Do You Wake To Feed?

[westbrja]

I was very fortunate to have both my babies be very good sleepers at an early age. I didn't wake them to feed. I co-slpet with DS and would just latch him on when he woke. Now that I look back I wonder if that is what caused problems with my supply because I didn't wake them throughout the night. Any advice or thoughts on this?

 

[Lu28]

I think if you just feed on demand, your body will produce the right amount of milk for your baby. I certainly wouldnt' wake a baby at night for a feed!

 

[sun]

I never woke up LO at night to feed, though was told by my midwife to make sure he ate every 3h during the day. Not that that was an issue though, since he ate every 2h all day and all night. Now he is sleeping longer between feeds, I still wouldn't wake him to eat. He is gaining weight like crazy so I think it's fine.
xx

 

[vineyard]

I don't wake mine but they are like little clocks...every 3 hours. I can't wait until they start going longer! I do wake them during the day though.

 

[TigerLady]

Lots say to not let a brand new baby go more than 4 hours without a feed. At least for a few weeks.

Personally, I like the idea of feeding on demand, but if you have had trouble in the past, you might consider waking every 4 hours until you are sure your supply is well established.

 

[jovi_girl]

no way.

We stayed in the hospital 2 nights, and they made me wake Thomas every 6 hours to feed him, which i understand, but was really impossible as even when i completely stripped him naked, changed his nappy, tickled his feet and wet his face (all in the middle of winter too!) he still wouldnt wake up properly and would then latch on lazily and i ended up with cracked nipples.

Once we got home, i stopped waking him during the night, and he naturally started waking every 3-4 hours during the day. And im so glad i did. It set up good sleeping habits from a very early age, my nipples healed and we have a great breastfeeding bond. Ive fed on demand ever since. And Thomas is a chunky, happy, healthy lil man, and should be the poster child for breastfeeding.

 

[polaris]

I had to wake Thomas every three hours the first week as he had a bit of jaundice and wouldn't wake for feeds and was very floppy. But after about 5 days he started waking up himself. I definitely wouldn't wake him now!!

 

[Lucy Lu]

I woke our LO for the first 3 wks or so for a feed as he arrived at 36+6wks and was jaundiced and drowsy and struggling to latch on - advice from the midwife.

He's 2 and a half months now though and has just started sleeping through the night, but I wouldn't wake him now as it's not related to his early problems.

I've been so paranoid about supply (unnecessarily), that next time around, if we had a baby that slept through from the start, I would probably feel like I wanted to wake them just for the first few weeks until I was confident the milk supply had established. I'm not sure I would advise this though - I think it's more a paranoia I have to overcome!

You could just pump a bit in between feeds if you're concerned about supply. That way you wouldn't unnecessarily encourage them to demand a feed at night if they're happy to sleep through, but would still be stimulating the milk flow a bit more.

 

[avabear73]

I agree with Lucy Lu, for supply reasons I would pump in the middle of the night if baby wasn't waking. Especially in the early days when you are trying to build up a good supply, the night feeds/expressions are very important and I would be reluctant just to leave them (although all that sleep sounds tempting!!!). Finlay still wakes up once through the night and I'm glad because it keeps my supply up AND means my boobs aren't exploding come morning!!!

 

[TheNewWife]

Emma's been sleeping through the night since she was about 3 weeks old. She sleeps between 10.5 and 11.5 straight hours every night and I would never wake her to feed. I am exploding in the morning but that's what a pump is for

 

[TigerLady]

Emma's been sleeping through the night since she was about 3 weeks old. She sleeps between 10.5 and 11.5 straight hours every night

SUUUUURRRE! Rub it in, TNW!


hahaha!