Waking Baby to Feed at Nite

Hi Joylynn,
I was told to NEVER wake a sleeping baby to eat unless they are not gaining weight. If she is gaining weight and seems happy, then I would just feed on demand. My daughter was about 2-3 months old when she started sleeping through the night. She was eating formula AND breastmilk, was gaining weight and was very healthy. Be happy that she is a good sleep right now. I also recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for age appropriate sleep needs and cycles.
Sincerely,
L.

2 moms found this helpful

My twins started to sleep 6-7 hours around 5 weeks, and we didn't wake them. If she will sleep, let her sleep. When she's hungry she will let you know. My kids never starved while sleeping.

1 mom found this helpful

let her sleep...you are blessed with a good sleeper! (for now :))

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NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY! Unless she was premature or has serious neurological issues that make her sleep/wake/feeding pattern irregular, let that baby sleep!
The reason why she is only nursing for 5 minutes at a time is because you aren't letting her get hungry so she never takes a full feeding - also, when you do nurse her, undress her down to a onesie (even take it off completely and leave her in a diaper only) so that she is awake and alert, not falling asleep, and will nurse a full feeding.
Nearly all pediatricians, mothers, and people who work with infants and have had infants themselves will recommend "on demand" feeding for babies - they cry, you feed them. No waking them up, their bodies will let them known when to let YOU know they are hungry.

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I was told to wake the baby during the night to nurse for the first two weeks. After that, to let her wake up on her own overnight if she was hungry. Then just wake her up in the morning when it's time to start the day. So you are probably just fine. Get some sleep for yourself. :)

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I woke my first one regularly but I don't think I needed to. With number two, I didn't. She was gaining weight at a normal rate and there were no worries about her milk intake, so I let that child sleep. And let me tell you... I was a better mother for it. She was sleeping and eating fine during the day and I was sleeping and happy.

Let her sleep! :)

Sweet dreams!

If you're nursing, as long as your supply is well established and your daughter is gaining weight and alert and happy during the day, there is no need to wake her for night feedings. I was told in the hospital with both my kids to continue waking at night for the first 3-4 weeks and by then my supply should be well established and as long as my kids were still gaining weight no need to continue that. Good luck and be happy you have a great sleeper so young.

I remember being told that babies can sleep through the night (technically only five hours, though, I think) at 13 lbs. However, what I remember best is our pediatrician telling us to stop waking our son at 10pm to feed. Our son was born 11 weeks early at 2 lbs, 6 oz, and he was in the NICU for six weeks. While there, he was fed every four hours. When we brought him home, we continued this (and fed him whenever he seemed hungry, though the nurses had him on a pretty good schedule by then). I think it wasn't until a couple of months after my son's theoretical due date when the doc told us that waking up our son at 10pm to feed was basically training him to wake at 10pm and that we needed to stop doing this. I think you should ask your pediatrician for advice, but I am pretty certain that you can stop waking your child once she is 13 lbs. Many people never wake a sleeping baby, and their kids seem to do just fine, too.

Are you nuts??? Never wake a sleeping baby... you'll get more sleep if you just let her sleep and be the one to wake you up when she's hungry.