night. She then gained 170g and then said every 3 hours day and night is fine until 4kg when it's every 4 hours then at 5.5kg you can just let them sleep.

Baby is gaining weight well now and asks for feeds. I'm comfortable just letting her sleep at night but don't want to do the wrong thing.

Oh and yes definitely enough wet nappies!

What Kick said.

FWIW, when DD was 5 weeks old, I had a panic at 6am because she hadn't woken for her 2am feed. She slept every night until 4 months after that. I was always told not to wake her, that she would let me know if she was hungry. Was always a rearrange in her basket that woke me up to feed her. She rarely cried overnight. Either I stopped noticing her fidgeting, or she stopped doing it.

And congrats on your DD's safe arrival. I remember you from the names threads - what did you decide on in the end?

through every night

Urm.... Seraphina so not vesper or darcey at all. I finally managed to impress on DH that vesper would mean years of town bike jokes and she just didn't look like a darcey. Using phi (fee) as a nn.

Hiya, My 3rd and 4th babies were both jaundiced shortly after birth, I was never told any such thing as you have described above! :)

Firstly, there is no "rule book" ergo you cannot do the wrong thing. You know your baby best :) If she is feeding frequently enough to be making enough wet nappies, is happy and alert when she is awake and is gaining weight then I would institute the "never wake a sleeping baby" rule.

If it makes you feel more secure in your decision then have her weighed weekly for the next few weeks and see how she goes.

I would think you could do with a bit more sleep by now!!!!

Also thanks dancing for your input. Will let her sleep until she asks to feed but before she screams.

Thanks queen. I do feel content about this.

This is my favorite board you know, such good advice!

Beautiful name (but not as good as Darcey )

And very well done to make it to 5 weeks. I remember those early weeks being a hellish blur of tears and clenched jaws/toes/eyes from the pain. I was so close to giving up every day, but it got better, and we're still going strong at 8 months.

Definitely agree that you could probably do with the sleep by now. Speaking of which

would agree with the 'never wake a sleeping baby'... however with that there may be consequences. Such as baby going too long may mean that she misses out on a feed and that could affect milk supply or that she wakes up so hungry that she goes straight to very upset which makes a calm effective feed more tricky.
Watch the baby not the clock for sure, however keep in mind that to get enough feeds in a 24hr period you may have to wake her during the night and feed. At night your prolactin levels increase also (milk making hormones).
And yes, you need to rest so your in a good condition to feed your DC.
It's a fine line to walk, but well done, relax and go with your gut feeling.
Good luck

I had a very jaundiced baby too, and was advised to wake him to feed every 2 hours day and night. After two weeks he had regained his birthweight though and was producing lots of nappies so the midwife said it was fine to just feed on demand. I still made sure he fed every 3 hours in the day though so he slept better at night!

Still going to feed every 3 hours during the day but see how we go at night.

Ascouser what's the latest I should let her go? I realized that last night I fed her at 2 then she started to fuss at 8 which is 6 hours . She was fussy but not screaming.

I think 6 hours is fine - by 6-8 weeks my ds was sleeping 7pm-3am most nights. So long as you're doing a night feed I wouldn't worry - I've heard 12-3am is the most important period to feed in to maintain supply due to the prolactin levels.

Thanks MUA. Last night she fed at 10 when I woke her up, 2 when she woke me up and 8 when again she woke me up.

Feeling much more confident. Thank you everyone! I'll let you know how I go tonight.