Should I wake up an 18 day old baby to feed?

[skris4]

My son has been sleeping in 5 hour stretches for the past 2 days and I wake him up at that point to feed. My mother thinks this is too long and that I should wake him up at 3 hours to feed.
He feeds 11-12 times a day And in the evening before sleeping he feeds every 1-1.5 hours . He was born 5lbs 14oz and lost a little
Bit of weight but he weighed 6lbs 9oz on day 12 . Should I wake him up
More often like my mom says ?

 

[loeylo]

Nooo!

He's putting weight on fine, he is obviously content if he is sleeping that long. Aside from the first night in hospital I have never woke my daughter for a feed. Believe me, they let you know if they are hungry! It would be different if he wasn't gaining weight but my daughter slept 6 or so hours at that age and she is fine.

 

[xMissxZoiex]

I was told by the NICU when my LO was born that you should NEVER let a baby younger than 6 weeks go for longer than 4 hours as it can effect their blood sugar. I stuck to that personally but never woke my LO always dream fed him. xx

 

[stellababy]

Unless there are special circumstances, I wouldn't wake a sleeping baby. I would be happy for the 5 hour sleep opportunity!!

 

[Megandelv88]

I would wake baby. Thats what newborns do, they sleep. You should wake baby to feed for sure. Im sure there's information regarding this on other sites also. Besides, unless you have a scale, you don't know if your baby is gaining well until the first month appointment.

 

[love.peace]

Yes I would wake to feed every 3 hours during the day and let him sleep 4 hours at night. Babies sleep and need milk regularly. Congratulations x

 

[Lucasmum]

I personally wouldn't wake for a feed, at that young I would dream feed, sometimes they would feed and obviously needed it others they weren't interested but I had peace of mind they had tried

 

[LoveCakes]

My midwife said one spell of 5hrs then 3hourly. That's was for the first few weeks. Then as long as they were gaining weight just go with the flow.

 

[skris4]

Thanks ladies . I must have been sleep deprived writing this because my son feeds every 1-3 hours during the Day. He sleep ONE 5 hour stretch at night and this is what I wanted to ask about. Yesterday he fed frequently during the day and continuously from 6-10pm. I let him sleep from 10pm and woke him up at 2 am but honestly wish I could let him sleep longer .

 

[noon_child]

If your baby has regained birthweight by 2 weeks old, usually rouses on his own to feed and is otherwise healthy, then one 5hr stretch at night should be fine. No-one on here can give you advice really as we aren't your health professionals but it sounds to me like he stocks up during the day in order to sleep a bit longer at night. As long as he does wake himself after the 5hr stretch and it isn't a struggle to wake him then it sounds like this is just the routine he likes. Ask your health professional as they know more about your individual baby and health needs.

 

[noon_child]

Besides, unless you have a scale, you don't know if your baby is gaining well until the first month appointment.

Is this what happens in New Zealand? In the UK baby is weighed at 3 days and again every few days till baby has got back to birth weight. After that, mum's are able to access weighing clinics whenever they like to check baby's weight.