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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Do you wake your baby up for feeds?

29 replies

Stefka · 05/11/2007 19:42

My LO has been asleep since half four and I am wondering if I should get him up now to feed. I am worried he will be up all night if I don't but I am not sure waking him up is a good idea either.

OP posts:
clur79 · 05/11/2007 20:07

I have to admit to waking my ds for feeds, otherwise I was sure he would have slept all day and been up all night. I never woke him during the night though, let him wake me. Always felt bad, but he never seemed to mind too much.

I still wake him at 10pm to feed before I go to bed. That way he goes through the night and he is 17 weeks now.

Original poster
Stefka · 05/11/2007 20:30

I got him up and I am glad because he was clearly hungry when he woke up. He was a bit jaundiced for the first week and I wonder if this makes him a bit sleepy.

OP posts:
weeonion · 05/11/2007 20:32

what age is he stefka. with younger ones - they dont always wake for feeds.

weeonion · 05/11/2007 20:32

oops - xposted!

Egg · 05/11/2007 20:32

Yep jaundice can make them a bit sleepy, and the best cure for mild jaundice, as well as lots of light, is lots of feeding (so I was told anyway). I would always wake DS up in the day if he slept way too long, but never wake him at night (strangely never needed to as he seemed to wake up all by himself about six times a night...).

Original poster
Stefka · 05/11/2007 21:30

He's 2 wks. I have woken him at night too because he gets really fretful in his sleep and chews his hand. I figure he's hungry. He makes such a racket that i can't sleep through it anyway.

OP posts:
CarGirl · 05/11/2007 21:33

I've always woken mine up during the day for feeds probably made sure I've offered them a feed every 3 hours but never between 7pm & 7am, and they all slept well at night and hardly every fed (all big babies though too)

lisad123 · 05/11/2007 21:35

Jaundice can make babis sleepy. If he is still yellow talk to MW, as they tend to send for blood tests if still yellow after 2 weeks. I would wake.

dd666 · 05/11/2007 21:39

i used to wake dd to feed her and i would wake her up when i went to bed for one really good feed burp and cuddle!

MrsBadger · 05/11/2007 21:41

have never woken dd
but at night I do grab her while she's still snuffling / whinging in her sleep before the full-on waah starts, so often she doesn't really wake up

ConnorTraceptive · 05/11/2007 21:44

Never usd to wake ds for feeds and he would sleep for england during the day. Did do the same as Mrs Badger though and get up in the night and feed when he started to snuffle about so he never really woke up and used to go back down really well.

Original poster
Stefka · 05/11/2007 21:49

Yeah I prefer to get to him before he starts howling. Also my boobs are really sore so it makes the feed less frantic.

OP posts:
MamaMammalon · 06/11/2007 08:36

I always wake my baby and have done since birth. I cannot imagine what life would be like with no structure! And honestly I am absolutely not ashamed to say that. I don't go in and boo her(!!)- I stroke her cheek and say, 'Mummy's here baby Meadow, Mummy's here' she ALWAYS comes to with a big sleepy smile on her face!! She looks so pleased to see me and we have huge snuggles and cuddles (as I'm sure everyone does regardless of whether they wake baby or not)!! Babies will sleep forever if left and then be up all night which equals one stressed, tired, impatient Mummy and subsequently a less happy baby. My ds slept through from 10 wks although if I disrupt her at all (holidays/weekends away/odd night out etc) she will wake in the night in protest. I also really like to be 'ahead of her'- why wait for her to be so hungry she has to cry to let me know she wants feeding- I'd rather respond to her needs before she knows she needs them (if that makes sense). It's a controversial method I know, but she is SUCH a happy baby as she knows I am there for her. She doesn't have to ask for anything. Everyone comments on how 'chilled' she is.

So, to conclude, I think it is beneficial to both of you to wake baby (though do be gentle- think how you would want to be woken up!). I've found it also greatly helps with bf.

nappyaddict · 06/11/2007 08:49

normally i would say no but if he was jandiced then you should.

