2006-06-23 13:49:57 · 37 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
There are 2 situations where it is a good idea to wake a baby to nurse: when you aren't sure that he is gaining weight well, and if he is waking frequently at night and less during the day.
If you have a newborn, he probably needs to nurse at least 10-12 times in 24 hours until you are *sure* he is gaining well. After at least 2 weighings *on the same scale* at his pediatrician's office, if everything is okay, let him sleep.
If you have a baby who sleeps for long periods during the day and wakes frequently at night, you *might* want to try waking him during the day to see if it helps him wake less at night. (It might *not* work, and it's not a problem from his perspective, but if it's bothering you, it's something to try.)
2006-06-24 08:53:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have a different opinion than many of the answers here. I feel you should wake the baby if it's time to feed. I am a strong believer in a firm schedule (that is flexible as needed, but is adhered to as much as possible). I work as a nanny for a family with a six year old boy and a seven week old girl. The girl gets woken for feeding if she is not awake. She is also woken if she sleeps too long. She is already at the point that she gets a feeding at eleven, and then does not wake up again until four in the morning. But she has to be woken for the eleven o'clock feeding usually, or she will sleep until 12, and then she will be awake off and on until the next feeding.
My recommendation is that if you have the baby on a schedule, wake him/her if they are more than half an hour past their scheduled feeding time. If they are not more than half an hour past, let them sleep. Don't wake them just because it is exactly 11:00, and they're not awake right at 11.
2006-06-23 16:58:10 · answer #2 · answered by Jewel 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends. If you have a premie or even an underweight baby, I would wake him/her up every four hours to eat, like the doctors suggest. If the baby was sick, or seemed at all constipated or dehydrated, I would also wake him/her up every four hours. But assuming that there is nothing wrong with them, I would let them sleep, although I wouldn't let them go longer than eight hours without eating. Babies generally have good instints about whether or not they are hungry and if you wake them up to eat when they aren't really hungry, you will most likely only teach them to wake up at night for no reason (which no parent wants!)
2006-06-23 14:01:08 · answer #3 · answered by pritti_dayzee 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends. If you are breastfeeding then you don't want to let the baby sleep for long periods of time during the day. Wake him every 1-2 hours to nurse when he is a newborn to build you milk supply. If you're bottle feeding then I have no idea, I think they need to eat formula every 4 hours or something like that.
2006-06-24 02:10:09 · answer #4 · answered by all_my_armour_falling_down 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it depends. Is it a newborn? The first few days if you are breastfeeding you need to wake the baby up about every 2 hours and make it eat so it dosnt get jaundiced! Once your milk has come in all the way and baby is feeding well you can wait till baby says its time.
2006-06-23 16:29:48 · answer #5 · answered by violet 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Wait until he wakes up. Although a schedule is good to get children into...babies know when they are hungry and when they are tired. Your baby will let you know when he/she is hungry.
Fact: If we ate like kids do our obesity epidemic would not be what it is. Who says you have to eat lunch between 12 and 1Pm or dinner at 5:30-6:30? If we ate when we were hungry and not because it was "time" to then america would not have a weight problem.
bottom line .....let the baby sleep.
2006-06-23 13:55:40 · answer #6 · answered by bearklektor 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just make sure you check on the little booger. But if you don't feel right about letting him go so long with out eating then by all means wake him up. Just remember, you'll have to live with that decision if the baby wants to play peek-a-boo instead of sleep after he eats and its 2am.
2006-06-23 18:40:17 · answer #7 · answered by Geneva g 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can wait for him to wake up if he's older than 2 months but when babies are really young they should be eating on the same schedule and newborns will sleep all day if you let them.... they often fall asleep while feeding them.
2006-06-23 13:57:11 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
just like that old saying, let sleeping dogs sleep,
the same goes for babies, unless the baby has not eaten for a while and your about to go to bed...wake the baby up, so the baby does not wake you up in a few hours..
other than that, let them sleep..but make sure they are OK
good luck
smile
2006-06-23 14:20:04 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the baby is not sleeping an excessively long time, then I would just wait until he/she wakes up.
2006-06-23 13:54:21 · answer #10 · answered by Laurel_Eden 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