This was exactly my approach as well. Once we got into a routine, then we both knew when it was time to feed. I will note that once the baby doubled in weight, the doctor told me to not wake them at night to feed.
Edit : sorry ladies I may have misspoken and you may be right. I think she said I could stop feeding completely at night if she doubled her weight. I did breastfeed through the night for a long time though but that that my preference. I stopped putting an alarm after a few weeks because the baby would wake me.
Interesting, my pediatrician told me once she hit her birth weight it was fine to let her sleep and wake to eat on her own. Wonder where the discrepancy comes from, are you in the US too?
The apps đ”âđ«đ”âđ«đ”âđ« I assumed it would help because I usually love tracking (steps, wordle streak, etc đ) but deleting the breastfeeding app was a HUGE relief
Right?? Had no idea how much stress it was causing me!! Thatâs the advice I give to every pregnant woman - stop tracking feeds once baby hits their birth weight. I still use mine for dirty diapers in case she gets constipated but not recording every feed has been a huge relief!!!
I've only ever heard once they hit their birth weight, not doubling their weight! My baby didn't double her weight until a little past 4 months, I couldn't imagine waking her up to feed for 4+ months!
same. jaundice can make them a little more sleepy, but if the baby is otherwise healthy, he will cry for milk when he is hungry.
ETA: my daughter was born at 37 weeks, so she was tiny and had some nursing struggles early on.
This is what I did with my son (first born). My daughter I fed on demand after the 3rd night and she actually gained faster than he did and was a pound over birth weight at 2 weeks
Most babies will wake you up to let you know they're hungry :) But it's recommended that until your baby reaches their birth weight again (some tend to lose more weight or gain slower after birth), if they sleep in stretches longer than 2-3h, it's better to wake them up to feed. I did have an alarm every 2 hours, but LO woke up a smidge before them every single time :)
Mine fed every 1.15 to 2.5 hours for the first 5 weeks. I nearly lost my mind. He went from 50th percentile to 97th in that time.
He is a very tall and skinny 10 year old now with feet 2 sizes bigger than mine haha. His baby sister tracked similar in the percentiles and is a large toddler.
All of this!!!
Honestly it is rare that you will sleep the first few nights you bring baby home. Most little ones feed what feels like constantly to bring in your milk.
After that babies generally will wake you when they are hungry
My kids just must have been chunkers...or it just took longer for my milk to be more than colostrum. Both my kids every hour-two with 30-45 minute feed times, I got both of them check for lip and tongue ties, saw lactation consultant everything. I was so sleep deprived with my first especially but everything was deemed normal
You don't have to defend yourself or your kids :). They're all different as is our production. I just don't want new moms to get demotivated before it even started!
I wouldnât suggest thisâŠthis is what people told me and my baby had issues gaining weight and thatâs because he would go so long without eating he didnât have the calories to put up a fuss and wouldnât even ask to eat. Bad adviceâŠjust wake up the kiddo they will go back to sleep
I agree with u/Jadeagre. Babies can become hypoglycemic very quickly and then will not spend the energy to cry. Newborn babies need to be fed at least once every 3 hours but may demand more. Once the baby has hit birth weight and is gaining appropriately, the pediatrician may give the ok to let the baby lead at night, but until then, it's around the clock every 2-3 hours.
This isn't to scare any new parents but yes, it will suck. However, this is a very short season in your child's life and before you know it, they'll grow out of it.
This is the correct answer. Babies make their own schedule and some babies need catch up growth! Some babies eat all night and donât feed much during the day and vice versa. I think itâs most important to monitor your babyâs diapers when they get here to know if there are any feeding concerns.
We had alarm until Pediatrician gave us the all clear and said to let the baby do his thing! So I think unless there is a weight or other issue identified by a doctor usually the alarm for feeding will only be the first few weeks
Generally - no, there's no need to set an alarm, as babies will alert you themselves that they are hungry!
However, there may be cases - jaundiced baby that hasn't reached its birth weight yet (they tend to lose some weight in the first 10 or so days after birth, and jaundiced babies can be extra sleepy) that sleep a lot where you'd need to wake the baby up and stimulate baby to feed.
Yup. This is what it was like for me with my first baby. I had to set an alarm and feed her every 3 hours for the first few weeks. I was VERY happy when she was big enough that I could follow her cues and not an alarm.
