Many pediatricians recommend to feed the kid each 2-3 hours. If it is about night feedings, doctors often insist on that young mom awoke the child when that long sleeps. Though actually, not everything is so unambiguous.
Instruction
1. The premature or weakened baby. When the newborn was born before term and/or has quite small weight, he can not wake up for feeding due to the lack of forces. In this case it is really necessary to awake the newborn, it is possible even to do it more often than time at three o'clock. Otherwise he will gain very slowly weight.
2. In a case with the healthy strong child everything is differently. Here it is better for mom to be guided by the intuition and an intuition, than by councils of people around. Each child is individual. Someone regularly wakes up each two hours to eat. And someone since the birth sleeps at night for 6-8 hours. You should not awake the kid for feeding if: he well gains weight, mother has enough milk. In case of observance of these two conditions it is not necessary to worry. Here it is only possible to be glad that young mom has an opportunity to get enough sleep and be restored after the delivery. It is much more important, than observance of the formal rule of feeding of the baby each 2-3 hours.
3. A set of weight of the baby needs to be estimated not on the subjective feelings ("he eats something a little and does not grow at all"), and in objective parameters - how many grams were added by the child by how many centimeters grew. It is necessary to estimate at the same time rather long period – month or at least week. If the child really changes in weight a little eventually and at the same time practically does not eat at night, it is possible to try it to awake. However you should not go into extremes: if you regularly awake the kid, and he all the same does not take a breast and again falls asleep, it is not necessary to bother him violently. The hungry child will surely eat. Otherwise you simply risk to bring down to the child his natural mode of a dream and wakefulness.
4. When young mom does not have milk, specialists in breastfeeding recommend to increase the frequency of feedings. It is especially important to put the baby to a breast at night. In night-time when sucking a breast by the baby in an organism of mother the hormone affecting amount of breast milk which is formed next day is produced. Therefore if you have difficulties with a lactation, and the baby sleeps all night long, without waking up, it is worth awaking him and to put to a breast as often as possible.