middle of the night feeding question?

for night time feedings, do you wait for your DC to fully wake up to eat or do you wake them up when they are just stirring/fussing/grunting/stretching? DS is 6.5 weeks old and he will stir/fuss/grunt/stretch and sometimes open his eyes for an hour before he actually wakes up crying to eat. I'm not sure if it's better to pick him up while he's doing this or should I just wait until he's actually wide awake and crying to eat. For example, last night I first heard him at 2 am moving around making noises. I got up and pumped, washed everything and went back to the bedroom and just laid there waiting for him to wake up. He didn't wake up till 3:15.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I let DD wake herself up. I started at 2.5 weeks. She sometimes sleeps 4-5 hours at night. Ped said it was ok.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I have always waited for DD to wake on her own.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I let DS wake himself, he usually wakes up fussing but I know he's hungry b/c he goes 5 hours at night. I would try feeding when DC is up and fussing as long as it's been awhile...I just couldn't be up that long waiting for him to just cry. DC will eat if hungry.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

i always wait for DS to wake up. mostly because i only wake up when i hear him crying for a bottle. i dont hear the fussiness.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I actually have been picking up my 10 week old DS before he's crying. When we hear him fussing, we usually wait a bit but if we hear him making mouth movements (like he's sucking) I take that as a cue that he's hungry and we pick him up and feed him. I figure if he's up crying, he's past just being a little hungry. He's going 6-7 hours now though.

I say if you hear him fuss, wait a bit and see what happens. Maybe touch his cheek to see if he turns towards you, the rooting reflex only happens when babies are hungry. Look to see if he's moving his mouth, etc. Just my opinion. It's working for us. By picking him up before he screams, we're able to change his diaper (which he hates if he's hungry) he can't stand to wait.

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I do not wake him to eat, I feed him when he cries...he is 14 weeks old

Re: middle of the night feeding question?

I wait until I know it's a real cry. She grunts a LOT in her sleep, so I try to let her work through whatever she is trying to push out. Usually she'll grunt for a few then back out.

It's when it turns into a whimper that I'll get up and nurse and she'll pass right back out.

Message edited 12/15/2009 8:55:44 PM.