thread: 16 day old sleeping 10hrs at night....is that ok???

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  1. #1
    BellyBelly Member

    Jun 2005
    Sydney
    2,121

    16 day old sleeping 10hrs at night....is that ok???

    A friend of mine just had her #2...and has developed a breastfeeding relationship with her new bundle. She told me last night and for the last few nights, baby has slept 10hrs without a feed....i think this is a lot....isuggested she wake her after 4-5hrs.....she is after all only 16 days old. Am i giving her the right advice ? She was full term, healthy weight, has just reached her birth weight (on weekend). There was talk of jaundice when she was born, but i didnt ask her today how that is going...
    It just seems a big chunk of time for a newborn to sleep, without any b/m ????

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Jul 2006
    Logan
    2,991

    MBear - If there is talk of jaundice then it is possible that bub will want to sleep longer. My gf's little one was jaundice and her bub slept for long periods. She was advised to wake bub up every 4 hours maximum to feed.

  3. #3
    BellyBelly Member

    Jun 2005
    Sydney
    2,121

    Thats what i thought Bek...jaundice makes them sleepy doesnt it ??? Jaundice or not, i still think its a long time for a n/b to go without a feed.....might call her up.

  4. #4
    Registered User
    Follow Pandora On Twitter

    Jan 2005
    cowtown
    8,276

    It really depends. I bf both my boys and both slept for that long at about that age and I was told not to wake them
    Her health nurse should be able to advise her as shed have a lot more info about it.
    The long sleeps are possibly temporary too - they were for us - but it depends if there's a reason why her bub is sleeping that long

    I'd tell her to talk to her health nurse

  5. #5
    Registered User

    Jul 2005
    Sydney
    7,896

    It isn't common for a n/b to sleep that long and not affect the mother's milk supply and the baby's ability to thrive.

    My n/b wasn't sleepy from any factors such as jaundice and she would sleep 5 hrs overnight, straight from hospital. We could tell she was thriving from the number of wet and dirty nappies she had (lots!) and the fact she was back at her birthweight within four days. But without a doubt, my baby was the exception to what most n/bs are like and need! 10 hrs seems really excessive. She'll probably find as she wakes baby more to feed that baby starts demanding more and becoming less settled. This is a good thing, since it means she's getting what she needs.

  6. #6
    BellyBelly Member

    May 2009
    127

    My bub went through a stage at the same time of sleeping a few nights of 7 hours in a row. I didn't wake him. I was advised to at first but after a few days when I was exhausted from lack of sleep I thought, if he's sleeping fine then I'm sure he'd wake if he was hungry. At other times he was on the boob all the time too. So I let him do what he wanted to do and then it disappeared into more regular 3-4 hours anyhow. So probably just temporary.

  7. #7
    Registered User

    Aug 2006
    3,562

    I agree, 10 hours is too long. I think the general advice for b'fed newborns is 5-6 hours once in 24.

    A friend of mine had a newborn who'd sleep 6-8 hours every night from birth and lots during the day too. Let's just say that the b'feeding didn't work out. She had issues with low supply after a few weeks.

    (PS Is there a tiny teeny bit of you that wants to scream because she's getting that much sleep?? LOL!)