# Would you wake up a 6 week old to eat



## Erica92 (Feb 16, 2009)

I have just started putting DS who is 6 weeks old down in his crib for naps and this morning he slept past his normal 2.5 hours between feedings so once it had been 3 hours I woke him up he nursed pretty well (althoug he never seems to nurse for very long) but is now cranky (prob b/c I woke him up)....

Believe it or not I have twins so I've been thru this before but don't remember when I stopped waking them up from naps to eat.....

thanks for any advice


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## Katielady (Nov 3, 2006)

I wouldn't. I saw an LC for both my kids (latch issues and jaundice both times, supply issues with my first) and both told me that once the baby is nursing well and healthy, there's no need to ever wake to feed. Enjoy the naps when you get them! And I always figure the baby has some need to sleep when they sleep for an unusually long time. Maybe a growth spurt, who knows.


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## maxwill129 (May 12, 2005)

I wouldn't either. I think most BFing websites even say to try and nurse baby in the first few weeks every 2-3 hours but it can be normal to have one or two 5-6 hour stretches. I would think by 6 weeks your supply is established, baby is eating well and gaining weight, and you deserve a little "break"







.


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## mamatoady (Mar 16, 2004)

The only time I ever woke up either of my kids to nurse was if they were sleeping and I needed to go somewhere in the car because I didn't want them waking up and screaming their head off in the car during transit. If they are healthy, let them sleep! They will wake up when they are hungry and will eat.

My daughter was a very poor nurser when she was born (probably due to the drugs from being induced and my massive big boobs, lol) but she was dang near impossible to wake up sometimes. She would sleep for 4-6 hour stretches and the lactation consultants were telling me to wake her every 2-3 hours to nurse, but it just couldn't be done. The girl would not wake up until she was ready...and if she did wake up, as soon as she latched on, she would fall right back to sleep. I think all that did was train her to associate sleeping with being on the boob and nightweaning was more difficult. Suffice it to say though that she always gained the right amount of weight.

The other thing is, I believe that allowing him to sleep longer will make him hungrier when he wakes up and he might eat more at one time, thus allowing him to be happier for a longer period of time and likewise sleep a bit longer when he goes down for another nap, which is good for you.









Sarah


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## ShwarmaQueen (Mar 28, 2008)

NO. Not unless it was for an excessive span of time (6+ hours).


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## Erica92 (Feb 16, 2009)

Thanks for all the advice! I def learned my lesson, he ate poorly and just wanted to be asleep- He's down for another nap and this time and in the future I'll let him do what he needs to do!

thanks again


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## Brisen (Apr 5, 2004)

I probably would, especially if it started happening regularly. I might try making more noise/opening the door of the room/whatever to encourage the baby to wake up when they're in a light phase of sleep, so they're waking more naturally and hopefully not so cranky.


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## twins+1 (Mar 8, 2009)

Good question Erica! I have started to have our baby sleep in a quiet place for a couple naps a day and he naps quite long sometimes - an hour or two. Sometimes before bed I'll try to encourage him to nurse so that I can get a couple hours of sleep before he wakes, but he seems to wake at about 1:30 regardless.


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## CookAMH (Jun 2, 2008)

If he's healthy, I would not. He's at the point where he may go longer on his own, let him







My DS does the same thing and it's wonderful when he has those longer stretches. I let him go at night too, sometimes he sleeps 6-7 hours.


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## dogmom327 (Apr 19, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *CookAMH* 
If he's healthy, I would not. He's at the point where he may go longer on his own, let him







My DS does the same thing and it's wonderful when he has those longer stretches. I let him go at night too, sometimes he sleeps 6-7 hours.









:

I have a one week old and I'm just letting her sleep (longest is 3 1/2 hours so far). With DS, he was really tiny and I had to nurse every 90 minutes around the clock but DD is a bit of a chubb and I'm not as worried. FWIW, she only lost 8 oz. the first three days and now on day 7 she is up 14 oz! It's so nice not to stress. If they're healthy...let them sleep!


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## spicyrock (Apr 11, 2009)

If your baby is healthily growing, I also vote for letting sleeping babies lie. I think I woke my dd up too much to feed and change her. If I had it to do over again, I would relax a little.


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## kijip (Jun 29, 2005)

I had a history of low supply with baby #1 5+ years ago and baby #2 was born a bit early and a slow gainer so I was advised (by a truly breastfeeding committed pediatrician) to rouse him for eating at 6 weeks every 3-4 hours tops. Both to firmly establish my supply and to make sure he gained enough weight. Then later on, once he was gaining more, I just cut back to rousing him for a dream feed before I go to bed. If left to his own devices, and this includes when he was 6 weeks, he would sleep 8-12 hours straight. So I would consider baby weight gain and his general health and disposition in making this decision.


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## justKate (Jun 10, 2008)

No. *Unless* 1) you have low supply; 2) he is not gaining weight well; or 3) he sleeps more than 5-6 hrs.

Enjoy your sleepy baby!


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## rlmueller (May 22, 2009)

4 hours was my max, but, by six weeks my son went from 20 min nursing to 6 min nursing in 24 hours. I took him to the pediatrician to see why. They weighed him before a nursing and after a nursing (6 min) and he gained 6 oz!!. They get very efficient very quickly. Digital scale and see for yourself for piece of mind.


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