Does a NB neeed to be woken up to feed?

Question

Okay this has been bugging me ever since I found out... my best friend had a baby 3 weeks ago and is allowing him to sleep 5-6 hours at night without feeding him.  And the only reason she does feed him then is because he wakes up, if he didn't she wouldn't feed him.  Aren't newborns supposed to be woke up to feed every 2-3 hours?  Maybe I'm wrong here.

leighanne143 · Answer

hospitals now tell you to feed your baby every 4 hours and thats what they have you do at the hospital.  but when i got home i fed my new born every 3 hours for the first 2 weeks.  then the last appt, his doctor said let him sleep as long as he wants during the night without waking him but make sure you feed him every 3-4 hours during the day.  mind you i only had him 4 weeks ago so this info is pretty recent.   I would say if you infant sleeps more than 5 hours i would wake them up but aything under let them sleep.

each parent has a diffiferent approach.  you will even see online lots of debates between feeding "on demand" as apposed to exactly every certain amounts of hours.

jen_nifer · Answer

i am a pediatric nurse for babies under 4 months you need to feed them every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours during the night.  If you let them go longer they can have problems with their blood sugar, temperature regulation and have problems growing and developing normally.  By 4 months you can let them start going every 2-4 hours during the day and every 3-5 hours during the night depending on the babies desire to eat.

bryanarae · Answer

I never woke my son up to eat. I asked my doctor if I should have been, and he said to let him sleep as long of periods as he wanted. It's a different story though if they are under weight or premature, because then they need the food to sustain their weight and to gain more. But if they new born is healthy and is eating enough during the day, let the baby sleep at night. My son started sleeping the night, and I mean 8 to 10 hours, and 7 weeks and my doctor was ecstatic for us. You shouldn't feed a baby unless they are hungry anyways, and trust me, babies let you know when they are hungry! lol

pookie1121 · Answer

I never woke my baby up to nurse.  If she slept 5-6 hours at night, I enjoyed it :)  She started doing that on a regular basis at about 8 weeks first though...

I had a friend that used to set the alarm and wake her baby up in the middle of the night....and it took a VERY VERY VERY VERY long time for her baby to sleep through the night!

coincidence?!? :)

nutz19 · Answer

my son slept through thed night from a week and a half thats 11pm-6am without feeding

kjbutcher · Answer

When my son was that young I definately welcomed a 5 hr break.  he did however eat in smaller intervals when he was awake.  He may eat every hour to two hours while awake but then sleep for 5-6 hours.  I knew that he was eating what he was supposed to in a 24 hour period.  I know it sounds scary when you read the same thing over and over, but when you are a mom, you figure it out and tailor it to your childs specific needs.  
I know people would be on me all of the time about it and i would wake AJ up in front of them, he would scream for an hour to two hours before he would even put the nipple in his mouth...time that would have been better spent with both of us sleeping.

GRose · Answer

I think that by 3 weeks it is not necessary to wake a baby up but any younger, yes, you are supposed to wake them up every 2-3 hours. 
When you are in the hospital the nurses come in the room to make sure that you are feeding every 3 hours.

JoyRenee · Answer

It's all good, spade! I can't tell you how many posts I skim and say something not even related to what the question was. You at least provided relevant information, LOL!

ArmyPrincess819 · Answer

I never woke my kids up and they all stept 7-7 w/o waking up for a feeding. Believe me if the baby is hungry you will know. Let them sleep....

AP

carisa · Answer

I have twins who are almost 4 weeks old and I would welcome them to sleep 5 hrs at night! If they would sleep for that long I would definitely let them sleep and feed them when they wake up. During the day, they feed on average every three hours. They are growing like weeds.

chantal21 · Answer

Jeremiah used to sleep 3 - 4 1/2 hours straight when he was a NB. He wasn't even a week old when he started doing that and it was only at night he would sleep that long. During the day he nursed every 1-2 hours. I was just thankful to be able to get that sleep during the night and I think it really helped me. Honestly at that stage I probably couldn't have waited more than 4-5 hours to feed him because I would be engorged and in pain. I think it's okay. If he is under weight, then that would cause problems, but if he is healthy and gaining properly, I wouldn't be too concerned.

spade22 · Answer

-yes, you are right Joy and I also missed the part that the newborn is "3 weeks old".  In that case a 5h stretch is probably ok provided baby is getting enough milk during the day.

How was his growth at the 2 week check-up?  Did his pediatrician seem concerned about anything?

JoyRenee · Answer

But 5-6 hours of sleep at a time in the middle of the night isn't bad. If it was throughout the day and night that she didn't feed him/her for 5 hours or more that would be a problem. I think the original poster is just talking about during the middle of the night for no more than 6 hours. That's perfectly acceptable.

spade22 · Answer

You are not wrong!  Most doctors will agree that a newborn should be woken up to feed every 2-3 h.  The reason is that at that age, they dont necessarily have the ability to wake up on their own when hungry and its important that they feed on a regular basis to prevent, for example, a drop in blood sugar levels which can be dangerous for baby.

JoyRenee · Answer

You seem to be really concerned about many details of your friend's baby. Newborns do not have to be woken up to eat unless they are sick or are under-weight. If they will sleep, a mom is going to let them sleep.