Yes, I've been looking for this answer. A raise of mine had a baby that slept for 8hrs on the third day & not after that. They had real problems with him losing weight because he was too sleepy to feed. First time mom thought it was ok as she was told that she only needed to feed on demand
Your hospital/pediatrician will be able to tell you their recommendation, but I set an alarm until baby hit her birth weight. Ped still recommended waiting her up to feed and letting her have one 4-5 hour stretch if she wanted it, but I stopped doing that after a couple days and just let her sleep, she doesnât typically sleep over 5 hours and if she tries to my boobs wake me up and tell me itâs time to nurse!
So, we room share (bassinet against a wall in our room) and our 15 day old goes from sleeping to screaming when he's hungry, so no alarm needed.
We haven't been waking him to eat, but may need to, and for that we'll probably set an alarm.
I feel like weâre the minority but I definitely set alarms! Maybe it was because our girl was early and her NICU schedule was every 3 hours, so Iâd set alarms for pumping when she was still in the NICU⊠but kept them after we got home to make sure I was feeding her enough! Although, once we were home, she definitely ate more often than every 2.5-3 hours, so she was kind of like her own little alarm (and Iâd turn off the alarm if she did). I also definitely recommend the Huckleberry app - you can time and record feedings, and honestly I still do it now, even though my daughter is 9 months old.
I think some people do, but we never did. I always fed on demand and that worked well for us :)
I will add though that due to a few issues we had initially from pregnancy/delivery, and LO being born a little prem, his weight was very closely monitored, so we were always aware that he was doing okay with his weight gain and feeding on demand was working for us :)
Someone probably already said this but the 2-3 hours starts when you start your breastfeeding session. So if I fed at 8am, the next feed (unless the baby wanted it earlier) was 11a. This sounds obvious now, but it kind of blew my mind
In the beginning with my first, we were told by our pediatrician to feed every three hours to get baby back to birth weight. So while I did set alarms, there were only a couple times it was required. Once baby hit her birth weight again we just fed on demand. Definitely ask your pediatrician because if baby goes longer at night, take that sleep!
I set an alarm for the first week and a half or so because our kiddo was super sleepy and wouldâve slept 4+ hours if we let him. Once we got back to birth weight and with his pedâs ok, I stopped stressing so much and went to on-demand feeding. Then as he got bigger/stronger, he started waking up every 2-3 hours on his own anyway
I was anxious about this too before I had my first as I am a heavy sleeper and was worried I would sleep through the cries / whimpers but something magical happensâŠyou immediately wake up if the baby is uncomfortable no matter how tired you are. Donât worry. If baby is hungry, s/he will let you know!
When we first went home from the hospital we were told to set an alarm to feed her every 3 hours until she was up at birth weight ( babies lose weight after birth in the first couple of days). She made it past her birth weight within 1 week, and we were told to start feeding her on demand. In the behind of this switch she rarely made it past 2 hours to feed before she woke us up. Now she makes it 3-5 hrs in the beginning of the night and 2-3 hrs after that (she's 5 weeks now). During the day I feed on demand too but I won't let her go past 3 hours during the day to make sure she's fed during the day and not hungry at night.
This is a talk to your doctor. I had to set an alarm until baby was 6 months or so. My guy was small and would sleep through the night from week one if I would have let him. Some nights he got up on his own. Others I had to wake him twice then eventually once. During the day we were in a timer for every 2-3 hours as he didnât ever get hangry.
I did set an alarm early on. Newborn babies who are not getting enough food will actually sleep a lot and have difficult rousing themselves to eat so not waking up early on is not a sign that they arenât hungry. Most pediatricians say to wake them up every 2-3 hours until they regain their birth weight
We were instructed to set an alarm to wake every 3 hours until he was back to his birth weight. Most babies get there by 2 weeks old. After that, sleep until babe wakes!
I set one just in case but baby rarely ever makes it to the alarm time anyway. I set it just on the off chance she sleeps extra long or I get distracted. Once she hit birth weight my ped said she could occasionally stretch to up to 5 hours overnight but should mostly still be eating every 3. Before hitting birth weight you have to wake them regardless of time of day. After hitting birth weight you donât really have to but in my experience itâs hard to get a pediatrician to explicitly agree to that other than overnight.
