[jkl123]

I had a visiting nurse here today and she said it is sompletely fine if a nursing baby goes 4 hours without waking up to eat. I was under the impression that nursing babies should wake every 2 hours because theit bodies digest breast milk so much quicker than formula. What is the right amount of time between feedings??

[twinzplus3]

That really depends on the situation and the baby. I never let a baby go more than three hours during the day. . .but four hours at night was fine. That was just to save my sanity though. But in general, if your baby is full term, healthy, gaining weight, has enough wet diapers, then going four hours is not a big deal--especially if it's at night. When babies do that, they will often cluster feed earlier in the day--also normal. The most important thing is to throw out the schedule and not worry about how long in between feeds. In general, babies won't starve themselves and no one has ever explained to them that they have to get up every two hours to eat. They just wake up when they're hungry (in general).

[jkl123]

Thanks - that is good to know. My baby wakes every 2 hours, sometimes a bit earlier and the nurse was like "Don't youwant to be able to sleep at night? He can go for 4 hours". But waking me up every 2 hours really doesn't bother me, so I guess we'll just stick woth it and not "re-train" him.

[twinzplus3]

Well. . .that's true he can. But the thing is give him a few weeks and he'll change again. He'll hit a growth spurt, mature or whatever, and all of the sudden you'll find his pattern changes a tad. I wouldn't wake him, but if he wakes, he wakes. But I'm a very low maintenance mom. . .if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[QueenAngie]

Did not realize you could teach a newborn not to nurse
for four hours!

That's just plain crazy, IMO.

When they are newborns and hungry, you nurse.
On demand was the method I used.

Both my sons were over 9 pounds, and those
sweet babies nursed as newborns every 2 - 3 hours.
DS#2 did have a longer stretch once a day, but
that was by his choice.

I don't wake-up healthy, normal sleeping babies to nurse.
(If there is a weight or health issue, that's different.)
They will awaken on their own and tell you it's time for
nursing.

[kjdama]

I was told by the nurse at the hospital that sometimes babies will actually be so hungry that they tire themselves out and can sleep more to conserve their energy- which is one reason the pediatrician asked me to wake up my guy after two hours during the day.

Now as to whether or not that can really happen, I don't know- but I just nurse on demand and let him sleep when he can (and try to sleep myself at the same time).

[twinzplus3]

Yes--that's absolutely true--but not necessarily typical. In general, if you just feed on demand your baby will demand when he's hungry. It is, after all, a survival instinct. Your guy wasn't gaining weight properly and so absolutely you would wake him up every two hours. But in healthy, full term infants, who are gaining weight--there's no reason to per se. Sometimes when bfing is off to a really rough start, you get a baby that's "happy to starve." Usually though, there's a whole lot of unhappiness before they get to the happy to starve point!
ETA: It is unreasonable to expect that your newborn will sleep more than a few hours at night. But if he does and there aren't any weight gain problems it's fine to let him sleep. I had three who slept at least five hours right at the beginning--with cluster feeding in the early evening. The key here is all about expectations. . .and feeding on demand.

[Magic_Mikki]

I saw a Montel Williams show once about this couple that wanted to know about discipline techniques for their SIX WEEK OLD son!! They were angry because the baby ate "on demand" and wouldn't follow mom's schedule. Mom was mad because baby would wake her up in the middle of the night to eat, and she couldn't train him to sleep for more than 2-3 hours and wanted to know how to discipline him when he would wake up at night. I was appalled!! I could only watch long enough for Montel to say, "What the hell? Get off my stage!" (Not those exact words, but the therapist had some nasty things to say and then Montel was like, Get out!) haha!

[twinzplus3]

I never saw that but there are books out there (Baby Wise-secular version, Preparation for Parenthood--Christian version) that instruct parents to do this type of thing.

[ruthann8]

I was reading somewhere (I forgot where) that some of those methods can cause failure to thrive. Babies learn not to cry even when they are hungry, wet, or sick.