4 1/2 Hour feeds...is This Normal?

My kids were both premies and I had a similar concern. I asked the dr about it and she said that when they were asleep they were growing and that as long as they were still gaining weight and everything that it was better to let them sleep. My kids are now 4 and almost 3 and now I can't keep up with their appetites sometimes. It does get better I promise and the worrying over whether they are eating or sleeping enough or too much does get easier as well.

If she's not waking to eat, especially a premie who is more drowsy and needs to gain weight, you can definetely wake her. If she's tired, she'll just go back to sleep. And, at that age, even if she stays awake after the feeding, she'll be back to sleep in a little while!

My daughter was born a few weeks early at and 5 lbs 9 oz. Although she is bigger than your daughter, I did have a similar problem. The second night we were in the hospital she slept for 8 hours. I asked the nurse if she was ok and the nurse said just let her sleep, but be ready when she wakes up to feed her. As long as the baby is feeling full, I was told that she was fine. Now, at seven months, my baby is still wearing some of her 0-3 clothes but the doctors are saying that she is growing just fine. I guess what I am saying is just wait it out, they do eat when they are hungry.

Hi J.!
My baby was 6 weeks early and is now 5 months old. At 3 months he was still on a strict 3 hr schedule. I was always told to wake him at 3 and at the latest 4 on rare occasion. I would talk to your Ped. but if it were me I would stick to a 3 hr schedule.I felt like he was always nursing....at one point they had me feeing him every 2!!! Babies grow in thier sleep so it is important as well...but they do say "A well rested baby eats; and a well fed baby sleeps" :)
L.

J. T
Your precious bundle of joy is doing fine with her feedings even though they seem so close. With her being a 12 week preemie her little tummy isnt any bigger than a walnut right now. If she is sleeping let her sleep unless your pediatrician has advised you to wake her and feed her. Babies grow when they are sleeping. When she wakes up she will be ready to eat and gradually she will eat more at a feeding and the feedings will spread out further. Sometimes it just takes awhile for that to happen especially with little ones that are too eager to have their mommy hold them. I myself had a 2 1/2 month preemie so I know what you are going through. I wouldnt worry too much unless she starts losing weight. From what you have said she is coming along fine. Try to relax mom. If you have any further concerns you might want to call her peds and talk to him about it. Best of luck to you and the lil angel. First babies can be rough so dont ever be afraid to ask questions.

I am the mother of two daughters that are 24 and 22. My oldest had baby that had some feeding issues I helped her through it. He is a healthy 14 mo old now and is right on target with other children his age. I hope this helps you.

LadyVixen

Hi J.,

First of all, congratulations on bringing your daughter home!!! She is obviously a little fighter! My youngest spent 3 1/2 months in the NICU at Columbus Children's, and they are amazing people there. The nurses are angels on earth.

I would say, as long as she is gaining weight at a rate that is ok with your pediatrician, the feedings are ok. That time span is fairly normal for a 3 month old, but with her corrected age you do need to keep track of things carefully. Check with your pediatrician to make sure she is gaining weight, and go from there.

Several people say not to wake a sleeping baby. My son is five months and we have been waking him and feeding him on a schedule since he was a month old. My husband and I both work full time and it was important to us to feed our son on a schedule so it would be easier on my step-dad who keeps him during the day. Schedule feeding has worked wonderfully for us. It allows you to be on a schedule and to know when you can and can't do things. Before our son would cry and we would make a bottle and he wouldn't eat. Once he was on a schedule we knew that he was hurgry and we stopped wasting formula. He was eating every three hours and now it is at 6, 10, 2, 6, and 9. This has worked well with our work schedule and now our little one is sleeping from 9:30 until 6:00 in the morning. I think starting a schedule will help your preemie gain the weight she needs as well as helping you to get some rest.

Don't worry it is perfectly normal for your baby to start sleeping at longer stretches because she is getting older. When I had my youngest boy the hospital staff had to wake him to eat because as a newborn he slept for 6 hours at a time. They said if he doesn't wake up in 6 hours go ahead and wake him up to eat. She is fine don't wake her up. She will wake up when she is hungry.
I am a married mom of almost 12 yrs. with 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4. Congrats. on your baby! D.

check with your doctor... But i think you should wake her to keep her on a regular schedule. I too had a preemie and once she came home (after 5 wks in the NICU) we kept her on the same schedule she had pretty much been on in the hospital. It will be easier in the long run if you keep her on a schedule. Good luck!!

J.,

my son was born 3 years ago and gid the same thing. her little belly is full or she would wake up. My son is still on the small size but my doctor always told me as long as they are gaining a little every time he saw him he was not worried she will be either small or will catch up with the rest of her peers by age two. i was always worried about him eating to. hang in there when she catches up to the exta oz she will wake up every 3 1/2 hours again.

good luck
if you have any other questions along the way feel free to contact me.