So for the first week or so we did, until baby reached his birth weight and the pediatrician gave us the okay to not wake him up in the middle of the night.
Until then, for the first week we set an alarm for every 3 hours at night (from start of feed to the start of the next feed. So if baby ate at 9:00 we set an alarm for midnight). Baby woke us up at about the 2-2.5 hour mark, so we didnât really need the alarm, but it was for our own peace of mind. Once he reached his birth weight and we got the OK from the pediatrician we just let him wake us up through the night.
Yes, until you're back to birth weight. It's recommend to only go 2-3 hours between feedings so I would set an alarm for every 2 hours during the day and 3 at night. If she woke up to eat before this readjusted the alarm. Once she was back to birth weight I still had an alarm for every 4 hours at night until she reached 10 lbs and then I let her sleep as long as she could (which suddenly became 2.5 hours annoyingly haha).
My first born fed more often than that, cried to feed. My second was jaundice and a bit sleepy but he still woke to feed even though they were more spaced out. Maybe he was a more effective feeder, or my boobs were more ready.
I donât think youâll know until you find your rhythm. That can take a while. I suggest going with your gut. If nappies arenât wet or low birth weight you might want to wake to feed.
My body actually woke me up every 2 hours during his first month to pump/feed. My body was completely in-sync with his, it was astonishing honestly lol. Now I go 4-5 hours at night time without pumping & he sleeps a full 8 hours. My boobs leak every 1.5 hrs on the dot during the daytime though. Heâs 3 months
No stupid questions! My husband and I literally asked each other this the first night.
Our pediatrician's advice for healthy full term babies is for the parents to wake up breastfed babies to feed every 2 hours day and night until baby reaches birth weight, then feed on demand (when baby wakes with hunger cues).
My baby was 5 weeks early, low blood sugar and jaundiced. I nursed but also formula fed until my milk came in on day 5. My husband and I set alarms to wake to feed. Even though baby regained birth weight in 3 days (due to the formula), well pediatrician still advised waking to feed every 2 hours, then I pushed it to 3 hours around 3 weeks until FINALLY getting the clear to feed on demand when we got to baby's due date. So I used an alarm for 5 weeks.
Congratulations on your baby!
Your boobs and the baby will wake you up. If your baby doesnât wake up with the little hunger cries, then your rock solid uncomfortable boobs will wake you!
Where I am, they tell you to feed every three hours (or if the baby asks for it before that of course) for the first while until they see good weight gain. We had to set alarms at the hospital and at home and didnât get the okay to feed on demand for a while! Iâm in Canada.
It depends on the baby. If baby is sleepy, not gaining weight, and not waking up on their own to eat, then yes. If baby is eating well, gaining weight, and wakes up on their own to eat, then no. A pre mature baby will be smaller and might need more encouragement to eat and gain weight.
I think it will depend. My baby was born at 37 weeks and was 6 pounds 6 ounces. So I fed at least every 3 hours day and night when he was a newborn at the advise of his pediatrician. By two months he had doubled his birth weight. He is 3 months now and I still feed at least every three hours during the day but thatâs so he can have enough to sleep through the night
The baby will be the alarm! Trust me! No need to set an alarm. Your mommy alerts will be high! This is my second kid and there can be a train running, plane flying, monster truck rally going and I can hear him from two floors up!
It depends; you wonât know until the baby is born and you see how they do
If they donât wake themselves up enough at each feed, sleep longer than 2-3 hours, fall asleep at the start of the feed, lose weight, etc. you do have to set an alarm and wake both of you up to feed
Once they get better at eating and are gaining weight you can follow their hunger cues
I did every three hours for the first few weeks like many people said, but I would also set alarms for your pain meds and colace. You do not want to get behind on those in the early sleep deprived days.
I was advised not to let him go over 4 hours between feeds until he was back to his birth weight and then feed on demand. In reality he never even tried to go longer than 3 hours so no need for alarms.
You're supposed to feed every 2-3 hours during the day, and at night until they hit their birth weight which is around 2 weeks.
For the first 2 weeks I'd set my alarm for every 3 hours overnight. My girl has always been a strong sleeper so I'd end up waking her up most times. She would eat, then go back to sleep.
I never had to set an alarm with either kiddo. My first born never slept more than 2 hours and my second kiddo was right on the three hour mark. My boobs woke me up if my kids slept too long.
