Do you really have to feed them every 2 hours even when they're asleep?

Question

I'm 38 weeks pregnant and I'm going to breastfeed, and all I hear is how I have to feed my baby every 2 hours, if that is true, do I have to wake him and feed him too? When does it stop being every 2 hours? Thanks really confused..

Answer 1

some people feed on a schedule.. I feed on demand... she eats when she is hungry.. someitmes its every two-three hours some times its every hour.. she goes 7 hrs at night with no feedings. she is 7 weeks..

So let them sleep.. its fine for them and you can get some sleep too

Answer 2

No you should never wake a sleeping baby unless of course he has been asleep for more than 4 hours. Depending on how well he feeds he may wake up every 2 hours or 4 hours by the time he is 6 weeks old 5 hours would be normal. Each baby is different some take to breastfeeding others do not.

Answer 3

I never had to wake my daughter.... she was like an alarm clock, up every 2 hours on the dot. The most newborn babies should sleep is 4 hours, and if they are sleeping longer, should be woken up for a feeding. If they are consistently sleeping for these long stretches, check with the doctor, as the baby may have jaundice or another problem.

Otherwise, just feed on demand. That is the best way to keep yourself and the baby happy, and ensure a good supply. Learn your baby's hunger cues so that your newborn never gets to the crying stage, as this can be very frustrating for you both. After about a month or two, your baby will slow the feedings down a bit

Good luck! Breastfeeding is a BEAUTIFUL wonderful experience! Just remember that you are both learning and, as the old saying goes, practice makes perfect! And believe me, you will get LOTS of practice.

Answer 4

You don't have to wake them every two hours. 3 or 4 is fine just as long as they are not going that long everytime, which they won't, believe me! In the beginning you will only have a short time between feedings. You time it from start of feeding to start of next feeding. So if it takes 45 mins to finish nursing you only have an hour and 15 minutes before the next. I never went by a schedule, just fed on demand so I was feeding more often at times and less often at others. This was best in my opinion because I feed them real often in the evening as it happened so they slept more at night. In fact I remember waking my first child up to feed the 1st night at home after four hours. He was sleeping well in the snuggle nest beside me and I almost panicked when I saw the time. He gained weight fine, because I always fed on-demand. If you have a small baby you might get different advise. When your milk comes in after about 3 days and it gets established well, they can, but might not go longer. I always used the 2-3 hours as a gauge, not a rule. If they are crying give them milk.

Answer 5

Most pedis suggest you don't let them go longer than 6 hours so anything longer than that wake them up. You don't necessarily have to feed him every 2 hours if hes not hungry. Most formula fed babies eat every 3 hours but my daughter ate every 4-5 and her pedi wasn't worried because she was healthy. NOW she's 11 months and will come crawling if she sees food. They know when they are hungry and will let you know too. When you read the books always remember there is some flexibility because every child is different.

Answer 6

At first when you are at the hospital they will show you what to do and they will wake you up to feed the baby if it is in the nursery.
When you get home make a schedule and stick to it, write it down to remember it at first and then you will know the baby's schedule. And through the night I waited until my babies woke up to feed them. If you wake the baby up every night at the same time the baby will get into a routine and will continue to wake up for years. But remember when the baby sleeps that is your time to sleep. And my kids slept through the night from early, probably earlier then other kids. And they potty trained early and they got off their bottle at nine months and the binky before two. I replaced the bottle with a soft top sippy and that worked great.
If you give them something at night to fall asleep with like a bottle it can be bad for their teeth so try to get them to have a blankie or a binky to be attached to when they go to sleep. You will know when the baby is hungry so don't worry too much.

Answer 7

Unless your baby is having a difficult time gaining weight, let them sleep.

Breastfed newborns will generally wake every couple hours to nurse all on their own anyhow.

During the day - feed on cue. Your baby knows better than a clock when they need more to eat.

Answer 8

dont wake a sleeping baby...if s/he isnt wake and your breast feel full pump into a bottle. sav efor later :) i was told feed or pump every 2-3 hours to get my milk in and keep the supply up atleast for the first month or so.

Answer 9

Babies generally eat every 2 - 3 hours. When I had my son, they told us to wake them and feed them...........we did and we've decided we will not be doing that with our next. Babies tend to wake up when they are hungry. We'll be letting our next sleep until he chooses to get up and eat....providing he's putting on the proper amount of weight and his diapers have good urine and poop put out.....

Answer 10

Do not wake a baby up lol Or it will be Hell on earth otherwise feed it as much as it wants.