Newborn + bfing

[Fibilou]

I realise how lucky I am but my demand- fed baby (6 days) is sleeping an awful lot and going easily 3 hours between feeds as she is asleep. Last night she slept from 2 am through till 6:30.
We saw the mw yesterday and she has maintained her birthweight (7lb3) but I am worried she is not feeding enough. Should I wake her to feed or just count myself lucky that I am not up all night ?

3 hourly feeds are fine and the least you should be aiming for i.e at least every 3 hours. . Does she have plenty of wet nappies, done a good few poos so far? If so then she sounds like she's doing very well as are you. 4.5 hours at night is fine too, you are supplying her with sleepy hormones in the evening so she may go for longer then than in the day.

Well done you. Keep breastfeeding her, lots of skin to skin contact. She's still very little she'll be awake more often and for longer soon.

My DD is 7 weeks old, and in the first week she slept all the time, including a stretch of 6 hours one night, then 5 hours the next. I just fed her when she wanted, and she gained weight just fine.

I can't say don't worry as I'm no expert, but I just enjoyed the lengthy sleeps when they happened, and the MW didn't seem to think it was a problem. Sadly, the longest she's slept since the first week is 4 hours at a stretch! She's now sleeping a hell of a lot less.

Count yourself lucky and enjoy! A friend of mine had a baby who slept through (11pm-6am) from day one. He's a healthy and happy 3 year old, and has never had a night feed. Good luck and congratulations on your new baby!