Do you wake your baby to eat?

[mrsstats]

I have no children but was speaking with a family member who told me they were waking their baby up at 11 pm to give her a bath and then to feed her. Didn't make much sense to me to wake up a sleeping child. Do you feed on demand or wake them up?

 

[debster812]

If the baby is an infant/newborn--waking at 11pm for a bath and a feeding, is probably enough so that they are not waking up in the middle of the. 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep is loads better than 8 or 9 hours of sleep with a wake up call in the middle.

 

[DisneyAddict_M]

I used to wake her up if she hadn't eaten in about 4 or 5 hours. Only when she was a newborn though. But I never woke her to give her a bath.

 

[workinggal]

I never woke my daughter to feed her except when it was time for her medications. No need to feed a child that isnt hungry.

 

[amid chaos]

NEVER WAKE THE BABY!!!!!!!!

 

[phillybeth]

I know my SIL had to wake my niece, she was a special needs baby and had to eat every 3 hours.

 

[Lewski709]

Whatever works for them. I am assuming this is a newborn and as someone said before, if waking the baby allows for them to be able to sleep a longer period of time.....do it!

 

[BriarfoxinWA]

Both my SIL and my neice wake their babies to feed them during the night. I think that's crazy! The baby will wake when it's hungry. Both of my boys were sleeping through the night at 5 or 6 months - by that I mean at least 6 to 7 hours of uninterupted sleep. Now I would keep them up til 9 or 10 p.m. so that they'd be up around 4 a.m. so that DH & I could get another 2 hours of sleep before heading out to work...

 

[totalia]

My sister woke up son up when he was a newborn so that he would eat.

Now, he tells her when he's hungry. If you wake him up now he screams bloody murder. It's not a good trade off lol.

 

[cinmell]

No, I never woke my daughter up when she was an infant to eat or do anything for that matter. If she got hungry, she'd wake up.

 

[floridaminnie]

When DD came home from the hospital, I had to wake her so she would eat. Otherwise she would sleep all through the night. Stopped that after she was a couple months old.

 

[shortbun]

My DS would have slept and not eaten. Instructions from Doc
were: Wake him up and get him to eat. He also had reflux which
meant he was at risk for failure to thrive. We didn't wake him
at night until 4 hours had gone by. During the day as a newborn,
every 2 hours. We had to tickle him. hold cold wash rags to his
feet, undress him or he would have slept instead of eaten.
All babies are different, all parents are different. There is no one
right way.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I never woke up DD. She woke up enough on her own.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

This is so funny, it makes me smile. When I was a brand new mommy with DS6(now), at the hospital they told me that he should breast feed about every two hours. So the first night home, I set the alarm clock for two hours.....

Ok, I'm laughing now, but I was not happy after being awakened (if indeed I even got to sleep at all) after about 45 minutes for chow time....

My mother-in-laws advice on this subject (7 kids)...NEVER wake a sleeping baby...

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

With Buzz (now 7), I was instructed to wake him 2 hours after completion of the last feed, only at night time. This was because with Belle, I was unable to breastfeed (long story) and she had lost a dangerous amount of weight. Since I was also nursing Buzz, the doctor had recommended the waking thing to be sure he was getting enough. After a few weeks, we were all confident enough to let him sleep. With #3, we let her dictate her own schedule.

Bottom line, every family is different, you have to do what makes Mom and Baby both feel good. They may have a sound basis for this, or may look back at it and laugh--but if it gets them through for now, hey, I'm happy for them.

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

Originally posted by amid chaos
NEVER WAKE THE BABY!!!!!!!!

LOL You said it!!!

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Originally posted by mrsstats
they were waking their baby up at 11 pm to give her a bath and then to feed her. Didn't make much sense to me to wake up a sleeping child.

I understand that some children at risk must eat every two hours, and so they may have to be awakened, but what's up with the 11 p.m. bath?? The last thing you want them to do is STAY awake after you have fed them...

 

[swanmom]

This is so funny!!! I read the title "Do you wake your baby to eat?" backwards and thought "Are you kidding? That's the only time I COULD eat .... when the baby was asleep."

 

[mrsv98]

When we first brought DD home (now 4yo), she was all backwards (why not, she was all backwards inside, too - head up, facing out ), she would sleep for hours during the day and kept waking at night. Ped had us wake her every couple of hours during the day to "reset" her internal clock. Worked like a charm, she was sleeping 5-6 hours by 6 weeks and has always been a good sleeper.

 

[Kallison]

Originally posted by amid chaos
NEVER WAKE THE BABY!!!!!!!!

I agree - unless special needs.