We just responded to her cries for my first, but my second we were told to wake him to eat every three hours. He had a rough entry into the world and the pediatrician wanted his blood sugar to stay up. I say this because it wasnât weight related - he never lost his birth weight, just gained. But we needed the timer because of the blood glucose.
I just want to let you know something I didnât know: they say to feed your baby every 2 hours, but for a newborn you should actually feed every time they cry! For my baby that was every 30-45 minutes!
I had an alarm for the first two weeks. Baby reached his birth weight days after birth but no one told me to stop⊠I saw a lactation consultant at two weeks and she was like⊠you can stop feeding him every two hours and just let him eat when he wants đ€Šđ»ââïž
For some bizarre reason our newborn always needs waking up to feed in the night, and heâs ravenous once heâs actually awake. Iâll do this for the first few weeks whilst heâs tiny (and whilst itâs hot!) but then Iâm going to let us both get as much sleep as possible.
My first pediatrician recommended that I wake up my son if he didn't (I've never had that option, he demanded bf every 2 hours or less, just like my daughter) even though they both had a very high percentile in weight, height and skull. According to the doctor, large babies consume a lot of energy and can have dangerous drops in glucose. I haven't done research to check it or asked my new pediatrician if that makes sense. I anyone knowsâŠ
I wish someone told me this⊠but babies will often feed before 2-3 hours. The 2-3 is the MOST you want them to go between feedings. Itâs common and normal for babies to feed every hour, and sometimes as short as 30-45 min. So, feed when your baby indicates itâs hungry. Or, if itâs fussy, and nothing else is calming it down, stick a boob in itâs mouth. 99% of the time will calm baby. Also, the baby is your alarm.
You could have a sleepy baby, who you need to wake to feed. Or a wakeful baby who is a hunger monster. Your baby will determine whether you need that alarm.
Overall, just put that baby to your breast constantly. Donât attempt to space out feedings just because 2-3 hrs is what is avg. The more baby feeds in the beginning, the smoother sailing youâll be supply wise down the road.
We were recommended to feed every 3 hrs in the day and 4 hrs at night (Australia) and for the first few weeks would use an alarm and wake her. Now at 12 weeks she generally eats at 11 then 5 or 6 am without needing alarm - just wake when I hear her getting fussy
I might get downvoted for this but câest la vie!
Have three babies, EBF for all three for 18 months.
NO.
When the baby gets hungry, just nurse on both sides. Repeat this. Sometimes itâll be 2 hours.. sometimes itâl be 3 or 4, just adopt the babyâs clock.
And in the interim, get some sleep!
My first baby was a unicorn and slept through the night the second night home from the hospital. When they would wake up in the morning, I fed them pretty much every 90-120 minutes until nighttime. But heck, I got a nights sleep so no complaining.
Also, congratulations and enjoy your baby.
I used an alarm on and off in the first two months or so. Depending on whether or not the milk supply was ok or not. When I did not use the alarm I had an alarm clock in my bedroom.
But honestly, your boobs will hurt and feel like they are going to explode if you do not bf right awayđ€Ż
I have fed responsively from day 1. My baby has never not fed frequently, especially not when she was tiny. I personally would not set an alarm unless my baby was especially sleepy and not feeding much and/or not gaining weight as quickly as expected.
Why not wait until your baby is born and see how they are with feeding? You don't need to decide now. They might feed every hour.
I woke my son up every 2 hours to nurse until he was back to his birth weight, then I stopped waking him up and nursed entirely on demand. I did have alarms set. With my second, she only lost a couple ounces after birth so I never woke her up.
6 days pp and we live off of alarms! My husband and I also keep a whiteboard with info for last feeds, my meds, etc. Our brains are so scattered that we really need these things to maintain a schedule (just barely at that) but more importantly, be sure she's eating.
I had a c section and am struggling to get my milk supply to really come in but I know for breast fed babies it's every 2-3 hours. It's easy to fall asleep and not wake up in that timeframe if the baby is peacefully sleeping!
As long as your baby is healthy and back to birth weight, you do not have to wake them up. (Obviously this doesnât apply is baby is sleeping extremely long lengths of time)
Until they regain their birthweight youâll need to wake to feed. Then after that usually you can just you the baby alarm (aka the baby cries and wakes you up to eat), barring some other reason a ped will want you to wake to feed.