Miaou · 06/11/2007 09:01

My ds is 14 weeks now and I have never let him go more than 3 hours between feeds during the day (though I let him do his own thing at night). If I do I find he makes up for it by feeding all night! Now he is older he regulates himself a little better but when he was first born he could quite easily sleep for 5 or 6 hours at a stretch which I felt was too much for him.

MrsBadger · 06/11/2007 09:39

"Babies will sleep forever if left and then be up all night which equals one stressed, tired, impatient Mummy and subsequently a less happy baby."

[cough]bollocks[cough]

all depends on the baby... and the mum.

ConnorTraceptive · 06/11/2007 09:47

quite MrsBadger

dal21 · 06/11/2007 11:33

yep - during day, never let ds nap for more than 2 hours/ go more than 3 hours between feeds ~(he is 8w 4d) and managing 4/5 hour stretches after dreamfeed for last 2 nights. am praying it lasts!

nightimte - sleep away. plus the time you were thinking about waking lo, i cluster feed.

MamaMammalon · 06/11/2007 12:30

My apologies Mrs.Badger. Of course it depends on the baby. I'm not sure what you mean when you say '...and the mum' however. If this was a dig at my parenting style then I'm not sure why this was necessary, nor the use of language. I was trying to help Stefka by giving her my opinion, as formed over 6 months of parenting.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 06/11/2007 12:35

Lol at waking a sleeping baby, was the last thing on my mind!
Have never woken ds to feed him and never really understood the whole dream feed thing either, but ds would sleep from 7-7 from 6 weeks..
My niece once slept from 7 til 11am and didn't once wake for a feed, she was only a few weeks old, my Sister mentioned it to midwife and she got her ear chewed for not waking her to feed her.

2sugars · 06/11/2007 12:37

I agree - think it depends very much on the baby. dd1 would wake when she was hungry. dd2 was mildly jaundiced after her birth, and I found her far more reluctant to wake up to feed, so I used to wake her. Eventually she became so reluctant to feed, even when I'd woken her, and at 8 weeks old was admitted to hospital with bronchiolitus. No trying to scaremonger, but do keep an eye on it.

bakingcakes · 06/11/2007 13:29

I've only woken my baby in the daytime for feeds, if she's gone for 3 or 4 hours without and when the boobs get too much! I do find it's important she is properly awake, otherwise it's half hearted and she doesnt get the proper hindmilk, giving up halfway through. She's 4 weeks old. Have noticed that she will fuss much more after daytime feeds when burping is essential than at night when she wakes once, feeds and then passes out again immediately with no fuss at all.

MrsBadger · 06/11/2007 15:30

I wasn't having a dig, Mammalon - just saying that different methods suit different parents as well as different babies .

It was the way you posted 'Babies do xyz' rather than 'My dd does xyz' - such sweeping generalisations can be scary for parents without your experience if their child doesn't do xyz.

And I'm sorry if my use of the word 'bollocks' offended you.

Welcome to MN, btw...

12lbnaturally · 06/11/2007 15:37

I woke mine up for feeds during the day to get them into a routine. I guess the answer would be to try it and see if your LO gets on okay with it. You may find they will not take hardly any feed because they are not hungry or you may find they drink their usual amount. Sorry to say its really trial and error.

dal21 · 06/11/2007 15:42

mumfor1standfinaltime - methinks you are very very lucky and I am mildly envious. DS would easily switch day for night if I didnt wake him for regular feeds during the day - and at the dreamfeed he is guzzling up to 6fl. oz of EBM, so it defo works for us.
Stefka - so much depends on the nature and needs of your bub - my LO arrived at 37 weeks weighing 5lbs 1oz, so I have always been watchful on his intake - especially in the early days when he definitely needed to be woken too feed.
Now I wake to feed based on EASY routine from Baby whisperer and although the book initally freaked me out, I gained a little perspective, picked the parts that made sense to me and the 3 hrly daytime feeds work for me. Think I can drop cluster feeds now....