I had premature triplets and two of them were very similar to your situation. They are now 4 years old and feedings were always a struggle. They never seemed to be hungery! I was always told that they will eat what they need. Even for a toodler 10 oz. of milk in a 24 hour period is enough to keep them hydrated! Hang in there.

hi my son was 15 weeks early and when he finaly came home i figured out real fast that the "rules" for a newborn DO NOT go for a premmmie. i would ask the doctor because i had to wake my son up every 3 hours i think and feed him. and deffintley try to get him to gain weight because when he gets older it is extremeley hard my son is 5 almost 6 and just hit 36 pounds every time he hits another pound we get excited becasue it does not happen to often
also with ur son being premmie make sure you are getting help from help me grow or one of theose programs because they will help you catch up with motor skills and all that stuff it doesn 't sound like much but it makes a whole ton of difference
good luck

I have always agreed with not waking a sleeping baby, but working in the medical field for 17 years I know the importance of making sure that preemies gain the weight that they need. So, with that said, you should wake your baby girl about every 2-3 hours for feeding (longer at night) and if you still have trouble with her not waking to feed you can always feed her with a syringe to help insure that she receives the nutrition she needs to properly grow. Hope this helps a little.

my twin boys were born 11 week early and spent 5 weeks in the NICU. for many weeks after we brought them home we woke them every 3 hours to feed them.(i think we let them go 5 hours at night) you NEED to be doing that until she is at a better weight. we relied on our pediatrician to tell us when to start feeding on demand.
and the funny thing with preemies is that, after a certain point, they start acting like newborns again. my boys were due at the end of october and were born in the middle of august. in november they started the up every 3hours on their own.
i know it's a hard journey through the NICU, but now you need to do the best for her at home.....good luck and before you know it she'll be caught up with the rest of the babies her age!

Hi J.
I had a set of twins born primie...They ate on about the same schedule your daughter is on..I would not worry about the 4 hour feedings..As long as she eats good when she does eat then you have nothing to worry about. Good luck!!!

I am a NICU nurse, so first and most importantly I would recommend you talk to your Pediatrician about this. It is important for you to have a good relationship with your baby's doctor. Next I would say it is not uncommon for babies to sleep 4 1/2 hours if they are taking enough. But, the priority for preemies is to sleep, so if they are not taking enough, you do need to wake them up. Is your baby bottle-feeding? It sounds like it. Is she gaining weight? You didn't say how much she weighed when you brought her home. I have to wonder why you are gradually increasing her feeds instead of letting her eat as much as she wants. If you are tube feeding her, then you should have been told how often to feed her, since the amount you are giving her is based on how often she feeds. If this is what your doctor wants you to do, then find out how often he wants you to feed her. It all returns to talking to your doctor.
Good luck to both of you. Congrats on having a beautiful baby girl!

Hi J.--Our son was born 10 weeks early and was in the NICU for 8 weeks, including two brain surgeries for hydrocephalus. He is also a little one, and we worked very hard with feedings, etc. He ate every three hours, day and night, and would sleep in between. Sometimes it would stretch to 3 1/2 - 4 hours in between but he was usually ready to eat at the 3 or 3 1/2 mark. I would suggest talking to your pediatrician and see what they say. With most babies, lots of rules apply, but with preemies, there's a whole new set of rules, so waking your preemie to eat might be ok. Your pediatrician should be involved anyway, with weigh-ins and such. At least that was our experience.
Hope all goes well. Congrats on being out of the NICU!!

Having had a preemie myself, I think I can give you some help here. Remember back to the NICU...what is the one thing that is reiterated over and over again about preemies? They need their sleep. Why? Because when they sleep, they produce growth hormones, that help them along. So if she's sleeping for 4 hour stretches, and is fine, let her. It's important that she produces those growth hormones. As long as she is gaining weight CONSISTENTLY, and her pediatrician isn't worried about it, I wouldn't be either.
My little guy did the same thing. In the NICU they sent them on feeds every 3 hours. I found it very difficult to keep up with that demand once we were back home, as I was breastfeeding around the clock. Not only that, but I was having to wake him up, and he was never very fond of that, understandably. So about a week after being home and wearing myself out keeping up with the NICU-time schedule, we went to feeding on demand and it changed my life.
Ben developed his own unique routine, which worked for me as well. I'm very much a fan of on-demand feedings. Baby knows when he or she is hungry. I don't think it's right to dictate when they should eat, if they don't want to. Especially because a sleep baby makes for a feeding fight. And it's just not worth the trouble for new moms.
So if she's tired, let her sleep. Baby's won't starve themselves. When she's hungry, she'll wake up and let you know, Momma! Rest assured! ;-)
And remember not to compare her to a full-term baby. She's on her very own table right now. You have to keep in mind her gestational age and where she is now. So technically, she should just be born now. So in those terms, she's just a newborn.

