Waking a newborn to feed?

[Summer1986]

My baby is 9 days old, we were in hospital for the first 6 days of her life as we both got an infection when my waters broke and I had a prolonged labour.
She lost 10% of her birth weight at 3 days old and was exclusively breastfed at this point.
I was advised to give her some formula top ups as my milk wasn't fully in and she was getting dry. We did this and by day 5 she had gained 2.2% of her weight back.
Since getting home my milk supply is now "in" and we have decided to try exclusive BF again.

In hospital I was advised to feed at least every 3 hours, day and night.
Baby now isn't waking to feed every 3 hours at night but is feeding much more frequently in the day (1-1.5.hours).

Should I be actively waking her overnight? We are getting 8-10 wet and dirty nappies during the 24 hour period and she's alert when she is awake.

Seeing my midwife for 10 day check tomorrow so will discuss then but just wanted to ask others thoughts.

Hunger is one of the strongest sensations for humans so if she was hungry, she'd def wake. At 9 days old though, going much more than 3 hours without feeding may affect your supply being built up. Can you express in the night as an alternative?

Do you have a Le Leche League meeting near you? I was able to contact mine for advice when my LO was a week old and I wasn't sure whether to wake. The fact you've got lots of wet and dirty nappies indicates that she's doing well and sleep is so beneficial for their development. If you left her, how much longer would she sleep?

She will wake up to feed, babies don't have a lot of sensations in the first couple of weeks, only really feeding and sleeping.

If she's feeding a lot more frequently during the day i wouldn't worry too much! Speak to your health visitor though!

My newborn didn’t wake to feed and I was told in no uncertain terms to wake her every three hours. I set alarms although I did start pushing it out to 4-5 hours after a while. I stopped doing it at 4 weeks after a good pattern of weight gain was established. That was the bit that varied - when to stop waking. My local breastfeeding clinic said 6 weeks, but my HV said it was fine to stop doing it at 4 weeks, and various online resources said once weight gain was established.

Apart from an awful few weeks either side of the 4 month mark, DD has remained a good sleeper, and has never been one that wakes every hour.

I'm going to a local BF support group later today, it's not La Leche but similar I believe.

I can express instead yes. I will do this now I think. I'm not sure how much longer she will go as it's our first night of EBF since she was 3 days old.

Thanks for the advice both, first baby and a huge learning curve for me

I wish I had to wake my baby to feed ha well done for persisting with bf after such a tough start x

We struggled a bit to get him to feed (EBF) the second night he was home I mentioned it to midwife and she said to wake him every three hours so I also set alarms etc
Then when he was weighed he had put on 350g in four days!! So I stopped doing it and he wakes me now. He has been weighed again today at 12 days old and has gained again x

Baby's weight had dropped again yesterday so was advised to feed every 2 hours from me then offer top ups of my expressed milk. Unfortunately baby drank my entire supply of expressed milk in the first 3 feeds and I can't keep up with expressing between feeds, I've had to use formula for the top ups.

The guilt I feel each time I give her a bottle is bringing me to tears yet seeing her happy and content afterwards is wonderful. Really struggling to get a comfortable latch, I hadn't realised for days she's been feeding from the nipple not the breast. We are trying now to learn to latch properly.

Not really looking for a response to this post although feel free to pass comment. I suppose I just need to write down somewhere how I feel

Hi, Summer.

So sorry to read how difficult these early days are being.

Unfortunately it's just NOT TRUE ( shouting, cos it's important 😊🙂) that we can always rely on a hungry baby to wake a feed. Yes, it's the case with healthy, term babies who are gaining weight normally. It's not always the case with babies who are having problems - so we have to be proactive with these babies, and ensure they have every opportunity to feed frequently, from both breasts, round the clock.

This is also essential to establish a good milk supply. Again, with a healthy robust and thriving baby, the good milk supply happens because the baby is ensuring it does. But in other circumstances, you have to make sure the breasts are 'told' to make the milk.

I think it will help you to get some good one on one help from a knowledgable and understanding BF person - any of the helplines will listen and help you with good info. You will probably be asked if you can do skin to skin a lot - really as much as you can. Every time your baby looks like she might take a feed, offer it. There may be times this does not work, and your baby resists - don't push it, just try gently and keep up the skin to skin.

You can express on the side your baby is not feeding from if you have a one handed pump.

If your baby is positioning and attaching better, then that's good news as this in itself will help build up your supply.

Losing weight at this stage - 10 days old? - is something that needs to be taken seriously, and it's good you are taking action. It is important to discuss with your midwife or whoever told you to do top ups whether the volume of top up you are using is correct. Too much top up - formula or ebm - may mean your baby feeds less from the breast as she is just not hungry. But she may well need some top up at the moment to enable her to thrive, so she can feed well at the breast. It is a balance, and you need to be aware and in control.

Once your dd's weight is as it should be - and this should be checked of course - you can talk about dropping the top ups and just concentrating on normal direct BF.

I hope all goes well - key to it all is frequent, effective feeding and not letting your baby sleep without feeding for too long.