B/F rules - do u wake up baby?

Hi there,

It's been 10 months since I stopped b/feeding my DD and I am due to have baby No.2 in just over a week's time - however, I feel like I have forgotten everything about B/feeding!!! Am I supposed to wake sleeping baby to feed him/her? I seem to recall that I used to set my alarm to feed my DD every 3 hours at the beginning - including at night (was I nuts?!). If you are "demand feeding" and the baby sleeps for 4-5 hours at a stretch do you wake them up for a feed at the 3 hour mark?

Also, I have heard that baby's are now fed solids at 4 months whereas when I had my DD it was 6 months - what's the deal with that?

Hope you can help!

Hi Lilli,

My DD was a little prem and when we got out of hospital we were told to wake her at 4hrs if she hadn't woke already - only in the early days. Once she'd gained enough weight etc we could just go with demand feeding, sometimes 3hrly sometimes 6 :)

As for the solids. We have just started this over the last month. It is still recommended to exclusively breast feed for 6months then start introducing solids. ABA have the motto - food is fun until you're One. But obviously you would follow your babies cues for deciding this.

Good luck with the upcoming arrival of bub number 2.

For a baby that's putting on weight, has no other medical issues or concerns- no I wouldn't wake them.

I'm sure everything will come back to you when you start feeding again. All the best :)

Unless there is an underlying premmie issue or something else I would use the old saying
'never wake a sleeping baby' :D

Congratulations, you will be just fine. You will be amazed how it all just falls into place.
I think now you go by your judgement with solids. So somewhere between 4-6mths. Have a look at the baby led solids thread as they follow the Gill Rapley principles of Baby led weaning. Which is no solids until 6mths and finger foods and no purees. Provided that works for you. Not sure what I plan on doing yet, will cross that path when I get to it.

x Heather

I don't think the guidelines on introducing solids have changed at all. The WHO still recommends exclusive bfing for 6 mths. Baby led solids eliminates any need to be worried about this though, since baby will only explore and eat food when they're developmentally ready (inside and out!).

GL with your new baby and be sure to pop in if you have any bfing questions!

One thing that is new is that the ABA helpline is now a tollfree number 1800 mum 2 mum, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A bfing counsellor can help you over the phone if you need it.

As long as your baby is having minimum 8 - 12 feeds over 24 hours there is no need to wake them :)

Lilli, it's amazing how quickly we forget, isn't it!

As the others have said, most of the time it's not necessary to wake a baby to feed. Some babies do need to be in the beginning - small, premmie and jaundiced babies in particular can be too sleepy to wake for feeds. But this is the exception. Most of the time it is fine to let them sleep. As has been mentioned, a newborn baby will need to feed about 8 -12 times in 24 hours, but this is rarely evenly spaced (that is they don't feed every 2 or 3 hours, there might be one longer sleep time in there, and a period of cluster feeds - several feeds close together). It is helpful to know the signs that your baby is getting enough milk - at least 5 heavily wet disposables in 24 hours (or 6 - 8 pale wet cloth nappies), and after the 3rd day (until about week 8 -12) the baby should do at least 2 runny or soft poos in 24 hours.

The others are also correct that the guidelines for starting solids still say 6 months for a number of good reasons. The baby food manufacturers have done a great job of convincing people, including some child health nurses, that the guidelines have changed, but they have not. As Jen suggested, Baby Led Solids is a great way to introduce food to a baby also, so you might like to check out the thread on that here on BB, or google it.

Best of luck with the new baby!

thanks for the advice and feedback! That certainly makes sense - 8-12 feeds in 24 hrs and the wet/solied nappies. Not waking them unless there is an underlying issue sounds logical - hopefully I get a 4 hr stint of sleep!

I really do hope it's like riding a bike and it'll all come back to me (I have a feeling that the ouchy nipples will bring it all back rather quickly!).

Re the solids - 4 months sounded really early to me but a friend who had her baby recently was told at her clinic to start at 4 months.... 6 months plus sounds ideal though, that's what I had done with DD and to be honest I I would be hesitatnt to start at 4 months even if it was "recommended" - sometimes you gotta do what you think is right.