Did You Wake Your Baby to Feed Them?

[sbell111]

they lied.

About what?

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I've never woken up my son to feed him. Ever. He's always woken up on his own if he's hungry. I never felt like I needed to do so & his pedi never said I should do that so I don't. The first two months he used to have 2-3 overnight feedings but now he goes the whole night without taking a bottle and doesn't take one until between 6-8 in the morning. My son is such a bad sleeper too, I would NEVER purposely wake him up while he's sleeping...never!

 

[TwinsinCA]

Both my daughters were in the 6 lbs. range when they were born. Because they had dropped weight in the days after (which I realize is typical), I was told by their ped to wake them at night to eat. I only had to do this a few times and then they were waking on their own. I always fed on demand after that.

 

[bookgirl]

The twins were born 5 1/2 weeks early, one was slightly jaundice and they both had birth weights of 4 lbs 7 ounces, they also had reflux issues. They were put on the two hour schedule. Although the doctor said they were to sleep for two hours then fed, not feed them on the dot like at 2 am 4 am 6 am. The two hour interval did not start until they fell asleep again.

 

[brockash]

Julie Chen was just on The Early Show for a visit. She had her baby, Charlie, on September 24th. She was talking about waking him up to feed him because the doctor said he needs to eat every 2-3 hours. She said he would probably sleep through the night if she didn't wake him.

So, did you wake your baby up to feed them?

I never did. My doctor said if they are sleeping, let them sleep. My son started sleeping through the night at a month old. My daughter was 3 months.

HECK NO! There was no way I'd ever wake my baby up in the middle of the night to eat, as long as they were an average healthy baby. Mine have turned out fine, and unless there was a medical reason, there's no way I would wake a sleeping baby to eat I'll take my sleep over that

 

[nskjerven]

yup I woke up my DD. She lost a considerable amount of weight in her first week(s) and we had to wake her to feed her. Never did get her to breastfeed It's a sad time to remember for me. But now she is 12 and eating like a horse

 

[KAMKIM]

About what?

About waking the baby up to feed her A healthy baby will wake themselves up when they are hungry. If there are no medical concerns, get all the sleep you can.

2 wks after the baby is born you will realize why you NEVER wake them up.

 

[KAMKIM]

I can't believe all the people who say never.

I never woke mine, I didn't need to. However, if mine hadn't woken up and they were low enough weight that the dr. was recommending it I'd ABSOLUTELY wake them up to feed them.

Why does it surprise you so many said they wouldn't wake them? Unless the baby is failing to wake him/herself up there is no reason to wake them to feed them.

 

[sbell111]

About waking the baby up to feed her A healthy baby will wake themselves up when they are hungry. If there are no medical concerns, get all the sleep you can.

2 wks after the baby is born you will realize why you NEVER wake them up.

Just because there are medical professionals who disagree with you doesn't mean they are lying. Heck, it doesn't even mean that either they or you are wrong. It only means that there is a disagreement.

 

[KAMKIM]

Only with the twins, and not all of the time. It was sometimes easier than going back to sleep, only to be woken 1/2 hour later. Sometimes we did this, when DH and I were assigned feeding times, and sometimes we did "pick your baby," so you only had to get up with one of them.

Now this I agree with, if you have twins you are better off waking them at the same time so you can go back to sleep otherwise you'd be 24/7 baby.

 

[KAMKIM]

Just because there are medical professionals who disagree with you doesn't mean they are lying. Heck, it doesn't even mean that either they or you are wrong. It only means that there is a disagreement.

I was joking lighten up before that baby is born you will need your sense of humor when you get pooped on.

 

[pixiewings71]

No, we did on demand feedings too.

 

[ReneeA]

I never woke DS up to feed him - he slept through the night at 3 weeks old. However, he was over 10 pounds at birth and nursed like a champ kid could drain me in 10 minutes flat.