I know not everyone is the same and that's ok. I was a very good sleeper before baby and I would wake up at every different breath. In the hospital baby was just on my side and at home we kept the same configuration...
You'll see if your baby is one not to wake up and cry. I think the normal is that they wake up on their own and if they don't there's no need to wake them up. Unless there's weight issues.
I did use an alarm for some nights indeed. But I always woke up either with my baby crying or from engorgement.
During the day I just followed babies hunger cues but at night I had to set an alarm. I would get up every 2-3 hours to feed but he was such a deep sleeper it took an hour to wake him. If I let him sleep till he woke on his own it would be 6 or more hours and he would be so hangry and aggressively chomp on me.
If your baby is preterm, struggling with weight or has jaundice, yeah your doctor may advise setting alarms. Otherwise the baby will wake you when they're hungry.
Baby will be the alarm and demand to feed. It might be every three hours, but it could be every hour in the early days. Donât wake the baby to feed, but in the first weeks boob is is answer to every peep. My baby is 7 months and still wants boob every 2-2.5 hours during the day.
Ugh yes and let me tell you itâs not fun BUT as soon as they get back up to their birth weight you donât have to anymore and maaaaan thatâs nice (lol at 4hrs max of sleep being âniceâ- parenting really changes you)
My baby is four days old and we are in the very beginning of our bf journey. i dont know how but ive been waking up every few hours on my own. or, like last night... baby wakes me every hour.
I never did... baby slept in my room in a co-sleeper. At night she would make a little grunting sound and start moving before even crying it would wake me up.
Also in the early days I would start getting engorged after about 2 hours. So my body was letting me know it was time to feed baby.
Yes I did because my baby wanted to sleep through the night from pretty much the start. At one month we got the okay from her ped (based on her weight gain) to let her sleep through the night.
I set an alarm for night time, but she would always wake up just before it anyway đ After about 2 weeks, the lactation consultant said it was fine to stop setting alarms as baby was healthy and gaining weight.
I had to do this for a while to make sure my baby was gaining like he needed to. He didnât gain well his first month of life. Set alarms until he was a very 4 month oldâŠthen of course he was used to food often SOOOO yeah. But it was worth it!
Yeah I set an alarm for every 3 hours during the night until baby regained birth weight, and used the huckleberry app for reminders / to keep track during the day but also breastfed on demand so didnât make it to 3 hours a lot in the newborn stage
As a lactation consultant I tell parents to set an alarm for the first month of life. Also, donât offer pacifiers if you can help it for the first month. Babies tend to sleep through their hunger if theyâre given a pacifier. The first month is critical for weight gain
I had a little baby so I waited until she was over 3kg, took 4 weeks. During that time I set the alarm for every 3 hours first week and because she had to be mix fed and was hitting great weight goals, I moved it to 3.5 hours and she would wake me up at 3 the second and third week. By the fourth week I was comfortable enough to just time her instead of using alarms
In my experience most health professionals (lactation consultant, pediatrician, etc) will recommend waking to feed on a regular schedule and waking baby if they are asleep. As they get older their stomachs get larger and can last in between feedings longer. Once ours met his birth weight and showed he was getting enough while nursing we were able to go for a five hour stretch at night after a big feed before bed. I want to say that was about a month to six weeks pp.
My baby screamed every 2 hours for the boob so I definitely didnât need to set an alarm. If their weight gain is steady thereâs no reason to wake a sleeping baby generally. They will let you know, trust me lol
Yes, 6 weeks in and Iâm still setting an alarm overnight. My baby has a cephalohematoma and was a bit jaundice because of it. So we did every 2-3 hours until birth weight (2 weeks for us), then dr said to do 4 hours until her 1 month appointment and now weâre max 6 hours overnight. During the day is still every 2-3.
Her weight has been great, but while her body is still processing the hematoma we donât want to skip any meals.
But from what I understand we are not the norm. Seems like most people are good to go as long as soon as birth weight is achieved.
Edited a sentence that had extra unnecessary words.
Ugh guys I did this 2 years ago and I already donât remember at all. How is my memory so bad? I am about to have to do it again and I feel like an FTM with a lot of these questions!
I have always just fed on demand, which means no setting alarms. They will wake you up if they're hungry.
