Too Much Sleep at Night Too Soon??

I have to agree...

Never wake up a sleeping baby in the middle of the night. Babies know when they are hungry and will wake up and want to eat when they are. It is possible that he is just satisfied and is comfortable to sleep, so let him and you take advantage of it as well. :-)

let him sleep. They will wake up when they are hungry. I have a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old and they are healthy and happy and that is what I did.

Awww! I would absolutely let him sleep. Expect him to be very hungry when he wakes up, but definitely sleep!!!

Never wake a sleeping baby!! lol He will wake when he is hungry! If your nursing and breasts become full, try to pump a few ounces to freeze.

Hi Joy,

If it were me personally, I would not "sweat" the baby wanting to sleep more, and count it a blessing. As my mother always said, "let sleeping babies lie". I was very blessed with my first son, who slept almost all night from the day I brought him home from the hospital . . . in fact, even while I was in the hospital. The nurses would cart him in my room (back then the baby didn't stay in your room with you)saying he had been crying for the last two hours for me, as I looked at him peacefully sleeping in the "bassinet"?!?!?! lol . . . I'd say, "okay", they'd leave the room, and I'd let him sleep, why wake him up? If it is proper nutrition and weight gain you are concerned about, that same child gained an average of a pound a week for about the first five to six months of his life. However, if you are truly concerned about whether it is healthy for your baby, schedule an appointment with your pediatrician to have him/her examine him and give their own imput. (FYI: in a lot of cases I did not follow ALL of the pediatric nurses' or doctor's advice for my children as babies, as sometimes thier "input" did not fit my child's or family's needs . . . but would definitely have been worried had they expressed concern about weight/growth, which they never did.) I hope this helps!!! Have a great day!!

My girls when they were infants went 3 -4 hours between bottles right from the start. Their doctor and the hospital said that was fine w/ the 3-4 hours but I bottle not breastfed...(not sure which one you are doing) Their doctor said that formula filled them up more then breastmilk and that is why they could go longer between bottles. And the fact that they were 9 lbs and 8 lbs 9.6 ounces added to the spacing between bottles (since they were bigger babies) If your baby is getting up at least every four hours...I say let the baby sleep but thats just my opinion. Good luck to you and if you need anything else...let me know, I would be happy to help. :)

How much is your baby eating during the day? I ask because I had this problem with my 3rd child, she had a bad case of jaundice though. Jaundice peaks between 5 and 10 days of age, so watch him. If he is feeding during the day often, then I'd let him sleep. If not, maybe he has got a bit of jaundice. Maybe you are just really lucky!

I would wait until my son was 6-8 weeks old before letting him sleep through the night. 3-4 hours is "sleeping through the night" for a child that age and if they do more it is a worry. Sometimes its a sign that they're not getting enough nourishment and getting lethargic. We had this problem with my daughter and by 6 weeks old she was 10 oz. less then her birth weight (she's also gone 24 hours without a wet diaper) so needed immediate intervention. She was starting to sleep for longer stretches and would fall asleep eating and such.

I don't mean to worry you, but I'd keep waking him up if he sleeps more than 4 hours, these first few weeks they are kind of fragile. By the way, our daughter was sleeping through the night at 3 months (and probably would've sooner if we'd let her - I was just a little hyper-vigilant with our previous experience). You can train you child to sleep through the night by spacing the feedings further and further apart and giving them a bit more so they don't get hungry as soon.

Best wishes!

LET THE BOY SLEEP. If you have a sleeper, bless you. The more night sleep mamma can get the better, especially since you have other kids in the home that need you awake during the day. when my kids were newborn babies I would feed at ~5/6 am ~8 am ~11 am ~2/3 pm ~5 pm ~7/8 pm ~10/11 pm ~12/1am so I would get a "good night" sleep of 4-6 hours during the night time hours. I also found I could nurse much better if the feedings were at least 3 hours apart and I was well rested. He should be fine if you let him sleep even 4-5 hours if he is feeding well and gaining weight and growing. If you are unsure if he is growing/gaining take him to his Doctor's office and have him weighed (call ahead so they can pull his chart). Most Pediatric offices don't mind at all weighing the little ones in fact most love seeing happy healthy babies. With my oldest I would take her in on her "birthday" every month because "Grammy" who was 1000 miles away needed to know her little darling was OK. God Bless You -- M.

