for all you ladies a few weeks ahead!

cossiecat · May 17, 2010 4:31AM

I was due in May, but my DD arrived on 23rd April, so technically I should be here!! Making her 3 weeks 2 days.

I'm after a wee bit of advice from the ladies who are a few weeks ahead with regards to sleeping!

My LO is a fab baby and sleeps well, at the moment we are doing 8 till 2 and then 2 till 7, she is brilliant! Until last week it was 12, 4 and 7, but i was struggling to wake her at 12 and she wasn't feeding for long before falling asleep so HV said to not wake her and let her go to 2. Which we have been doing.

She isn't really fussed at the 2 feed either just now, she sometimes has 5 mins, sometimes less. I should also say she's steadily putting on weight.

Right my question is, when do I stop waking her to feed her and let her go herself?? I know I shoudln't be letting her go more than 6 hours, but when does that change to longer. I've seen your thread on sleep so thought I would ask!

Hope my question makes sense! Also another one is when can I start EBM, do I have to weight till shes 6 weeks?? That's what my midwife says??

Thank you in advanceXXX

Jumblies · May 16, 2010 8:54AM

Not really sure about the waking lo for a feed, I have always just let her take the lead and wake when she wants it.
As for EBM, I tried my lo on it once she reached 2 weeks as didn't want to confuse her, it was a struggle to start with but she got the hang of it in the end. My advice is try your lo with a bottle of EBM when you feel ready to.
Karen + Kayleigh-Mae 7 weeks + 4 days

cossiecat · May 16, 2010 10:07AM

Jeepers I must be tired- I meant wait not weight!!

Thanks for the reply silkychops!! My midwife had said not to let her go more than 6 hours without feeding but I didn't know if this was right.... Thanks for clearing it up, so I can just let her tell me tonight then!!

And thanks for the expressing advice, so I can start earlier than 6 weeks then, thank god!!

kayssis · May 16, 2010 10:15AM

Hiya Hun,
There seems to be a lot of us from dim over here. We were orginally told
by my midwife to wake Ryan every 4hourse as he was jaundiced, as the jaundice improved she said to go to five hours then when we saw her on thursday at 2weeks she said not to worry about waking him and that she didn't think he'd go more than 6, 6and a half hours. After going 9 hours on thursday night we had a very grumpy baby boy yesterday. We woke him up in the end and he was clearly starving hungry straightaway and his feeding and sleeping was out of whack all day so last night we woke him after 6.5hours then he did the rest himself. It's so difficult to know what's right isn't it?

cossiecat · May 16, 2010 10:24AM

It's really hard to know what to do, I was waking her because the midwife had told me I had too and then the HV said not to do it and go 6 hours but I noticed other people saying they wer letting them go longer so I thought I would ask.

Sometimes i wish that health professionals would sing from the same hymn sheet as it's confusing enough!!! X

Jumblies · May 16, 2010 11:13AM

Parenting in trial and error and no 2 babies are the same. My lo is my 4th child and by far the quickest to get in some form of routine.
It's always difficult with your 1st as it a totally new experience.
Good luck with whatever you decide to do tonight.

Maenad_ · May 16, 2010 1:54PM

If she's healthy, was born at 37 weeks+ and is gaining, I don't see why you shoud need to wake her at all! I stress I'm not a health professional, but if she demands feeds when she's hungry, I would personally leave sleeping babies lie! She knows when she's peckish and will soon let you know.

Ruth77 · May 16, 2010 2:09PM

I agree with MrsS - I asked my HV this on Friday and she said 6 hourly but then said since Benjamin's weight gain is good (3lbs in 5.5 weeks) then not to worry too much about waking him. Maybe you could try a dream feed when you go to bed just to top her up if you're worried about cutting a night feed out altogether?

We first gave Benjamin a bottle of EBM at 4 weeks for a full 24-hours as I couldn't feed and he was fine with it and then happily went back to the breast afterwards...

Feebs76 · May 17, 2010 4:31AM

Not sure about the waking up part as I've not had the luxury of more than a 4 hour stint with grace but I've been giving her ebm since she was about a week old for one feed per day. She's a bit fussy about taking it but is noticeably getting better as she gets more used to it. Its also allowing me to build a stock in the freezer for future use as I can usually express about 7 oz and she never takes more than 5.

Xx
Feebs & Grace 4 weeks

for all you ladies a few weeks ahead!

Replies