My boys were born at 32 weeks gestation. Our doctor told us to set an alarm clock even for the middle of the night for every three hours to feed them. As their food intake increased they eventually we were allowed to let them sleep longer. For right now I would say wake her up and maybe at her next doctors appointment ask them how often she should be feeding during the day and at night. Good luck!!!

I have very little experience with preemies, my son was 3 weeks premature. But he was born at 7 pounds 4 ounces, so was he really premature ?? Since your baby spent so much time in the hospital if you have any questions or any concerns I would call your ped right away. Your little angel is fragile and needs all the extra tlc so its always better to be safer, and never doubt your concerns.

I can so relate J.! My son is 3 months today, and it's so hard to know when to feed them. We've been feeding Jake everytime he wakes up from a nap/sleep session, and that's what's worked for us. He's grown a lot, are you breast/formula/combo feeding? My advice is try not to stress, and be so happy your little one is sleeping. If I get 3 hrs in a row, i'm ectastic! Rested mommies are so much more fun that cranky, insomniac mommies, right ;) hang in there....

With premies feeding schedules are different. I would suggest sticking to the feeding schedule given by the hospital or your doctor. 3 to 3 1/2 hours helps to gain weight. Before changing a feeding schedule I would consult with someone in the medical field. They may ok the move to feeding on demand or even 4 hour feeds instead of 3 hour feeds, but you do want to make sure the baby is taking in enough calories to gain weight.

Hi J., I hope things are calming down now that your little one is home with you. So much work for such a little bundle huh? My son was 4 weeks early and weighed 5 1/2 lbs but his ped. told me to not let him go any longer than every 4 hours to feed but he recommended every 3 hours. Why don't you call the doctor's office and speak to the nurse. This way, you will get the info your doctor wants you to follow. Being a nurse myself, I can tell you, the nurses will not mind you calling. Good luck!

As soon as I brought my little girl home from the hospital all she did was sleep. But my pediatrician told me to never let her go longer than 5 hours between feedings. So you can let her sleep but I would wake her every 5 hours to feed her. I hope this helps you out, good luck!

My premie was 8 weeks early, weighing 4lbs 2oz when I brought him home (He is now 11). I woke him up every 2 hours to eat for about the first month until he gained weight and my doctor told me I could let him sleep. Of course when I decided to let him sleep, he started to wake up on his own. Congrats on bringing your little girl home, I know how hard it is to deliver and not be able to bring them home with you.

You definately need to contact your doctor to get their opinion. In my experience, she should be eating every 3 hours, and this is an instance where you DO wake a sleeping baby. Preemie's tend to fall outside some of the "rules" of term babies. Good luck and happy growing!

My son, who is now 7 mo. old and a healthy 19 lbs,would sleep 5 hours at a time when he was a month old. I say that as long as she is growing, eating, wetting and pooping, let her sleep! She may not be where a full term baby is, but as long as thereare good signs, don't worry. Enjoy this special time. It goes fast!

Hi J.! Congratulations on your new baby! Children truly are a blessing. I want to encourage and give you some confidence in knowing that God created your little one and he has placed inside your baby an automatic system that tells her when to eat, when to breathe, when to cry, when to eliminate, etc....Kind of like an auto~pilot until they are more aware of themselves functionally. So when baby is hungry (permitting all systems are "GO"/normal) they will cry and let you know they want nourishment. They know when they are hungry and they KNOW when they are full. Sometimes we struggle wanting to be sure the baby is doing all it should and recieving all it needs, however, God knew this and has placed the autonomic nerve system in us to do things naturally/automatically. For instance, you have been breathing the whole time you have been reading this response. Were you conscious of your breathing, or your heart beat? They were done automatically while you were not even thinking about it. This same system will make sure that when your baby's body needs nourishment, the baby will become hungry and request food automatically. I hope this helps you. Please contact me if I can be of further assistance to you. God Bless, J. Solid Rock Ent Health & Wellness

Wow! Working full-time still is amazing! Congratulations on bringing your precious baby home. My daughter wasn't a preemie, but she was just over 5 lbs when we brought her home. She slept a lot, and I did try to wake her up to feed her during the day so that she would gain weight (every two hours). When she was older, she ate every three hours (breast milk). I think the advice not to wake a sleeping baby is great advice when the baby is gaining weight and weighs more than 5 pounds. :)