If he's gaining weight properly, has enough wet and dirty diapers, and you're not suffering (because of either engorgement or fear that your milk will supply will suffer) I'd say let him go! As soon as anything changes, go with your gut and feed him some more!

And congratulations!

don't wake him up to feed, when hes hungry he will eat, enjoy your sleep now it won't last forever

Hi Joy! I have had 4 boys and every one of them were different. One didn't eat much,(still doesn't to this day and he's 23!), spit his pacifier out at 3 months and was bottle broke at 18 months. One ate great and would scream without his pacifier until about a year. One started cereal at three weeks(yes the doctor put him on it) no pacifier after 3 months and walking at 6 months. And one who ate great, also on cereal by 3 weeks, no issues with pacifier or bottle, but didn't like anyone outside of family and ONLY his bed to sleep in. When I went back to work, he cried for 2 years every day when I left. Why do I tell all of this to you? Every child is different! You adjust your childs schedule according to your child. You are the mom and know your child better than anyone out there, including the doctor! L. S.

If he is eating frequently during the day, then I would probably let him sleep at night. My middle son would eat about every hour during the day but would sleep for really long stretches (5 to 7 hrs) of time during the night from birth. Because he did well gaining weight and ate so frequently during the day, his ped. was fine with me letting him sleep at night.

My first daughter started from the beginning with only waking up once over the night. The first night we had her (still in the hospital), she woke up at 12:00 to nurse, nursed until 12:45 and then fell back asleep. My husband and I were scared becuase we woke up before her later that morning (around 7:30). She didn't wake up until 8! We were very concerned and asked our doctor at the hospital about it and he asked if she had woken up over the night to nurse, and if she nursed well when she was up. When we said that she did, he said that she was fine and that she would wake up when she was hungry. Even after we got home from the hospital, she was like that too. There were a few times during growth spurts that she would wake up an extra time or two over the night. She was sleeping through the night at 4 months. Eight and a half years later, she is a very bright, healthy third grader! All kids are different though, even between my two girls. Until she was sleeping through the night, my daughter who is almost two, was waking up a couple times over the night and she was sleeping through the night at two months.

I had the same thing happen with my two daughters. The four year old woke up every two hours almost like clockwork to nurse for MANY months of her life. I just had my second daughter in July, and almost from the beginning she would give me one long stretch of sleep at night - usually about three to four hours, and then wake up after that every couple of hours. If that is what his little body is telling him to do I wouldn't worry about it. Nursing is all about feeding on demand, so if he's not demanding it, sleep Mama!!

I had similar situations with both of my children. Waking a sleeping newborn is not an easy task! I continued waking them every 3 hours at night (I would feed them more frequently during the day) until their 2 week check up. At that time, they both had sufficient weight gain and the doctor said that waking them was no longer necessary. If you are feeding him every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 at night, I would think that he is getting enough.

I was worried about the same thing. The hospital encouraged me to wake him up, but my DOCTOR dissagreed! He told me NOT to wake my baby! He said that babies know what they need. If they need sleep, they will sleep. If they need food, they will let us know. We try to re-wire their basic intincts too much. Just let nature take over.

Let him sleep! You've been blessed with a good sleeper -- I would definitely wait for him to wake up. My son did the same thing. I never woke him, and he thrived!

Babies are smart and are good at letting us know when they need something. I would let him sleep as long as he's eating enough in 24hrs. The biggest concern about letting him sleep, I would think, would be your milk supply. But if your milk has come in then I would think your body would adjust to your son's feeding pattern. When in doubt - call your pediatrician. Good luck :)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WAKE YOUR BABY!!!!!

Until babies are around 6-7 weeks old they DO NOT metabolise food well. This means your baby's brain is ONLY getting fed when YOU FEED HIM! I know there are plenty of people who have said 'don't wake a sleeping baby'. BUT, until baby is around 6 weeks, you HAVE to wake him so his brain gets fed. Not enough food to the brain = poor development. I'm not just pulling this out of my butt. This is what our pediatrician told us. THis is why the hospital was so adamant you wake the baby.

