Should I Wake My 6 Week Old to Breastfeed

If his weight is good I would not wake him. I never woke up my 2 boys and they are excellent sleepers at night.

I wouldn't wake him. The only time I would even consider waking him is if you want to wake him before you fall asleep to get a longer stretch for you, but I hardly ever woke my kids. When I tried to feed them when I wanted to (waking or before we had out or something), they seemed to fall asleep at the breast anyway.

I never woke my son up to feed, I just let him wake when he was hungry and he is growing and healthy! He is 18 months old and we never had any issues with weight retention or anything like that, the only thing that you are doing is making his sleep schedule off! Hope that helps!

The waking a newborn every few hours is due the the fact that a newborn's body won't wake him when he is hungry and you are pushing nutrients and colostrum. Now he is starting to get into his own groove. Trust me... you want him to start sleeping longer and longer. Let him sleep until he wakes himself (check on him if it seems exceptionally long). Some take a lot longer to sleep throught the night. If you are starting to get some real sleep, love it! Just make sure he is gaining weight normally when you have check-ups with the doctor.

Hi C. - my little one is now 3 months old (can't believe how fast the time has passed!) - I stopped waking him up for feedings around the 6 week old timeline - I agree w/your sentiment - if I'm hungry, I'll wake up and let you know! He's a healthy 14 lbs 14 oz right now, so it obviously wasn't a bad thing - and he started sleeping through the night from 7:30pm - 6:00am around the 2 month mark - congrats!!

I always let ours feed on demand. So I would let him sleep til he wakes himself up. Congrats on the 5 hours stretches of sleep time!!! When mine started sleeping the longer stretches, it usually meant that they nursed more during the day, but I never woke a sleeping baby:)

C. my answer would be no, don't wake him to feed him. I asked my doctor about that with my firstborn. He laughed and said "She'll let you know when she's hungry. She needs her sleep too and won't starve to death." Let him sleep and you sleep when he does. Enjoy those stretches of time when he's sleeping. That's just my opinion. Take good care of yourself so you can take good care of your precious baby. {{{hugs}}}

I think you have gotten a lot of great advise here but I will second it. You should not wake your baby to feed especially when he is 6 weeks old. He will wake up when he needs to eat. It would be different if he was a newborn.

My daughter was a preemie (6 weeks early) and she would fall asleep when we fed her. The NICU told us to wake her every 3 hours to feed her when we took her home. They said never to go 5 hours without a feeding. But, she was eating so little. I would ask your pediatrician and see what they advise. If he is eating plenty and growing, I would feed on demand. Because we woke her every three hours she didn't sleep through the night until she was 9 months old. Take advice, but follow your instincts. You know more than you think!!

C.,
No, I wouldn't wake him at all, when he's hungry he'll let you know. It sounds like he's getting full since he is sleeping so much. Just to let you know his sleeping patterns will change time to time. For now he might sleep for the 5 hours stretches then in a couple of weeks he might wake up every 2 hours to eat. Babies will let you know when they are hungry, when they are wet, when they just want to be held, it's just sometimes hard for us to figure it out. Congrats on your precious little one,

You are lucky that he has started taking longer sleep times. So long as he doesn't lose weight, this is what a person waits for, longer night times, and longer naps. I would not wake him, sounds ike he is doing fine. I had four and thought it wonderful when they started sleeping longer, and they thrived and did fine.. They didn't used to think they needed fed every two orthree hours ,, so I don't know when that changed, as when I brought my first one home they suggested every four hours at first, and she got real chubby, and was sleeping all night from 9 to 5 a.m. by 6 weeks. The other three didn't start sleeping that long that soon. But sounds like you have a winner there. Ha. Good luck , enjoy.

As long as he is eating, peeing, pooping well, I say let hime sleep. You'll probably notice him make up for the lost feeding. He'll either nurse longer or ask for an extra feeding closer to another one than he normally would.

After raising 5, I would never wake a child unless he had high fever...

NO!!! He will wake when he is hungry. As long as he's gaining weight then let him sleep!! My first son was a great sleeper from the get go. I was waking him from the first night I brought him home. I remember asking about it at our first dr's appointment and them telling me not to wake him!! Enjoy the sleep!!

My pediatrician told me not to wake a sleeping baby despite what the lactation people told me. It worked great for us. Consider it a huge blessing to get those five hour stretches this early. Some people wait many months for that! Congrats on your baby and good luck!

My advice is NO - don't wake him up to feed him. I never did with my son - I fed him when he wanted to eat and let him sleep when he wanted to sleep (I slept then too). It worked fine for us and I was not cranky from lack of sleep! In fact, we NEVER even fed him on a schedule - we fed him when he was hungry, and that I can remember, he only spit up twice during his infanthood. He is now a strong, 6 foot tall 14 year old who is having his braces put on today - SNIFF - the time flies, so enjoy EVERY MINUTE.

i never woke my children to eat, now keep in mind my children were healthy, not underweight, and would wake on their own to eat. if you have a child that has any kind of concern like underweight, or will not wake to eat, then yes you should wake them. but if not they will wake to eat, they will not let themselves starve & as a mother you will not let them starve either! as long as they keep up wet & dirty diapers i would see no concern.
but i will say that i had more milk early in their lives (i went back to work and had to pump) so you might go ahead and pump or hand express some milk if you are awake & he is not.

