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RE: Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

trinity — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:32:20 GMT

You don't say if you're breast or formula feeding. If you're feeding four hourly, that's only six feed a day. Most breastfed babies need at least 8 more commonly 10-12 feeds in a day in those first weeks, to get enough to eat. If you're formula feeding, then you'd have to take the advice of your health professional.

The other thing to keep in mind with a young baby, especially one who has had a rough start, is that they can be quite tired or lethargic in the early days/weeks, and thus, seem really sleepy. If they are too sleepy to feed often and well, this can sometimes make them more sleepy, and they don't get enough to eat, and the vicious circle can start. Having said that, if your little one is gaining weight, producing the right number of wet and dirty nappies in a day (6-8 wet ones, 2 or more dirty ones) then probably getting enough.

Little babies tummies are about the size of their fist when they are small, and need filling little and often. Sleeping long stretches can wait- they're growing incredibly fast and need to keep up with their energy needs, so whilst the sleep deprivation is a killer, it's pretty inevitable with tiny babies. Take all offers of help so that your house can function and you can get some sleep when the baby does.

If your baby does sleep longer stretches eventually, fantastic! Enjoy it (if it lasts), and know that you're one of the lucky ones. Most babies (if their parents are being honest) don't sleep through the night without a wake up for a looong time- statistically after 12 months for most.

Babies are tiny for a short time, it's hard to adjust, but enjoy it while it lasts.

RE: Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

Yummy Mummy — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:41:51 GMT

I would always wake my son during the day for feeds, but at night time I would let him sleep as long as possible so I could get a decent rest.

RE: Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

agent99oz — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:04:52 GMT

Congrats Simon and welcome

I think when the babies are little I was following a feeding pattern during the day of between 3-4 hours with the last rollover feed at 10pm - at that point I would allow my baby to wake when he wanted to and feed for how long he would want.

I bottle feed from a month and would make up larger bottles than recommended as my baby was a big hungry boy

I would always start my day at 7am and finish it at 7pm - I am a routine person and this is what suited me. I think your wife and you just need to work out what suits and realise although sleep dep is so intense it will pass and before you know it your baby will be sleeping through - I think if they are managing between 4-5hours at 5weeks that's really good

My Hubby and I would also go straight to bed when we put our boy down at 7pm to catch up some sleep or at least I would and we would take turns staying up till 10pm to allow us both to catch up on some sleep

One thing that was great and allowed my hubby to feel part of the process was he would give our baby his bath and final bottle at 6pm - this was a lovely bonding experience for them both - it was also a great break for me

Take care and all the best

RE: Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

danabi — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:14:49 GMT

Simon it sounds like you and your wife are doing a great job. Keeping light, interaction etc at night is a great start, keep it up. I have 2 kids my son slept through at 8 weeks and my daughter slept through at 5 weeks. I used to feed 3-4 hrly during the day (yes, I had to wake them sometimes) and gave their last feed at between 10 and 10.30pm (it is the hardest feed to stay awake for). Once they were back in bed after the 10pm feed I left them until they woke up by themselves. Yes when they did wake up it was very much the case of feeding straight away, during the early hours of morning keep light and fuss to a minimum. Just feed, burp, nappy change and straight back to bed. Hope you get a decent sleep soon! Not sure if you are breast or bottle, but perhaps if you are breast feeding, introduce a bottle at the 10pm feed so you can do it and your wife can get to bed early. My daughter was constantly changed from bottle to breast at an early from birth and I never had trouble with her accepting either

RE: Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

Han — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:39:26 GMT

Hi Simon, welcome aboard. i feel for you, hope your bub is alright now. At this age, i think it is of no much difference for a bub whether it is day or night, every 3 to 4 hours they are hungry. There is no definite routine for days and nights.They shoudl be fed on demand. I remember waking and feeding ryan twice or thrice at night when he was 5 weeks. Gradually, by 2 to 3 months, it decreases to 1 single feed per night.

I was told a baby should not be fed at night when they start solid, this is around 7 month.

In your case, i think you should do as advised by his doc, until advised otherwise. Good luck..Han

Feeding every 4hrs of life ?

simonthedad — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:16:23 GMT

Hi all,

My first time on here and only just found the site a couple of weeks ago.

Our son is almost 5 weeks old and while we have a routine (wake, feed, change, play, settle and sleep) the night is pretty much the same as the day (the night has no play and low lights, little speak etc) should we attempt giving him longer sleeps during the night ?

He had a rough start to life and was in intensive care for a little while, now he is thriving and even gave me his first smiles last week (very rewarding !). We were advised he needs to feed every 4 hours, so often we wake him (gently) in order to do this.

I dont expect miracles and i realise my wife and I are not going to get perfect sleep, but alot of the other topics on here speak about babies sleeping through or sleeping at least 6-8hrs at night. We tried to let him sleep up to 5 hours recently, but he wakes up really starving and instantly screaming.

Any advise would be great.

Simon

1st time dad.

It is difficult for me having to return to work and my wife gets to be at home with him