Also, if baby is HARD to rouse routinely.... you might want to discuss this with your pediatrician. Unless you are on medication most babies are not that tough to wake.

I have a 5 week old and just went through this. I say don't wake him unless you have a problem with weight gain. I wouldn't let it go much more than 4 hours, though, until you know for sure that his weight is good. Also- this is only for breastfeeding. I hear you can go longer with formula, but I am not sure.

All four of my kids slept longer for their first two weeks, then started waking up more often after that. I'm not sure if it is just being tired from being born, or God's gift to help mom recover... but for mine, it was over soon enough. I think you will be fine!

Hi Joy,
My son is 10 weeks old and he also was sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night when he first came home. Honestly, I was so tired that I didn't wake up unless he did so I wasn't waking him to eat. At his 2 week checkup he had gained a pound and a half. I would say a 4 hour stretch isn't going to hurt, but I wouldn't let him go much longer than that simply because you need to keep up your milk supply. Maybe you just have a good sleeper on your hands! Congrats and good luck!

Our first slept thru the night from 9-6 from about 3 days old.
Our second from about a week old and our 3rd about a week and a half.
Use the diapers to gauge it and don't feel bad about waking them if you are engourged.
All of ours were consistant every 2-3 hours during the day and good sleepers at night.
Also use your babys size as a gauge. Our first was 8lbs 3 oz at birth, 2nd was 9lbs 7oz, and 3rd was 10 lbs at birth. If your baby is small it needs more feedings since the belly is smaller.
If you are having doubts as to weight gain the drs office should be happy to just let you bring baby in for a weight check.
Good luck and congrats on getting sleep so early!

Joy:

My advice is let him sleep as long as he has been gaining weight since he left the hospital. Your Dr. will probably say the same at your one week appointment (mine did, but had been gaining weight).

Congrats and good luck!
Mom of 3; 6,2 and 7 weeks

If he's sleeping for long stretches and those stretches occur during the night, I would not wake him. As long as he's eating enough during the day and has enough wet diapers, all is well. My second baby did this after 2 weeks and it felt like he was attached to me all day long because he wanted to nurse so often. I'd rather have that and a good nights sleep than the alternative!

Hi Joy,

Congratulations on the birth of your baby. What an exciting time this is for your family. In answer to your question of letting you baby sleep longer at night I'd suggest a more middle of the road approach. In the first few weeks babies will literally sleep through hunger cues if no one responds to their early cues. This is even more common if a baby is born a little early (35-38 weeks gestation). Little ones who are jaundice will also be more sleepy, so you'd need to wake the baby every 3 hours or so, if he isn't waking on his own around then. Babies need to have 8 nursings in a 24 hour period. He can certainly go one 4-5 hour stretch in a 24 hour period. How generous of him to do that at night. If he does that longer stretch of sleep, a couple feeds would need to be every 2 hours or so, at some point during the day, to get those minimum of 8 nursings in the full day.

Another really helpful way to know if your baby is getting enough is to count how many wet and messy diapers he has in a 24 hour period. At his age, up until he's 6 weeks of age or so, you're looking for him to have 6-8 wet diapers with clear to light colored urine, and 3 or more yellow, mustard colored bowel movements, which are at least the size of a quarter or more. Those are minimums. So if he's doing that or more, he's getting plenty of week.

Also, you're looking for him to gain about an ounce a day at his age (for the next couple of months). On a weekly basis, it's 4-7 ounces, but preferably the 7 or more ounces.

If you should have any further questions, please feel free to email me.

I should probably explain that i know these things because I'm a La Leche League Leader and an IBCLC, RLC -lactation consultant.

If your baby is having any deviation of what I mentioned above you might want to get in touch with your local LC or LLL Leader. To find a local LLL group go to: www.llli.org

Best wishes,

S.

Hi Joy,
WHen my son was born my ped. aid to feed him every 3 hours during the day, even if he was sleeping, beacuse she said that even very young babies can often have at least on long stretch (up to 5 hours) of sleep and I should "train" him right away to use his long stretch diring the night hours.

