How long should I let baby sleep between feeds

[faye*]

I have a 5 day old boy who seems to be sleeping a bit too long. It's been almost 5 hours since his last feed. I tried waking him up but nothing would work - he is such a deep sleeper! I'm demand feeding but worried if he sleeps too much longer he's not going to feed enough today and in this heat that can't be good for him!

So do I leave him or keep trying to wake him up & what ideas to wake him. Tried changing his nappy, cold face washer etc

[Tinks]

Given the heat, I would wake him for a feed. It's weird that changing his nappy didn't wake him. Maybe a bath would work.

[Chocaholic]

How much is he having per feed? Each baby is different and he may just take longer to digest or sleeping is how he is coping with the heat.

How warm is the area where he is sleeping? Is the heat affecting it or is it air conditioned?

If it is longer than 7 hours, I would start getting concerned but not 5 hours. Maybe use a warm bath to wake him up if you are really worried. That always woke my boys up if they were asleep

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

in this heat (if you're in Vic) I'd be waking him. Whilst sleeping could be his way of dealing with the heat, it could also be because of lethargy from dehydration.

my dd1 was born the week of black Saturday in Jan 2009 and I fed her every 2-3 hours and woke her with luke warm baths to get her to feed.

hth

[HotI]

Hi Faye

This blog has some ideas. https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/blo...-super-sleeper

I would be waking bub at least every 3 hours during the day, especially considering the weather.

You can always ring the ABA if you want some advice or support (i know i forgot this when i had questions!) 1800 686 268.

[kateo]

My little bloke was like this even in hospital. I asked the midwife if I should set an alarm to feed him so he didn't sleep to long and she said "Don't worry they ALWAYS wake up and don't sleep for longer than 5 hours." He slept for 6 nearly 7 hours and then the midwife got cranky with me 'cause I had let him keep sleeping. Well I was asleep as well!
I had to set alarms during the night so he ate and I tried desperately to do demand feeding but he just never demanded.
He lost weight and was a bit of a problem in the early days.
If I were you I'd wake him and feed him and try out a bit of a routine that suits you. Leaving it too long between feeds can also mean you don't produce milk at the rate he needs.
Good luck, people just don't understand how tricky they are when they are not the hungry type!

[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?

[faye*]

Wow thanks for all the replies!!

I ended up waking him by taking his clothes off and just leaving him in his nappy, that actually woke him up when nothing else would. I had to do that again for his feed a couple of hours ago as well.

He is a good feeder and nappy output and milk supply is good. It's only today he hasn't been waking up besides the first day or two, the last couple of days he's woken by himself every couple of hours.

We having air-con so where he is it's about 25 degrees.

I'll continue to wake him every 3 hours and might try the bath idea if I have trouble again.

HotI thanks for the link, I'll have a look.

The midwife is coming over tomorrow so it'll be good to know that he's gaining weight...

Thanks again - so hard being new to all this but I don't want to give up!!

[~Hestia~]

Sounds like you're doing great!

[~Gee_Whizzy~]

great job hun, sounds like you're on a roll enjoy those lovely squishy newborn cuddles!

[kateo]

Well done to you. It's hard work but even though the Dr told me to give up breastfeeding I had a super supportive MCHN. I am still feeding my DS and he's a healthy (if a bit ribby) 2 1/2 yo!