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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Would you wake this baby ?

15 replies

fatbottomgirl · 21/09/2011 14:51

My 7 week old DS has started sleeping really well. At night he has been sleeping 7 hours, fantastic (I thought!). Today I took him to be weighed and he had only gained 1oz. Last week he had put on 14oz. The HV has told me to wake him at least 3 times through the night for a feed. when awake he is very alert and happy. Would you follow the advice and wake him or leave him peacefully asleep ? ?

OP posts:
TanteRose · 21/09/2011 14:53

no, don't be silly! Plenty of wet/dirty nappies? he's happy and he IS gaining just a bit slower than before.

It won't last, so I would just enjoy it while you can Smile

Debs75 · 21/09/2011 14:55

How are you feeding him?

Does he feed a lot at other feeds?

how has his other weight gains been?

Personally I would relish the thought of 7 hours sleep and dd3 is 13m.

If he isn't dropping percentiles then he should be ok.

peedieworky · 21/09/2011 14:57

Will be interested to hear the expert responses to this! My instinct would be not to wake him, providing he's alert and content and you're getting plenty wet and dirty nappies. But that's just my instinct and it may be completely wrong! I didn't get my DS weighed from 6 weeks till 16 weeks as I didn't want to get hung up on it. I could see he was thriving so didn't allow myself yet another detail to obsess over see the need

peedieworky · 21/09/2011 15:00

Ahem! laid back Mummy. See?! I can't even type it, much less carry it off...

Original poster
fatbottomgirl · 21/09/2011 15:04

Thanks for the quick responses. He is BF and has gained well at all other times. I really don't want to get hung up over his weight. He is a very happy chilled out baby. He is number 4 so I think I would know if something was wrong. It was just the HV saying that was a "rubbish" weight gain Angry.

OP posts:
tiktok · 21/09/2011 15:05

Not possible to say 'yes' or 'no' - the HV has seen your baby and has more information than we can have about all aspects.

Nappies don't tell you much at this age - in particular, 'plenty' of dirty nappies is irrelevant at 7 weeks.

It's a good sign he is alert and happy, fatbottomgirl, and the most likely explanation for a 1 oz weight gain after a 14 oz weight gain is that babies don't gain 14 oz every week :) This is one of the reasons why weekly weighing is far too often for healthy babies....once a month is fine once all is clearly well and is the usual frequency recommended (will be in your red book).

If the HV has genuine cause for concern about weight/milk supply/well-being, then she is justified in this advice. If you don't believe she has genuine cause for concern then you can question it or discuss it.

tiktok · 21/09/2011 15:05

Xposted.

Did she really say 'rubbish' weight gain??! Shock

Original poster
fatbottomgirl · 21/09/2011 15:23

Yes Tick Tok Sad and this was after about 1 min with me and babes. He is not miserable or lethargic. He is feeding well through the day, really wasn't worried just went cause it's like a drop in centre and nice to get house and have some adult conversation Wink think I'll go next week and not weigh himSadSad don't mean to moan.

OP posts:
peedieworky · 21/09/2011 15:26

Blimey! See - I knew I would be talking mince! Tiktok - interested about the nappy issue. Is that a nonsense then? You can tell I am just repeating the platitudes I was given... Blush

Debs75 · 21/09/2011 15:28

I would agree with tiktok It would be pretty hard to put on 14oz each week bit if you had gone 2 weeks between weighs she would say '15oz that's great'
I took dd1 and ds every week for about 4 months and we often had weeks where they didn't put on and weeks where they put loads on so weekly weigh ins can be a bit unhelpful. Still she should of noted the previous weights and not have said that one was rubbish

Cheria · 21/09/2011 15:32

V glad I didn't get my DD weighed regularly. I would enjoy the sleep, if he seems happy to let you sleep for 7 hours that's great.

If he was losing weight I guess it would eb a different matter. But I'm no expert. Maybe, if youre worried, just wake him once?

But by 7 weeks my DD was having long night time sleeps and I didn't think to worry about it I was too busy boasting about it

tiktok · 21/09/2011 15:42

peedie - 'plenty' of dirty nappies doesn't apply to a 7 week old....you prob know all this anyway, but yes, we want to see several poos a day after the first three days postnatal and for the newborn period, but after 4-6 weeks or so, it's very common for that shift to take place and for the baby to start going days 'n' days 'n' days without producing anything and then finally having a mega-poo.

This long-time-with-no-poo has usually nothing to do with 'breastmilk producing no waste' by the way, which is what, tiresomely IMO, HVs tell mothers. It's probably a maturing of the gastro-colic reflex, which means things slow down and the baby's body stops producing something at the bottom when something hits the top of the digestive tract :)

So asking for plenty of dirty nappies in a 7 week old is asking for something that is just not informative. Some babies are producing several a day, though - nothing wrong either way.

Cheria · 21/09/2011 15:55

tiktok I hope lots of people see what you just posted. I was very relaxed about DD but my MIL who was staying with us as I was quite ill after she was born was not. She was convinced that ALL babies have to poo every day. DD thought differently and would go three or four days without. And then it would all come at once - maybe four poos in a day - then a massive break again. And MIL would then worry she had diarrea. I had to physically stop her from giving DD a laxative suppository one day!

And chatting about it with friends they all thought I was being really stupid to not worry about it.

I think though lots of wet heavy nappies are important.

But I still wouldn't wake an otherwise healthy baby three times a night.

peedieworky · 21/09/2011 20:38

Deary me. My DS was one of those babies who never poo-ed for days so you'd think that would have registered tiktok! I sometimes worry what having a baby has done to my brain...

RitaMorgan · 21/09/2011 21:19

My HV would have turned me away if I tried to get a healthy baby weighed every week Grin Once a month at most, unless there is a problem.

Agree with the poster who said if you'd gone fortnightly you'd have been congratulated on a 15oz gain.

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