It worked!!! He was a great sleeper and a great nurser. If you are nursing it is very important to establish your suply early on but, like I said, my ped. was fine with a longer stretch at night. I got odd looks from my husband's ggrandmother for wakigna sleeping baby during the day, but it all worked out! :)

Good luck!

he is fine. i wouldnt worry. you shouldnt wake him unless he is a preemie. he will wake when hes hungry, dont worry :)

every baby is different.. my daughter did not sleep at night - and ate all night long.

My son was up once or twice to eat and slept well. It was not unusual for him to sleep 3-4 hours at night from the first day home.

I wouldnt wake him up unless you wake up totally engorged.

and dont worry pretty soon the new baby will have a growth spurt and wake up every hour to eat.

My thoughts....never wake a sleeping baby. Chances are if you are waking him up at 2 hours to eat he might of woken up himself at 2.5 hours, does 1/2 hour or 1 hr really matter? When they get hungry, they will wake up. Now if he's under weight then that is a different story.

My daughter was small and they told me to feed her every 2-3 hours also but she would sleep for 4-5 hours and then chow, when I did wake her she wasn't hungry and just sucked and I couldn't tell if she was getting anything plus I was exhusted.

good luck and enjoy your little one.

a doctor will tell you one thing (wake him) another mother usually a different thing (let him sleep!)

I let all my children sleep and they slept in long chunks like that! I have 4 kids and all is well :)

I wouldnt even worry at all.. if you wake him you will set a pattern and he probably won't sleep through the night anytime soon....

We let our daughter SLEEEEEEEP and it has not been a problem. :o) She's still a great sleeper! Besides, I think you'll get a more productive and cooperative eater if they are the one who decides when they are hungry. Congrats on your newborn!

When I had my first child the midwives told me that during the night it was okay to let the baby sleep 4-6 hours without waking them up to eat. And after having two children, my experience tells me that I would let them go that long as well. Sleep while you can and let him. At this age, I personally, wouldn't let him go longer than 6, but I'd let him sleep that long. During the day, however, I would make sure I was feeding him every 3 hours or so. They do need a certain amount of calories and if you try and fit them in during the day, letting them sleep longer at night is a benefit to you both! Congratulations!

I have a 4 month old daughter and this sounds just like her. In the hospital I would wake her every 4 hours to eat but once we got home I just let her sleep until she woke up. During the day she would take 2 long naps (3-4 hours each) and at night she would sleep 10-12 hours. I'm back to work now, but she still likes to sleep alot.

My advice is to just let your son sleep. My daughter eats alot during the day but it doesn't bother me because I know she goes for a long period at night without eating.

Good luck and enjoy all the rest you can get!

Hi Joy. Okay, I had a set of twin girls and both of them slept pretty good when they first came home. When I took them in for their two week visit, the doc was asking about their sleep/eat habits. I told him that they both slept for 4-6 hour stretches at night. He only asked that I wake one of them up for feeding and that was only because she was born 5lbs. 15oz. He said the other one was fine to sleep all night because she was born almost 2 pounds heavier. So I guess my point is if he was born a good weight, let him sleep! My grandma used to say don't ever wake a baby to eat, you are disturbing their growing!

I'm not sure if anyone mentioned this...but you might want to wake him until your milk supply is established.

You have to be very careful with a newborn who sleeps a lot, sometimes babies are too tired to eat enough so they sleep to keep their energy...but don't wake up enough and/or often enough to eat....so they sleep more and still don't eat...
A good rule to reassure you that your baby is fine is to check how many wet and yellow poopy diapers you get every day and also to make sure your baby nurses at least (yes at least for a breastfed newborn !) 8 to 12 times a day.
If your baby sleeps 3-4 hours that's great as long as he nurses often and enough (his weight gain must be good too).

If the BMs and wet diapers are not plenty that's a sign that you need to nurse more and more often. Make also sure you nurse when your baby asks for it: sucking, rooting reflex are good signs, don't wait until baby cries because it's very tiring for him (and stressful) so you don't need that if your baby already sleeps a lot.

Forget about sleeping through the night (I know your concern but your baby is way too little and not mature enough to consider it and you'll have time later to instill good sleeping habits), he now needs to eat frequently and gain weight first.

In and all, if your baby wets and dirties tons of diapers and gains weight it's probably fine to let him sleep as long as he wants (nurse 8-12 times/24h anyway). Otherwise, wake him up and nurse him even half awake very often especially if he's always sleepy or needs to gain more weight.

