When Can Scheduled Feedings Change?

I never woke my son, he always let us know when he was hungry day and night. Upon leaving the hospital I was informed that it was okay to have one stretch of 4-5 hrs. They usually will not go longer than that anyhow.

Unless she has a rare disorder she does NOT need to be woken to eat. There's an old adage:

"Never wake a sleeping baby"

Yes there are times when that's unavoidable, but really, it's a very very good rule of thumb.

Feeding on schedules comes from the days when formulas were pretty dangerous to feed too often. No breastfed baby (without a rare disorder) needs to be on a schedule. You just feed them when they're hungry. Look for their cues. They DO evolve their own schedules that you can count on, right up until their needs change (growth spurts, larger tummies, cluster feeding, etc.), and then *that* will evolve into a schedule, and then it will change again. These days even formulas are safe enough to feed on demand. Babies don't have wants yet, they have needs. So in a lot of way babies are the easiest to parent, because there is no dithering between wants and needs. They have a need, you fill it. Easy peasy. (<laughing> Well, most of the time... sleep dep makes even easy things Herculean efforts from time to time)

That's actually a phrase to google... "feeding on demand", as there is not only a ton of good info out there, but as it's also the method recommended by the American Medical Assoc, lactation consultants, la leche league, and physiological psychologists. One better... it's INSTINCTUAL. Your baby get's *that* look, or *that* cry, and your breasts start to fill up. It's pretty neat. Totally chemical. And healthy. So follow those instincts, mama! :)

One of my favorite "things to remember"

- Babies have needs
- Children have wants
- Adults have agendas

It only flows downhill. Children don't have agendas (that tantrum being thrown by a kindergartner isn't a plan to get mommy or daddy fired from work by being late, it's just that they want X, and they want it NOW. Purely x, pure emotion boiling out of them as they're thwarted from something they want and can't have), and babies don't have wants. The "terrible 2's or 3's" is when you can literally *watch* your baby turn into a child as they develop "wants". It's really super fun to watch (when you can step back and quit pulling out your hair). Ditto it's super fun to watch children start to transition into adults as they start developing their own agendas.

But yah... feeding on demand... check it out.

Let her sleep.
That is what our Pediatrician said.
I breastfed both my kids.
That is what I did.
She will wake if hungry.
But DO keep feeding on-demand of course... especially during "cluster-feeding" periods or growth-spurts.

If she's gaining weight, feed her "on demand," which is what most BFing moms do. Just feed her when she's hungry.

To those who stated not to wake her, feed on demand, support continueing to breastfeed - - I agree with! Good times are ahead Momma!

on the rare occasion that my daughter would sleep more than two hrs at a time--when she was that young--I just let her sleep. I've always fed my daughter on demand and she began sleeping in longer stretches around 8wks old. now at four months she sleeps in 5 or 6 hr stretches before waking to nurse at night. Your daughter will be fine if you let her sleep--as long as it is not accessive and she's still gaining weight.

We followed the 'every three hours' (or sooner if he asked for it) feeding pattern pretty strictly with our first child, waking him to feed. With our second, however, we let him tell us when he was hungry. Now, certainly we didn't starve him or let him go too long without feeding, but we were not a slave to the clock with the second one. If he wanted to eat after 2 1/2 hours or 4 1/2 hours, we fed him. Otherwise, if he was asleep and he was peaceful we didn't interrupt him.

Our first child was given breastmilk and he wanted to eat every 2 to 2 1/2 hours for a while. I have absolutely no evidence to back my claim, but I have heard that breastfed babies feed more often and that nursing/feeding on demand at such a young age really is best practice.

I found that if I stuck with the every 3 hours during the day than at night he would sleep for longer periods. He was an excellent sleeper from day one... ok maybe day two! So by all mean get all the sleep you can get at night, she'll let you know when she is ready to eat, but stick to feeding her on demand during the day or about every 3 hours.

As long as your baby is not having any problems gaining weight it is okay to feed her when she tells you she is hungry. If she is sleeping, let her sleep and she will wake when she is hungry. I nursed my son on demand and at 3 weeks he would only go about 4 hours at most between feedings.

Unless your baby is underweight or has a medical reason, do not wake her. Feed her when she's hungry and let her sleep when she is tired. I have never gotten the schedule thing. Babies will form their own schedule if given the chance. It makes life much easier for you and the baby.

When she has gained her birth weight back and you feed every 2-3 hours during the day, you can usually stop waking them during the night. She may go 3-4 hours then. Good Luck-this time passes go quickly. Enjoy!

I was told the same thing as you have been. My daughter ended up being on an eating schedule of every 2 hours even through the night. This didn't change until she was 5 months old. I believe that if the weight is good then they should be feed as they want it (within reason). I don't think my daughter would have been so steadfast to the "schedule" if I hadn't followed the doctors directions to wake her up ect.

I have twin girls who were 6 weeks preemie and when they came home at 9 days old I immediately took them to a 4 hour schedule (the hospital had them on a 2-3 hour schedule). Babies grow when they sleep, not just when they eat. They have to be well rested to nurse well at the breast. DO NOT wake her up! :) You need sleep too and you are establishing bad sleeping habits for her. She will wake up when she wants to eat. Sometimes she might even go 4 or 5 hours. It is okay. My twins slept through the night at 6 weeks old (10 pm - 5 am) and by 4 months were sleeping 7 pm - 7 am.

DON'T WAKE A SLEEPING BABY! If she was a preemie or there is some medical reason to wake her to make sure she feeds every 2 hours at night, then that is something you have to discuss with your doctor, otherwise, don't wake her. Just let her sleep. Same goes during the day, if she wakes and you nurse her and she goes down for a nap, wait until she wakes up to nurse again. Nursing every 3 hours is about right at 3 weeks for during the day, I think, but again, I wouldn't wake her. I'd say around 4 months she should be able to go every 4 hours - like you said, not on schedule, but she'll probably wait longer to show signs of hunger.

I would wait and see how long she slept first , babies won't starve themselves so she must be satisfied to be able to sleep and 3 hrs really isn't that long. If it were me , if we got to 5 hrs and she was still not waking then I would feed her.

You don't need to wake her up at night if she does not ask to nurse. Pediatricians don't mind if they sleep hours at night without being fed. Actually this is the goal to establish good bedtime habits. My little one once or twice went almost 10h without nursing. I woke up at 7am worried and not believing we were all still sleeping. She is 3 months now and a chubby one.