I would never wake a baby to feed unless they were low birth weight and the doctor told me to. Sounds like your son is doing great at sleeping at night. Just keep working on napping during the day. You will evwentually fall into a routine.

Hi C.,
When we were leaving the hospital with our brand-new baby boy over a year ago, they said that he would probably eat every three hours, start to start. They told me that he shouldn't go longer than four hours. So, if he was sleeping we would wake him up to feed him after four hours passed (and he was quite the sleeper)!

Now that your baby is 6 weeks old, you may be able to let him sleep even longer...I can't remember when that happened for us.

I hope this helps at least slightly!
D.

No let him sleep. Let him sleep. An infant should be able sustain himself and sleep thru the night when they reach 10 lbs. I always put mine to bed, then woke them up for an 10 or 11 oclock feeding so that they would sleep from then till morning, but I wouldn't wake them at 2 or something.

The best thing you can do is to keep him to a schedule as best as possible. Morning nap/afternoon nap at the same times. Meals at the same times. etc. He'll get in a routine and soon you won't have to get up at all at night. Good luck! Sleeping 5 hours is a blessing - trust me. Mine slept thru the night at 10 weeks and 12 weeks.

Let him sleep. He will begin to make his own schedule. I would suggest that the only time you alter that is if he gets off on day and night hours. I also suggest that you not put him directly to the breast when he wakes. Let him get really awake and "ready" to nurse this way you don't deal with him falling back to sleep and not nursing. The goal is for your baby to sleep through the night and if you wake him every few hours that is the routine his little body will get use to and then you may have to stick with it.

Mama's know best and you will get it all worked out. God bless you and your family.

No. Do not wake your baby to feed. He should start to sleep through the night (if not already). Also, keep him up for an hour at a time during the day and then put him down. He should be taking several 1 hour naps.

I would not wake him at night at all, unless possibly if he is sleeping over 6 or 7 hrs. at a time, and even then I don't know if it's necessary, just personal preference. I would let him sleep 3-4 hours at a time during the day; but the only thing you want to watch out for is him getting his days & nights mixed up. For instance, if he is taking 4 hour naps and waking up every 2 hours at night, then you go back to waking during the day. But generally speaking, there should not be a need to wake up a 6 week old.

Let you baby sleep!! you should just breastfeed on demand... catch up on your sleep at that time too.. or even house work, or just watching tv.... i let my baby lead the way when it came to sleeping and breastfeeding....

Sounds like your little angel is setting his own schedule, and getting a 5 hour stretch at night is great! I breastfed both of my sons, and they started doing this between 6 and 8 weeks, too. Unless your dr. advises you otherwise (due to weight concerns, etc.) you should let your little guy wake up on his own. Then you and he can both get used to his schedule.

Let him sleep at night, but wake him from naps if it is time to eat. This way you are using this wonderful sleeping thing he's got going on to your advantage. It will help him stay a good sleeper at night, and it will help you by being the one keeping the schedule during the day. Sleep schedule is a big deal until about 3 to 4 yrs old. 2, 2hr naps per day until 18 months and then down to 1, 2hr nap until 4yrs. My schedule was 8-10 eat and play, 10-12 nap, 12-2 eat and play, 2-4 nap, 4 til 7 eat play and bath, 7-ishpm until 8am night sleep.

Our pedi dr. told us that after the first week or two, to let the BABY tell you when he/she is hungry and to NOT wake him/her for feedings. Once they get just a bit bigger, so does their stomach and they can go longer without momma's milk.
Worked for us!
GOod luck!

If he is gaining weight well I wouldn't wake him to nurse. I would pump though to keep up/increase milk supply. He should be napping much more than it sounds like he it. It sounds like he is a cat napper/snacker (falls asleep at the breast). My sons were like that and after I weaned my younger one (at 5 months as I could not produce enough milk)I read "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" and he started sleeping from 7p-7a and taking 2 2 hour naps every day. It was a life saver. I would have done that program from the get go had he been gaining weight at a good rate, but I was advised to nurse on demand. As long is your son is gaining I would let sleeping baby sleep! good luck

YES YES YES! Stay on schedule. You are doing fantastic. If baby wakes and you are not there it will scare him but if you wake him, hold him, and feed him he will trust in you then play with him and coo at him then lay him back to bed. You will be one of those few mom's that will have successful sleeping habits by the time he is a toddler. Good for you.

PS: Want to know something fun? When baby is awake and laying face up, point your finger in the air in front of his face every time before you pick him up. Say "up" too. Watch for his tiny fist in the air as he waits for you to pick him "up". Babies are so smart!

Have fun! God bless new baby! C.

As my grandmother always said, "NEVER wake a sleeping baby!"

