Wake baby for evening feedings?

happydw

Wed, May 06 2009, 9:01 pm

Ds is 3 weeks old and sleeps well during the day (usually sleeps 3-4 hours between the hours of 930-630). He gets fussy in the evening around 7:00/8:00 (of course, it's dinner time for me!) but then will fall asleep until the next feeding which is usually around 930. Lately he has been fussy at night after the last night feeding (around 12 midnight) and is giving us a hard time falling asleep in his bassinet.

I was thinking about waking him from his last 2 evening naps to feed him(not waiting for him to wake up to eat) so that he will be a little more tired at night and will go to sleep more easily after the 12 midnight feeding so we can also get more sleep and not be up all night with him. I know my doctor told me "never wake a sleeping baby" but I've learned that sometimes the rules are meant to be bent and the rules don't apply to all babies.

WWYD? Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

btMOMtoFFBs

Wed, May 06 2009, 10:20 pm

babies are not really consistent at this age, you know. I think you kind of just muddle through and do what works best for you and baby for first 3 months. Then you can expect more scheduling and consistency. So don't be afraid to try it now. In two weeks you'll probably be trying something else.

rowo

Thu, May 07 2009, 8:05 am

I was told, and found it to be true, that a well rested baby sleeps better.
if u keep a baby up when they are tired, they are likely to get overstimulated and even more cranky.
I wouldn't worry about too much sleep. at this age babies can need alot of sleep.
it's normal to have an unsettled period in the evening. alot of babies go thru it. just getting cranky every night. but it passes after a while.

NotInNJMommy

Thu, May 07 2009, 8:12 am

I tried waking my dd up like that when she was around that age.

It totally backfired. She got soooo overtired, and then neither slept well during the day or at night.

She was difficult from 7p-1a at that age. I thought we'd never sleep again, but I read to expect she'd likely calm down by 6-7 weeks. Slowly but surely, she did....ie. kvetchy time ended sooner....I got used to just stopping everything at that time to comfort her. I made a routine (including stroller, bath, holding, feeding when appropriate (she was on bottles and would overeat and then spit it all up if I didn't pace her when she was in kvetchy time), givin gDH a turn at holding her, us both putting her down to let her scream for a few min (out of 3-6 hrs remember?) to step out the door and get out of it before we went insane.

On the other hand, ds just LOVED a schedule and slept through anything. (although I didn't really have to force one on him, he was too preemie to wake up on his own, I had to wake him to eat at first, so he learned a schedule)

Thu, May 07 2009, 8:52 am

I wake up my babies in the evening to nurse. its called a dream-feed so u keep them in a dimly-lit room, dont talk much to them, only change them if necessary, just feed them an put them back to sleep. Cos basically u want them to associate night-dark with sleeping not play-time. an hopefully then they'll sleep 4-5hours instead of 2-3. an a couple of week slater it shud stretch to 5-6hrs etc.
Try bathing, massaging and feeding bed-time routine at 7pm so u can eat at around 8pm and then around 10.30pm give him a dream-feed so by 11.30 u both can be asleep, hopefully till 3.30/4am. Again just nurse an put straight back to sleep, hopefully till 7 so ur ngiths sleep is only interrupted once.