DD I didn't have to wake to eat, either - that girl only slept 2 hours at a stretch. She played around instead of really nursing great most of the time, and then spit up most of that. Poor kid had reflux so badly...she finally outgrew it at about 8 months old. I probably would have woke her up every 4-5 hours to nurse if the doctor recommended it knowing that she spit up so much of what she ate.

 

[sbell111]

I was joking lighten up before that baby is born you will need your sense of humor when you get pooped on.

I went back and reread your two posts with an eye toward humor. I still can't find your 'jokes'.

 

[KAMKIM]

I went back and reread your two posts with an eye toward humor. I still can't find your 'jokes'.

I was being sarcastic. I was not accusing a medical professional of LITERALLY lying to new parents - obviously....well, atleast I think it was probably obvious to most that read it. I did not wake either of my children to be fed and they are both happy and healthy.

Best of luck to you with your new baby.

 

[ReneeA]

My wife and I took a 'new parents' class a few weeks ago. They told us to wake the baby up to feed her.

Here's the thing...if baby is sleeping through the night AND gaining weight appropriately, do not wake her/him. They get accustomed to that schedule and it's a bear to break them of it when it's time. Not to mention, mom's body needs sleep and time to heal. The process of pregnancy and childbirth is really, REALLY hard on a body. The baby drains all kinds of nutrients from mom and even the easiest childbirth needs rest and recovery time. Waking a baby that doesn't really NEED or WANT to be woken up is taking precious sleeping time away from mom - who really needs that to heal quickly.

If baby has a medical condition that requires the extra calories, absolutely wake them. If not, allow mom the time needed to rest up and recover.

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

Here's the thing...if baby is sleeping through the night AND gaining weight appropriately, do not wake her/him. They get accustomed to that schedule and it's a bear to break them of it when it's time. Not to mention, mom's body needs sleep and time to heal. The process of pregnancy and childbirth is really, REALLY hard on a body. The baby drains all kinds of nutrients from mom and even the easiest childbirth needs rest and recovery time. Waking a baby that doesn't really NEED or WANT to be woken up is taking precious sleeping time away from mom - who really needs that to heal quickly.

If baby has a medical condition that requires the extra calories, absolutely wake them. If not, allow mom the time needed to rest up and recover.

Well said

 

[disykat]

Why does it surprise you so many said they wouldn't wake them? Unless the baby is failing to wake him/herself up there is no reason to wake them to feed them.

But if there is a reason, like you listed, why would you refuse to wake them? Do people not understand the meaning of the word "never?"

I'll repeat my previous post. I didn't need to wake mine, but if my doctor told me there was a need I would absolutely have done it. I'm pretty freaked by the idea that there are people who wouldn't.

 

[sbell111]

Here's the thing...if baby is sleeping through the night AND gaining weight appropriately, do not wake her/him. They get accustomed to that schedule and it's a bear to break them of it when it's time. Not to mention, mom's body needs sleep and time to heal. The process of pregnancy and childbirth is really, REALLY hard on a body. The baby drains all kinds of nutrients from mom and even the easiest childbirth needs rest and recovery time. Waking a baby that doesn't really NEED or WANT to be woken up is taking precious sleeping time away from mom - who really needs that to heal quickly.

If baby has a medical condition that requires the extra calories, absolutely wake them. If not, allow mom the time needed to rest up and recover.

I don't know why you are trying to convince me. We will do whatever out doctors tell us to. The advice from some random internet person is not going to outweight their medical opinions.

Similarly, when I posted what we were told in class, it was for information purposes only. It was not my intention to change your opinion on when you should feed your children.

 

[KAMKIM]

But if there is a reason, like you listed, why would you refuse to wake them? Do people not understand the meaning of the word "never?"

Yes, it surprises me that so many people would ignore medical advice and refuse to wake their baby if they were told to do so.

Okay, I see what you mean. I think most of the people that said never probably never had to, like me. I dont think any parent would ignore medical advice if there was a good reason for it.