Hi C.,
At this point, I wouldn't wake him to eat. It was good to do that when he was first born to help your milk come in and to regulate your supply, and to ensure that he was gaining weight and not becoming dehydrated, but by this point he doesn't need you to wake him.
Somewhere between six and eight weeks you'll probably see him start to regulate his sleep patterns a little more, too, where he'll take more naps during the day (usually an hour or two after he wakes up in the morning, another two hours after the first nap, and another two hours or so after the second nap).
Hope that helps :-)

Hi C.,
At about 2-3 weeks, my dr told me to not wake my son at night to eat, he was gaining weight really good. My son was always on a 3 hr eating schedule during the day. Around 6 weeks, I started implementing the Baby Wise schedule. Basically eat, play, sleep on a 3 hr schedule. I was so proud of myself for taking a week and really working on this. I would not run errands during nap time, we would run to the grocery store during play time if I had to go somewhere and be back in time for nap. Before that, I'd nurse him to sleep so I changed that by playing after eating and as soon as I saw a sleep signal: nite nite in his bed!
I would rarely wake him to eat. Just if my breasts were getting too full or if the schedule was going to be thrown off b/c of plans later, or we were running up on 4 hrs, etc.
But: good luck. Do what works for you. I would highly recommend working on a better nap schedule during the day, you will THANK YOURSELF later, I promise you!

Whether you wake him up or not, continue to pump or you will have less milk. Then, you will have to do things to get your milk production up again. Happened to me.

Aren't you the lucky one! Both of my babies ate every 2 hours on the dot. Unless he is under-weight and your doctor insists that he eat every 2 hours, I would not wake him up to nurse. Let that sweet baby boy sleep. If you are awake when he should be nursing and are feeling engorged, pump it off and freeze your milk for later. I am sure he will let you know when he is hungry :)

I recommend letting a baby this young lead the way. BF on demand and don't wake them up. & Congrats on your little one they change soooo fast!

Let him sleep. If he's hungry, he will wake up and let you know. Their tummies can only hold so much and one of the "negatives" of nursing is that you can't tell how much he is taking in. With my first child, I nearly went into a panic the first couple of times she spit up what looks to me like a gallon of milk. I was sure it was projectile vomiting or that she was going to starve to death. She didn't. She was just the child that loved to suckle. The second child was the one who was in and done.

One of the many benefits of nursing is the you're carrying the baby's food around with you all the time. There is no formula to mix or warm or bottles to find. I agree to let the baby set his own schedule or rhythm for feeding. On demand worked just fine for me, but if you're out you can have a bottle at the ready.

I personnally nursed my girls in public. I don't think anyone but my husband and I knew what was going on because I draped a blanket over the baby and wore nursing friendly outfits. We'd sit and chat or continue our meal as normal, which it was.

You know that you know what to do. Trust yourself on this matter, and pump and freeze the milk for later use. Right now, you've got an enormous amount being produced to keep ahead of the baby's needs. You'll be more comfortable if you relieve the pressure, and it also gives an opportunity to see for yourself how much you are producing. When I went back to work, I pumped breast milk during breaks and lunch. I usually brought home between 6 and 8 ounces a day, which was more than the baby was consuming most days.

We used Babywise, and it worked well for us. There are great suggestions for helping to get a routine going and let napping become more predictable. Ours was sleeping thru the night at about 4-5 mths, and that was awesome!

There really is no wrong answer here. We never woke our sleeping babies unless we had to feed them b/c we were going somewhere (like the doctor). If you are okay with him sleeping, then let him sleep. He will wake when he is hungry. Good luck!!

That is great he is sleeping that long. Do not wake him. My son slept through the night at 4 weeks and our twin daughters at 6 weeks. I know it is unnerving because you hear "wake them up to eat," but don't. Even our twins neonatologist said to wake them every 3 hours when we brought them home from the NICU, but luckily I had already had 1 baby and knew better. They immediately went to a 4 hour schedule the day we arrived home after 9 days in the NICU and started eating better than they had ever eaten. Babies grow when they sleep, not when they eat. As long as he is sleeping 5 hours through the night, then let him sleep during the day when he wants to. Our son slept up to 6 hours at a time during the day too. He was a large baby and didn't need as many calories. Once the daytime sleeping starts affecting sleeping well at night then limit the daytime sleeping. Good luck!

i kept my girls to a loose 4 hour feeding schedule. If it was going past 4 and 1/2 hours then i would wake them to feed from naps. But never wake them up at night!!

I never wake at night, but I do wake during the day. If they don't get enough calories during the day, then they will wake up at night to get them. I would keep on a good 3 hour schedule, give or take a little, and eventually they will be on the same eating schedule as your family. Also, you can plan YOUR day if you have errands to run, because you'll know exactly when he needs to eat and exactly when he's going to be sleepy. I follow the eat, play, sleep method, instead of eat/sleep/eat/sleep. It's hard at first b/c sometimes they seem SO sleepy, but it will all work out eventually and you will be so happy that you trained him to sleep during the day and then he'll just sleep on his own at night. Sometimes a change of clothes or diaper will wake them up enough to eat. I'd be happy to talk more about it if you want. Everyone has their own opinion but I believe you will find what works for you and your family! Good luck!