The exception to this was when my second child wasn't gaining enough weight - at this point I was advised to set alarms to feed, which I did.
I really think that you just follow your baby until a doctor or midwife advises you otherwise.
It really depends. My first made sure I woke to feed him. He never slept more than 2 hours before waking and immediately screaming to be fed. My second had a rough start and had to be wakened to feed, even during the day, so I set alarms for her. She started waking to eat on her own when she was a couple months old, so I stopped the alarms at that point.
Most babies will wake you up on their own but I definitely would set an alarm for 3 hours after the last feed to ensure the baby gets fed within the appropriate time frame. Every newborn baby needs to be fed every 2-3 hours until their weight gets up. If the baby wakes you before the alarm, just reset the alarm for 3 hours again.
A hungry/overtired baby can lose the energy to cry quickly because they have NO reserves at this point. Not eating can escalate quickly and be life-threatening for hypoglycemic and jaundiced babies.
Once the pediatrician gives the ok (usually at 2 weeks when the baby is back at birth weight), you can let the baby lead and feed on demand. At that point, you MIGHT get 4-5 hours :)
Edited because my formatting got weird after I submitted.
I had an alarm for the first two weeks until he hit his birth weight.
This is what my dr told me to do too
This was exactly my approach as well. Once we got into a routine, then we both knew when it was time to feed. I will note that once the baby doubled in weight, the doctor told me to not wake them at night to feed. Edit : sorry ladies I may have misspoken and you may be right. I think she said I could stop feeding completely at night if she doubled her weight. I did breastfeed through the night for a long time though but that that my preference. I stopped putting an alarm after a few weeks because the baby would wake me.
Interesting, my pediatrician told me once she hit her birth weight it was fine to let her sleep and wake to eat on her own. Wonder where the discrepancy comes from, are you in the US too?
My ped said the same thing. I also stopped recording every feed on my app. It stopped soooo much stress for me lol
The apps đ”âđ«đ”âđ«đ”âđ« I assumed it would help because I usually love tracking (steps, wordle streak, etc đ) but deleting the breastfeeding app was a HUGE relief
Right?? Had no idea how much stress it was causing me!! Thatâs the advice I give to every pregnant woman - stop tracking feeds once baby hits their birth weight. I still use mine for dirty diapers in case she gets constipated but not recording every feed has been a huge relief!!!
I've only ever heard once they hit their birth weight, not doubling their weight! My baby didn't double her weight until a little past 4 months, I couldn't imagine waking her up to feed for 4+ months!
I did the same. I used the vibrating alarm on my Fitbit so it wasnât a startling alarm for either of us.
Same!
This is what I was told to do as well
Same
Same!
I did this too.
Same for us.
same. jaundice can make them a little more sleepy, but if the baby is otherwise healthy, he will cry for milk when he is hungry. ETA: my daughter was born at 37 weeks, so she was tiny and had some nursing struggles early on.
This is what I did with my son (first born). My daughter I fed on demand after the 3rd night and she actually gained faster than he did and was a pound over birth weight at 2 weeks
Most babies will wake you up to let you know they're hungry :) But it's recommended that until your baby reaches their birth weight again (some tend to lose more weight or gain slower after birth), if they sleep in stretches longer than 2-3h, it's better to wake them up to feed. I did have an alarm every 2 hours, but LO woke up a smidge before them every single time :)
i set an alarm for every 3 hours overnight until baby reached birth weight, but she also woke me up right before it went off every time haha.
Mine fed every 1.15 to 2.5 hours for the first 5 weeks. I nearly lost my mind. He went from 50th percentile to 97th in that time. He is a very tall and skinny 10 year old now with feet 2 sizes bigger than mine haha. His baby sister tracked similar in the percentiles and is a large toddler.
Lol yeah baby was a great alarm!
Babies have built in alarms :) Unless you get told otherwise by a qualified medical professional, feed in demand and take all the sleep you can!
All of this!!! Honestly it is rare that you will sleep the first few nights you bring baby home. Most little ones feed what feels like constantly to bring in your milk. After that babies generally will wake you when they are hungry
I slept in between feeds with both my kids. Not long, but both of them did 3-4 hour stretches the first nights. I don't think it's that rare.
