Should I wake her up?

Question

My baby is five weeks old should I wake her during the night to feed her? Can she go 5-7 hrs through the night w/o a feeding?

Answer 1

If she is adequately gaining weight....then she can sleep through. However, if she doesn't seem to be gaining as much weight as she should....then I would wake her up.

I would call the pediatrician Monday morning....double check just to make sure!!!

Answer 2

Most of you people are wrong. Check the classic parenting book "What to Expect the first Year", or "The Baby Book" by Dr. Sears.

They both say that a newborn should not be permitted to sleep through night feedings, up till 4 weeks. They absolutely need food at least every 3 hours and they recommend waking the baby if necessary. There is a small percent of newborns who will 'happily starve'.

I have a 9 week old baby, and he is just starting to go 5 and 6 hours without waking to feed. Given what the books above say, and the fact your baby is 5 weeks, you definitely should talk to your doctor about this. And monitor the babies weight even if the doctor says not to worry about it.

Answer 3

Formula feeding? Not unless she isn't gaining weight.

Breastfeeding? depends. If she is gaining well and you have a good supply, let her sleep. If however you are worried about your supply or baby is slow to gain then I'd wake her at least every 3 hours. Night feedings are important to establishing your milk supply.

Both my breastfed babies started sleeping through the night during the 6th week.

Answer 4

I would think that if she's gaining weight like she should, seems otherwise healthy, and the doctor says it's okay, that it would be okay to let her sleep. I know early on their bodies do require to be fed more frequently than that, so check with your doc. But be careful. My step-mom was told by her doctor to wake up my sister every 2 hours to feed whether Sis woke up on her own or not. That girl still wasn't sleeping through the night when she was 4 1/2 years old.

Answer 5

My daughter used to go 12 hours when i first brought her home> no kidding I used to even vaccum under her little bassinet trying to wake her up. I called mom one day and told her that she still is sleeping and I said for almost 12 hours what should I do wake her up or what , Mom Said "for gosh sakes no honey let her sleep she will wake up when she's ready, and she was right. The scary thing now is my daughter is 12 and she sleeps right through everything even the vac *** and I'm always afraid if something were to happen she wouldn't wake up. So now I keep a hammer next to window just in case she had to use something hard and fast. And when she was just ac couple of week s old I used a little bit of baby cereal in her bottle and that would keep her little body full for a few hous. sunnydays

Answer 6

My baby is 8 weeks old and he goes 5-7 hours without eating usually every night especially when hes been up alot during the day and is tired. I asked the doc about it bcuz im a first time mom and he said not to wake him he'll let you know when he's hungry and to not put him/her on a scheddule, they usually set their own scheddules and thats usually well established at about 3 months or so.

Answer 7

Never never wake a sleeping baby unless she is underweight and needs regular feeds. Some newborns are very efficient feeders and are able to sleep well between feeds. I wish I'd had one like that. Don't worry - it's a normal thing for some babes to sleep through quite early on.

Answer 8

Not enough info. I would say by rule of thumb, No. Let a sleepy 'baby' lie. But I can only assume that the baby is bottle fed because a breast fed baby would wake every two or three hours. If there is no jaundice issue where you have to check for wet diapers and if the baby is gaining weight then I would let him/her sleep and thank God for the moment of sanity.

Answer 9

Your baby is adjusting well to slleping at night, so let her be :) My daughter started sleeping for a long time at night when she was 6 weeks old. It gives you a break, and you can sleep more too. Just make sure she is gaining enough weight when you go to her next pediatrician visit.

Answer 10

If she is gaining weight, I wouldn't wake her, it will only cause problems for you later when you can't get her to sleep through the night and count yourself lucky. My 15 month old still wont sleep that many hours at night!!!

Answer 11

No. If she doesn't wake up wanting to be fed, let her sleep. Enjoy that she is sleeping through the night, and get some much needed sleep for yourself. If she sleeps, she isn't hungry.My pediatrician told me, when my daughter was that age, that if she sleeps, don't bother waking her to feed her.