Baby sleeping - does it reduce supply?

[KatoGreen]

My 4 week old slept last night 10.30pm to 5am (I know how lucky I am, this never happened with my DC1).

But will this reduce my supply if it happens every night , because I wont be feeding for 7 hours?

Baby feeds on demand every 90 mins to 2 hours during the day, cluster feeds from 4pm to 9pm, then I go to bed & DH gives her 1 to 2oz ebm in bottle at 10pm.

My 12 week old has been sleeping through for about 5 weeks now. I haven't found it has affected my supply but she hasn't been putting weight on some weeks. Been told to
Wake her up! Don't know how I feel
About that if she is happy!

Yes, tough to wake a sleeping baby!

Can you try a dream feed rather than actually waking?

I am going to try tonight and see how we get On! Typical that we get her sleeping through and then I feel mean!

Bumping in case anyone knows the technicalities of milk production, thanks

I think it depends. Prolactin is high 2-3am and I think a middle of the night feed is important for milk supply when establishing breastfeeding. However, the same happened to me with DS2 and I asked a lactation consultant who said that if you’re establishing bf for a second time, then breastfeeding can be quicker to establish if all is going well, so a middle of the night feed might not be as important.

I’d monitor it and see how it goes along with weight gain etc - it’s probavly fine though!

I was always told that (including being told to wake two week old DD when I proudly told the HV that she'd slept for six hours) but I found I made more milk when I'd slept better? My milk didn't come in in any quantity until eight weeks (DD was topped up with formula) so my milk supply only increased when she was sleeping eight hours every night and I was getting more rest.

We're all different though.

Your supply will adjust to their demand, so it's okay to let them sleep at night. If you've had advice to wake the baby because of weight loss, that's different, but generally, never wake a sleeping baby!

Of course as you know with a 4 week old it may not last anyway - so enjoy it while you can :)

Thanks everyone, really helpful to get replies. Will leave her to sleep as she wants & trust supply will be ok. Am aware in a theoretical way that her nice long stretch of sleep could disappear at any point, but sure coping with the reality of that would be another matter!

Good luck!