Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

The pediatrician says yes, every 2-3 hours. But it's so hard for me especially when my baby is in the sleep mode all the time.

Then i've heard people say just feed the baby when he cries that he's hungry but if I do that then he won't drink what he's supposed to. It's like he won't be getting enough to eat I think. Especially if the baby likes to sleep for hours.

So now my baby's last feeding was 9:43 am. He fell asleep at 10:30. Should I wake him at 12:30 or 1:00 P.M. ? He only had 1 1/2 ounces at his last feeding.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Many people will give you a lot of different answers on this. A lot of the time that you wake a child during the day is to get them accustomed to day and night and not mix it up...my ped suggested this right off the bat.

I personally used a 4 hour rule...4 hours from the time I STARTED feeding her, I woke her up to feed her and did the same every four hours until about 8 or 9 at night where we would let her sleep as long as she could between feedings...if she seemed hungry anytime after 3 hours we fed her, but 4 was our basis because she slept so much...

This worked for us. Soon she was sleeping from 9:30 ish -2 am and then 3 am....pretty soon she was on a set four hour schedule and only waking once every 5-6 hours at night by 8 weeks...she had good days and days where she was hungrier...but trust me they will let you know...

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

4 hours as in you woke her every 4 hours during the day?

Was she drinking enough though at every feeding?

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I never woke mine. In the beginning, she was only taking about 2 ounces every 4 hours. Sometimes she would stretch it to every 5-6 hours. I always waited for her to wake up. At 7 weeks, she now takes 4 ounces just about every 4 hours during the day. Sometimes it still stretches to 5-6 hours, and then I think she catches up by being hungry after just 3 hours. She is sleeping from about 10pm until 7:30am. I always wait until she is hungry to feed her. My ped told me not to let her go more than 4 hours without eating, but I really believed in demand feeding rather than feeding on a schedule, so I waited for her to demand food! She's growing and gaining, so it is working for us.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I never woke my DD up for a feeding she pretty much would wake up on h er own sometimes she would sleep an extra hour but when she woke up on her own thats when I fed her

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Message edited 6/14/2006 1:04:23 PM.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I agree with Kelly - after 4 hours they should be getting up for a feeding.

I used the 2-3 hour rule in the beginning. I was paranoid because my sister didn't realize her newborn wasn't getting any breastmilk. After she slept for 5 hours, she called a lactation consultant who made her bring the baby over at 2am. My niece was dehydrated & lethargic (which is why she wasn't waking for feedings).

I realized I've just scared every new mom on the board. The key is COUNT the DIAPERS. If your baby is peeing/pooping, they're ok.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Wow, I'd say no...

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I have never woke her up to feed her.....

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Then how are they supposed to get the amount of ounces that they are supposed to have over a 24 hour period if they are never woken up?

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

This was my reply to your other thread:

The 2nd day my son was home he slept 8 hrs I always thought "don't wake a sleeping baby" so I let him sleep. But when I told the ped he told me not to let him sleep more than 4 hrs for formula and not more than 2 hrs for breast milk. His reasoning was if you let him sleep 8 hrs, he's missing out on a feeding and therefore a chance to get calories. I never woke him up at night though. During the day I used to let him sleep 3hrs max in b/w breast feedings. This was only for the first couple of weeks though since the ped said he wanted to see him back to his birth weight by 3 weeks.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I woke my newborn up b/c I wanted her to be up more during the day and less at night!
But also my doctor said not to let her go more than 4 hours during the day...

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I never woke her to feed her, she had no problems letting me know she was hungry.

eta: my ped told me not to wake her either...

Message edited 6/14/2006 7:45:55 PM.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I don't wake Kerri to feed her...she lets me know when she is hungry. I have been getting the right amount of formula in her each day.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

I didn't wake her up to feed her. As long as she makes diapers, and is growing I didn't worry.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

We did in the beginning because she was jaundice, then we kept waking her because I was paranoid even though everyone told me we were crazy.

At about 3 weeks the ped said we could let her go 5 or so hours at night, but she never really went that long without waking up.

Re: Should a baby be woken up for a feeding or not?

never in my wildest dreams could I imagine waking a baby who is sleeping soundly to feed him or her!! Unless of course, there was a prematurity or low birth weight issue of some kind. If there are enough wet and dirty diapers during the day, let the baby sleep!