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Would you wake a young baby?

8 replies

Rosieposie9 · 05/02/2019 11:01

My baby is 4 weeks old, was born at full term, healthy weight and never lost her birth weight, she gained weight consistently at all appointments. She is Breast fed and during the day feeds around every 2 hours at least. If she sleeps longer than 2 hours during the day I generally attempt to feed her to get as much into her as possible as it seems to help night times. She will feed without waking quite easily.

At night I normally do a last feed before I go to bed around 10/11pm and she has generally been sleeping for around 4 to 5 hours before waking for a feed. She generally then goes back to sleep until the morning. Last night I woke up around 5.30 which would have been 6.5 hours since her last feed and she was sound asleep. I fed her without her waking and she stayed asleep until I woke her around 8.30. My family all think I'm crazy and say I should never wake a sleeping baby but in my antenatal classes we were specifically told babies should feed every 4 hours and should be woken if they haven't woken up for a feed, we were also told we should set alarms etc. Should I worry about her sleeping for longer periods of time at 4 weeks old? The other issue I have is that with breastfeeding I often feel like I need to feed her after 4 hours for my own comfort but don't want to wake her just for that. I never expected her to be dropping night feeds so early on especially whilst BF.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
callieisdoingit · 05/02/2019 11:04

Follow your baby's lead they will let you know when they are hungry. If they sleep for longer than 4 hours then let them.

Reccy2018 · 05/02/2019 11:07

Agree with callie...

OMGithurts · 05/02/2019 11:08

If it was a teeny baby, or one who wasn't gaining well, or wasn't having 8+ feeds over the course of the day then I would wake, but now for you I wouldn't, except for your own comfort. Bear in mind your baby's stomach can hold between 10 and 30 times the volume it could at birth.

Would you wake a young baby?

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Wallsbangers · 05/02/2019 12:31

No. And I wouldn't count your chickens about sleeping through/dropping feeds just yet.

FlagFish · 05/02/2019 12:33

Personally I wouldn't wake her to feed.

Jackshouse · 05/02/2019 12:36

I wouldn’t wake a healthy thriving 4 week old to feed unless your boobs were uncomfortable.

Rosieposie9 · 05/02/2019 13:17

Thanks for the responses. Definitely not counting any chickens about sleeping through...

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Babbaganoush · 05/02/2019 13:19

The idea that newborns need to feed every 4 hours and should be woken to do so is really outdated advice. If your baby wasn't gaining weight or was premature, then there would be reason to have a tighter feeding schedule but from what you describe, your baby seems to be thriving so I would just be totally led by her. She will wake when she is hungry.

Responsive feeding works both ways though, and if you need her to feed because you are uncomfortable then by all means offer the breast/dream feed her.

Its also worth mentioning that the hormone that is responsible for milk production peaks between 2-4am so they often instinctively want to feed around then in order to establish/maintain your supply.

Congratulations on your baby by the way Thanks

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