Feeding newborn

[hhave]

Hi there,

We got back from the hospital today and as we left the midwife said we should feed the baby every 3 hrs. The thing is she doesn’t want to wake and it’s been 6hrs since her last feed. Do we wake her or wait till she wakes up?

[karanewbz]

hey my midwife when i had my little one is wake them up to feed them even if they only have a little bit . i dont no if thats any help to you

[Hidden]

Hi.

Congrats with your newborn. If your baby is not waking up, you won't be able to feed him/her. The advice my midwife gave me after I gave birth is to feed on demand. When baby is hungry, you feed him/her. I never had an issue of my son sleeping too long but I remember him waking up every 1,5 h to feed. I would suggest you try to catch some sleep while you can.

[xvanillaskyx in reply to Hidden]

Yes well put 👍

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Forgot to add, if a t any time you are worried about your baby's feeding patterns, health or you just feel that something is not right, call your midwife/health visitor/maternity unit where you gave birth and ask for advice. They are always there to try to help you.

[xvanillaskyx]

As zane said don’t worry about the every three hour thing, your babies tummy is tiny right now and might want feeding more often than that at times and might sleep a bit more others, go with the flow if you can, as long as baby is having a good number of wet nappies every day and is putting weight on they will be fine. Congratulations on the birth of your baby 🌼🎉🎈

[ChrisWest1983]

My baby was tiny when he was born so each gram he put on was celebrated. He was one of those babies who sleep little and ate very fast - so he was fed every 1,5h , but once he slept few hours - I woke him up to feed, just so he gets his feed. I told my mum that I was waking up my baby for feed and she said I am crazy- baby will wake up when hungry.

When baby was a bit older I would dreamfeed him - even now at 5momths- if during the Night hes wriggling and makes noise like eating but too tired to actually wake up

Friend thinks her supply went down because baby was very young and started sleeping solid 8h at night.

You must go with a gut feeling or ask midwife for an advice.x

[sweetilemon]

Wake them up. It's a vicious cycle, the longer they sleep the less they feed and the more sleepy the are, making jaundice work. This happened to my daughter, once I started waking her up to feed, the more alert she got and the more she woke for feeds. I was told they should feed at least 8 times in 24hrs and not let any sleep last longer that 4hrs. You won't need to always wake them once they start getting enough food. If they lose too much weight they end up back in hospital so it is worth it x

[Hopeful1982 in reply to sweetilemon]

I agree with this. Wake them during the day to ensure hey are putting on weight and hydrated enough. My lb used to sleep for long periods and ended up losing weight twice! Plus if they are going to sleep a bit longer it's better (for you) that they do it through the night! Congratulations and good luck! x

[Hidden]

Congratulations! My health visitor told me not to leave it longer than six hours so if it got that long I would wake her to feed. This lasted a week and we honestly thought we had this new born thing down and didn’t know what everyone was moaning about... then bam she was every 2 hours like clockwork! 😂 like they say above, enjoy the sleep whilst you can!

[Lyndsaytw79]

Wake her definitely

[Mayyybaaabaaay]

100% wake her. She’s new to the world she needs all

The goodness she can get. Congratulations on your little bundle xxx

[Mum-of-three-to-be]

My prem daughter needed feeding every 2 hours and wasn't loud enough to cry when hungry. By the time I wind her and put her downmore than an hour passed so by the next feed 3 hours had passed. She was fine and grew fast.

My full term baby would let me know when her next feed was due by wringling and making noises.

Once she slept for more than 6 hours ( she was at least few weeks old) and I panicked and tried to wake her up. I felt so sorry to interfere with her nice sleep, just because I wasn't used to such a big gap. She never slept again that long until after the age of 2yrs.

As yours is newborn it might be a different case. Do you express milk if baby sleeps so long?

You can put baby to breast in their skeep and feed them too.

[roxannacar]

My daughter now 5 weeks feeds every 2-3 hours... 6 hours is a long time not to feed for a new born. Are they bottle or breast? If you're giving them huge amount via bottle that could be the reason... they tend to start with 1 oz or so very often. If that's not the case and they're still drowsy and not feeding I'd call midwife/post natal ward for advice or see your gp

[Deekkk]

Hi my baby used to be the same. I remember we would be looking at her sleeping and wondering if we should wake her. The fear as new parents. The trouble was she would be so sleepy she wouldn't feed. In all the antenatal classes they said to feed on demand but to make sure the baby is fed at least every 3 hrs as their tummies are tiny.

We would be looking at het sleepinh and not know what to do. I used to try not let it go over 6hrs. The best advice I got was from a midwife as I explained to her that the baby was too tired and wouldn't wake to feed. She said that the baby is too cosy and to take her baby grow off before feeding. When my baby was a newborn I used to always change her nappy first...this gave her time to wake up. She did lose weight due to tongue tie but was back to her birth weight in a week. She had also always been thriving and always in the 50% weight range which I have been told is unusual for a breastfed baby.

I think it's best to use your own judgment. Just don't let her sleep too long all the time. Also watch the room temperature and blankets.

P.s you are doing super. Keep up the good work mamma.

[ChrisWest1983 in reply to Deekkk]

So jealous of your baby sleeping so hard...

we even did not manage to do a baby photo shoot as he has been alert since came out of me 😔 Wakes up by littlest noise. First night in the hospital he was waking up every 1,5h so I was feeding him so he stop crying and making noises and waking up other babies- often one would start and then other 4 would join in from different rooms 😱

My boy was born on 9th percentile - full term but only 6lb1oz and exclusively breastfed and at 5,5 months we are on around 17th percentile.

Friends both boys exclusively breastfed- both in 95th percentile! Same with my sisters boy. I think it all depends... one exclusively formula fed baby girl 7,5m old and weighs as much as my 5,5 months old boy (around 15lb) and formula fed boy 3 months old is 17lb... they each are unique...

[emmab178]

You'll find out of they are losing weight if its a problem. Keep track of wet and dirty nappies.

Mine was feeding every 8 hours in hospital but her glucose level was low. So now we feed every 3 hours.

Change the nappy just before the feed. Cold water flannel on the bits gets their eyes open! If they sleep whilst feeding tickle the feet. Gets them sucking again.

Its ok saying feed on demand but there only do much energy baby has after being born. Your day 5 weight check should determine how feeding is going.

We are now using formula top up till my milk gets going.

Good luck x