Question for breastfeeding moms.....

My baby is 16 days old. My dr. said we need to wake the baby up every 2-3 hrs from the beginning of the last feeding to feed her. Most of the time, I am waking her up and she is not waking up on her own....how long do you continue to wake a baby up while they are sleeping? Is that something that you have to do for as long as you are breastfeeding? Will it always be every 2-3 hours or will it be longer as she gets older. TIA!!

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

Hi! Congratulations on your baby!! As far as waking her up... GOOD NEWS--- THIS DOESNT LAST FOR TOO LONG!!! Its really just in the beginning...maybe for like a month or so until your milk supply is established and the dr sees that the baby is thriving and growing well. So don't worry, I know right now you are probably exhausted and you feel like all you do is feed her, this is only temporary and won't last too long... Good Luck!!

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

My doctor (and Lactation Consultant)told me to wake DD every 3 hours during the day, every 4-5 hours at night until she was about 6 weeks old. Then she could go as long as she wanted at night- but I was still to feed her every 3 hours during the day.

Luckily- DD was pretty good about waking on her own to eat.

And NO- you will NOT be doing this forever. I think the main reason for this is to make sure you establish a healthy milk supply. By 10 weeks old, DD had a pretty good feeding schedule.

Now, at 6.5 months, she still nurses every 4 hours during the day, although we are slowly replacing 1 of those with solids only.

Good luck and congrats to you! BFing is HARD WORK- but totally worth it. I thought I would wean her by 6 months, but have now decided to go to a year.

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

I have had such a huge supply from day 1 that I always had to get up regardless. sometimes I woke him, others I just took a shower to get some milk out.

good luck! day 16, the tough part is already over

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

i actualy never woke up DC. In the beginning, he would take daytime naps for up to 4 hours and i just took the time to clean or rest myself. When he was up, I felt like I was nursing all the time for the first 10 weeks at least.

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

we did this for the first month until she gained back the weight she lost at birth.
As soon as we saw she was gaining, the dr. said every 3 hrs is OK. At night, we let her sleep, and she goes as much as 5 hrs sometimes, but during the day now I don't let her go past 4hr.

I found the hardest part for me was that when I woke her up (instead of her waking on her own) she wouldn't eat because she wasn't hungry. How do you force that? So, towards the end I would let her sleep and she'd wake up 2 1/2 to 3 hrs on her own.

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

Well I only made sure DD ate every 2-3hrs during the day. At night I let her wake me up. She never lasted more than 4hrs though in the very begininng. Although I wouldn't necessarily wait til she cried. Any little peep she made I shoved a boob in her mouth which probably contributed to my oversupply issues. I got engorged so many times those first few weeks.

Re: Question for breastfeeding moms.....

At first i was waking her up and then the peds said i could just let her sleep at night time, that way i didnt get her used to waking up. So i stopped and she slept great, now at 3 months old she wakes up on her own every 3 hours for feedings.. ackkkk.. so enjoy the sleep while you get it.