"Never wake a sleeping baby" or "Feed every 4 hrs - wake them if you have to!!!!"

[Paranoid1stTimer]

While in hospital i had one MW tell us to wake LO every 4 hrs and breast feed them for as long as they wanted to feed. We were to undress them, change their nappy, dress them again and feed. A couple of nights later, another MW advised to feed only on demand and "never wake a sleeping baby" or you would have hell to pay cos they wouldnt settle...

What is the general consensus on this one? Since we got home I have been feeding "on demand" which can be very often during the night and every 3-4 hrs during the day. LO sleeps lots during day but not well at night - we have been advised he is only 2 wk old so routines are not relevant now - to let him and us recover from the birth and just get to know him, feeding on demand.

Each parent knows instinctively how to raise their own.

Listen to your heart - not someone elses view.

It is only their own unique experience they have - not yours.

You shouldn't let a baby go longer than 4 hours (some say 3) because their stomach isn't big enough to last longer than that - it takes 4 hours to completely digest food in the stomach which is why that figure was used. But you can feed a baby without waking them. Personally I don't think it's a good idea to fully wake a baby for a feed because you put them into fight or flight and the last thing they want to do then is nurse.

At night we used to cosleep until Tink was able to sleep through without asking for milk and we've never really had a problem with sleepless nights. She could latch herself in the night without having to wake or wake us.

Breastmilk can be digested more quickly than 4 hourly though Tinkerbellesmum, which is why the 4 hourly advice is wrong and potentially dangerous (not saying it's your advice though!).

I BF on demand. DD tends to need feeding every 3-4 hours and has done since birth (she's 13 weeks). When her weight didn't go up to begin with I was told to feed her more often but she was having none of it!

If she is sleeping in the daytime and is overdue for a feed then I will wake her to feed her. I also used to ive her a dream feed when I went to bed as she has never woken for a night feed. I dropped the night feed a couple of weeks ago when she stopped taking much both then and in the morning.

I would not worry too much about routines at 2 weeks old either, just feed him when he asks and enjoy him!

I think it takes a good few weeks at least for babies to work out day and night as well.

DD1 was a very sleepy jaundiced baby and at the start I was giving her EBM every 2 hours then every 3. She was never a hungry baby and I had to remember to feed her every 3 hours she never cried for food honestly. Never fed her at night unless she woke up which wasn't very often. She was and is a little thing that was never very hungry.

Then I got DD2 and what a shock she wanted milk 24/7. Don't think she ever went 3 hours without milk in the early days. It is very draining at times I know but it soon settles down.

Although you are not getting him into a routine start to differentiate between night and day. Night feeds are quiet, dimly lit, only change nappy if pooed etc. Day times are busy, try and get out every day even to the supermarket etc

B/feed on demand.

And second everything that tiktok says.

Gosh, I wasn't meaning that you should wait four hours just explaining why they say that. Definately I would be concerned if a baby hadn't woken after 3 hours to ask for a feed and would be looking to get them up then.

Sorry I was on my Dad's laptop that doesn't type as well as this so I tend to lose my train a lot faster