Enjoy !!!

Let his diapers be your gage. If he has plenty of wet diapers, then he is getting enough food, and has probably already mastered the job of getting a full feeding every feeding, allowing him to sleep longer. The rule I always followed was not to wake them at night (but don't go longer than 5 hours). During the day, I would wake them every 3-4 hours to help them establish a good day/night pattern. Routine is very important, and as you know it usually doesn't come til later...but I wouldn't fight it if he does it on his own.

~L.

Let him sleep. 2 out of my 5 boys would sleep through the night. I would still get up every 2-3 hrs to pump to keep my milk supply going and so I wouldn't hurt. Good luck and enjoy.

Mom of 5 sons. (16,14,13,10,6)

My 1st born was the same, and I agonized over trying to feed him "on schedule" and I got no sleep. The hospital call line confirmed I needed to wake him every 2 hours and gave me ideas on how to keep him awake like stripping him down so he was cold(!) I'd spend an hour feeding him and get 1 hour sleep before having to start all over. Now after my 3rd I realize the stupidity in that and assume it was a textbook answer from them. If the baby is thriving, its fine. You may not get the sleep-through-the-night milestone because the patterns will change, but you need rest now, so get it when you can. I never got him to nurse well and I think my tension was not a small factor in that. LeLeche was the ones that said let him sleep! and I trust them. Took me awhile to find them as a source, but with www it should be easier.

Hi Joy,
If you're nursing, and your son is only one week, I would continue to wake him at least every 3 or 4 hours, for about another week, mostly to ensure your milk supply. After that, LET HIM SLEEP! My daughter was the same. I was waking her, and it was a struggle to wake her enough to eat. After two weeks, the Dr. said to stop waking her to eat. Remember, there is a medium between every two hours and letting him go as long as he will. Continue to feed him every two to three hours during the day even if he doesn't seem super hungry, and he should be more full at night. Also, give him full feedings, not just a little here and there. That helps them go longer between feedings. He does need to eat at least 8 times per day. Congrats!

I am not a doctor, but I think that it is silly to wake a baby at night to eat. I have two children- two years, and three weeks old. My three week old will sleep sometimes 5 hours at night without eating. And her weight is right where it should be. I think that it would be wrong to expect you to wake up every two hours to wake your baby. If your baby sleeps let her. If at your next doc appt. her weight is good then continue to let her sleep, if she is not where the doc would like weight wise then you can be concerned about waking her every two hours to eat at night.

Joy, I remember the nurses at the hospital telling me the same thing. My mom's advice, which I took was, never wake a sleeping baby in the middle of the night. Your baby will defintely wake up when they are hungry. I always kept my girls on a schedule during the day (never let them sleep more than the 2-3 hours), but during the night, I would just feed your son when he wakes up. My girls turned out just fine now ages 9 and 6. Good Luck

Of course it depends on how much he weighs and if he is gaining weight and eating well during the day. I always said with my three - if they'll sleep why wake them!!??? Especially if they are healthy and gaining they need good sleep too so they can grow. Go with your gut feeling!!

Your baby needs to eat enough to gain consistently and continuously. He should be having at least six good, wet diapers a day and at least 3 small bowel movements in these early weeks. If this isn't the case, I'd wake him. Some complacent babies don't realize how much they need to nurse. I sure wouldn't worry about "training" him. He's a newborn who needs to be put to the breast and held by you a whole lot! Usually they will awake when hungry but sometimes new babies don't and you need to wake them to nurse. Try to get him to empty one breast each feeding so he gets the rich, hind milk that doesn't come out right away. Good for you for giving your sons this wonderful gift of breastfeeding. You'll never regret it! G. B.

My LO always woke up every 3-4 hours, never every 2 and I was told to only wake them if it had been 5 hours

I would allow him to sleep. He'll wake when he is hungry. I really feel that the hospitals are ridiculous when it comes to the feeding rule. He's obviously going through a growing spurt and needs the rest. Trust me......you're extremely fortunate. My son woke every 2 hours for the first 18 months of his life. I got no sleep. Take advantage of this time to get some rest and relaxation. Good luck!
R.