How long should I let 10 week old DD sleep without feeding?

[Ginshizz]

Hello,

DD had hypoglycaemia (sp?) when she was born and spent her first week in special care. I was told not to let her go more than 4 hrs without feeding for 'the first few weeks' after getting her home, and then to 'treat her like a normal baby.'

My problem is that she is my first so I don't know what a 'normal' baby is! She eats every three hrs during the day, has her last feed before bedtime at 8pm, and has been waking up around 2 or 3 am for her next feed. However, for the last few nights, she hasn't been waking up ... But I start getting twitchy when it gets to 4 / 4:30 am and she hasn't fed so I've been waking her up - she bolts down a bottle, falls asleep and then wakes up again around 8 am for breakfast.

So my question for experienced mums is: should I let her sleep until she wakes up hungry even if it means going more than 8 hrs without food? I suspect I am fretting needlessly because of the previous hypoglycaemia issues and I really should be enjoying the extra sleep, but a part of me is still uncomfortable with her going too long without food.

I have asked the GP and the HV who have both been supremely unhelpful and said to follow the consultant's advice to treat DD like a normal baby but they haven't told me what exactly that means!

Thanks for your thoughts

PS DD is FF

It all depends on if you're happy with her weight. Some babies do start to sleep longer at that age (apparently, I did but my son is not following suit) so I would say if you're happy with her weight, you're getting plenty of wet and dirty nappies and she's alert when she's awake I would enjoy it and get some sleep yourself!

I would let her sleep, she would wake if hungry. Get some rest and you may find you have a good sleeper, or once you stop waking her she might wake up early hungry.

Thank you! She is on the small side but putting on weight in line with her centile. She is very alert when she is awake and we have wet and dirty nappies aplenty!

If anything, she seems to be bouncier in the morning with the extra sleep and is eating more for breakfast and second breakfast which I am hoping is compensating for going longer without food at night.

I hope at some point I will find her less of a mystery!

Sounds like you're doing great!

My six week old slept 10.30 pm - 8 am and goes close to that most nights - I worry too but she is gaining weight and bright so Hv says not to worry and thank our lucky stars ! She is awake a lot during the day tho ! X

Thanks ... I think I probably need to relax and enjoy... Good to hear what 'normal' babies are up to. She's definitely pretty energetic during the day! X

3 out of my 4 dc reliably slept through the night 7pm until 7am from 6/7 weeks (one of them much earlier) the other one used to wake around 4am until 16 weeks.

Honestly it's fine it's how much they consume in 24 hours that you need to keep an eye on now

Thanks Random, I am feeling a bit clueless as she's my first! She's definitely upped the amount she eats during the day as she's stopped eating so frequently at night. I was told she should have 120-150ml per kilo of body weight per day and she's eating quite a bit more than that ... Must have inherited her mum's love of food and sleep

Don't knock it

My 9wk old baby is similar. Goes down between 10 and 11pm and rises sometime between 5 and 7am. I am EBF so I am up through the night . I worried too but realise he is is gaining weight rapidly and very settled. On an night I woke him to feed he was too sleepy.

I thought EBF meant expressing now realise it doesn't so meant to say I am expressing and feeding by a bottle thus getting up in the night to express.

Randomess- if they sleep 12 hours how do you manage to fit 5 feeds in - assuming bottle feeding ? My lo is sleeping longer and just wondering .... ?

Feed them more frequently during the day, such as...

7am
9am
11.30am
2pm
4.30pm
6.30pm