Do I really need to wake my newborn to feed him?

Question

We have a two week old child. He's eating well during the day, eating at least 8 times a day, and is breast feeding. His weight gain has been 'normal' so far, and he regained his original birth weight by 10 days. We're getting conflicting advice on how to handle feeding at night time. We have heard:

• feed him every 2-3 hours, just like during the day
• it's ok to leave it 4-5 hours at night, as long as he doesn't wake up and 'ask' for food
• let him sleep as long as he wants, and feed him when he gets up

Are there any studies or definitive answers out there for this? How should we handle the night time feeds? Sleep is obviously good for the wife and I, but how much food do we need to get in?

Answer 1

As long as he is getting enough in each 24-hour cycle, and he remains on-course on his weight chart, and if he can sleep 4-5 hours between feedings, then go with that and don't wake him up.

I would only wake him if there's reason to be concerned.

Answer 2

Most of the literature I can find about infant sleeping has to do primarily with waking habits, not eating habits. So I would not be surprised if these recommendations (which I have heard before) have little support from rigorous peer-reviewed scientific research. That doesn't mean that the recommendation isn't useful, it simply means your mileage may vary.

My mother is a lactation consultant, and the way she had us make sure our infants were getting enough food is the number of wet and soiled diapers in a 24 hour period (I can't remember the exact numbers right now). Either way, it just goes to show that despite how much research there may or may not be on the subject, there is still no general consensus in the field.

Unless you have been given specific warnings, I would recommend taking advantage of whatever nighttime sleep opportunities your infant affords! Of course, you still have to pay attention to body weight, other physical growth, etc. But my experience with my children, my nieces, and my nephews is that most infants are pretty good at "asking" for food when they need it. You only need to intervene if your child has a problem recognizing the signals his/her body creates when it's hungry.

Answer 3

Let him sleep.

My son was born a bit on the small side, with low blood sugar and a small problem with maintaining body temperature (in the first days). We were told we have to wake and feed him every three hours, mainly because of the blood sugar issue. But after two weeks, we were told this is no longer necessary, and that we can now wait for 4-5 hours between feeds during the night. If your baby is of normal weight and has no health issues, I would guess that letting him sleep as long as he likes is really OK.

Answer 4

In my experience, babies tend to wake up by themselves when they get hungry. In most cases the baby knows best when it needs food. Both my sons slept up to 4-6 hours a night, and their weight was following the normal growth statistics that was ideal for their length.

So unless there are signs that your child does not get enough food during the 24-hour cycle (based on "diper fillings" and weight gain), you can let him sleep.

Answer 5

My wife and I have a 4 month old daughter. When our daughter was about a month old, however, she started sleeping longer and longer at night. We asked our pediatrician if it was ok to let her go longer, and he suggested that we not allow her to go more than 8 hours without eating. His explanation had something to do with the fact that her liver was still underdeveloped, and thus could not handle the level of starvation associated with not eating for more than eight hours. This made sense to me, and I trusted his judgement on it (I mean, we do call it breakfast for a reason, right?) so we would wake her up if she was approaching the eight hour mark on sleep. This only happened a handful of times, however, she eventually got used to the schedule and would wake up on her own.

My wife and I have also read a few 'good sleep habits' books, and in these, research is cited in which it is shown that a child's hunger and a child's sleepiness are not inter-related. In other words, a hungry child will still show the same sleep/wake patterns as a sated child. In other words in other words, a hungry, sleeping baby will NOT wake up due to its hunger. If desired, I can cite the author/book which I got this info from, as well as the research cited in that book.

Answer 6

No, you should not wake up your baby to feed him. I also breastfeed my son, and when he was at this age, he would sleep for a few hours only, and then I am always on his side ready to feed him. The first two weeks and months, were really tiring because I really have to wake up several times at night to feed him. I remember not having enough sleep for the entire week. It is just a process, in time, your son will sleep whole night, and then you can just prepare his milk when he wakes up.

Every child is different, so there are really different schedules when it comes to feeding. That's the reason why there are different techniques when it comes to feeding. As long, as your child's growth chart has an established growth pattern over time, this means that your baby is doing just fine.