How long should I let baby sleep between feeds

[Andie78]

hi faye, congrats! when I had my little boy I was told to feed every 4 hrs when they were this age. although I ended up having to wake every 3 hrs bc he was a sleepy, tiny baby & was a bit jaundice. I had my baby in winter, so every 3 hrs in the heat sounds like a good idea. To wake I would unwrap & place him on the floor to stretch, roll around & he'd eventually wake enough for me to feed. If he fell asleep, I'd have to repeat floor time. Changed nappy in between boobs to wake again. If he was super sleepy, clothes would come off & wet face washers would come out. The cold air on his body would wake him, so if you have AC, you could try turning it up?

[onthefly]

Congrats on your baby
How many feeds is he having in 24 hours and what is his nappy output like?
8-12 feeds in 24 hours is normal, so that's roughly 2-3 hourly (though babies don't tend to feed on a regular schedule). One long sleep is ok, so long as your baby is getting enough milk for the rest of the day. Are you familiar with the indicators of adequate milk intake?

As a general rule, I'd suggest waking a very sleepy baby at least every 3 hours to aim for a minimum of 8 feeds in 24 hours. Often what happens is that once you've successfully woken them and gotten more milk in for a few days they perk up and start waking and demanding milk on their own.

[OceanPrincess]

Hiya Faye,

Congrats on your little man! Very exciting news!

HotI has given you a great link there - "super sleepers" can actually need a big of extra help to wake up and start getting into this whole being a baby thing. It's especially important on hot days like it is today, I'm in metro Melb so I can only imagine how much hotter it is up north.

Keep an eye on his output - you need to see lots of heavy, wet nappies (5-6 in 24hrs) to ensure he isn't getting dehydrated. Also, he needs to be having a minimum of 8 feeds in 24 hours. Do you think he is getting enough milk?