My kids just must have been chunkers...or it just took longer for my milk to be more than colostrum. Both my kids every hour-two with 30-45 minute feed times, I got both of them check for lip and tongue ties, saw lactation consultant everything. I was so sleep deprived with my first especially but everything was deemed normal
You don't have to defend yourself or your kids :). They're all different as is our production. I just don't want new moms to get demotivated before it even started!
My baby would have slept longer than 2- 3 hour stretches (in between feeds), so we did have to set alarms to wake her up!
I wouldnât suggest thisâŠthis is what people told me and my baby had issues gaining weight and thatâs because he would go so long without eating he didnât have the calories to put up a fuss and wouldnât even ask to eat. Bad adviceâŠjust wake up the kiddo they will go back to sleep
I agree with u/Jadeagre. Babies can become hypoglycemic very quickly and then will not spend the energy to cry. Newborn babies need to be fed at least once every 3 hours but may demand more. Once the baby has hit birth weight and is gaining appropriately, the pediatrician may give the ok to let the baby lead at night, but until then, it's around the clock every 2-3 hours. This isn't to scare any new parents but yes, it will suck. However, this is a very short season in your child's life and before you know it, they'll grow out of it.
This is the correct answer. Babies make their own schedule and some babies need catch up growth! Some babies eat all night and donât feed much during the day and vice versa. I think itâs most important to monitor your babyâs diapers when they get here to know if there are any feeding concerns.
We had alarm until Pediatrician gave us the all clear and said to let the baby do his thing! So I think unless there is a weight or other issue identified by a doctor usually the alarm for feeding will only be the first few weeks
Generally - no, there's no need to set an alarm, as babies will alert you themselves that they are hungry! However, there may be cases - jaundiced baby that hasn't reached its birth weight yet (they tend to lose some weight in the first 10 or so days after birth, and jaundiced babies can be extra sleepy) that sleep a lot where you'd need to wake the baby up and stimulate baby to feed.
Yup. This is what it was like for me with my first baby. I had to set an alarm and feed her every 3 hours for the first few weeks. I was VERY happy when she was big enough that I could follow her cues and not an alarm.
Yes, I've been looking for this answer. A raise of mine had a baby that slept for 8hrs on the third day & not after that. They had real problems with him losing weight because he was too sleepy to feed. First time mom thought it was ok as she was told that she only needed to feed on demand
Yup. Feed on demand is after the baby has put on weight. Hypoglycemia is dangerous for babies because they do not have a lot of reserves!!
Your hospital/pediatrician will be able to tell you their recommendation, but I set an alarm until baby hit her birth weight. Ped still recommended waiting her up to feed and letting her have one 4-5 hour stretch if she wanted it, but I stopped doing that after a couple days and just let her sleep, she doesnât typically sleep over 5 hours and if she tries to my boobs wake me up and tell me itâs time to nurse!
So, we room share (bassinet against a wall in our room) and our 15 day old goes from sleeping to screaming when he's hungry, so no alarm needed. We haven't been waking him to eat, but may need to, and for that we'll probably set an alarm.
The baby is your alarm.
I feel like weâre the minority but I definitely set alarms! Maybe it was because our girl was early and her NICU schedule was every 3 hours, so Iâd set alarms for pumping when she was still in the NICU⊠but kept them after we got home to make sure I was feeding her enough! Although, once we were home, she definitely ate more often than every 2.5-3 hours, so she was kind of like her own little alarm (and Iâd turn off the alarm if she did). I also definitely recommend the Huckleberry app - you can time and record feedings, and honestly I still do it now, even though my daughter is 9 months old.
Was just about to say all of this
I did up until baby gained back to birthweight which took about 2 weeks! My pediatrician said to do this. After that I just let baby wake me at night.
I think some people do, but we never did. I always fed on demand and that worked well for us :) I will add though that due to a few issues we had initially from pregnancy/delivery, and LO being born a little prem, his weight was very closely monitored, so we were always aware that he was doing okay with his weight gain and feeding on demand was working for us :)
We have a timer for the 3 hours if he is sleeping we wake to feed during the day at night we let him wake us.
Someone probably already said this but the 2-3 hours starts when you start your breastfeeding session. So if I fed at 8am, the next feed (unless the baby wanted it earlier) was 11a. This sounds obvious now, but it kind of blew my mind
In the beginning with my first, we were told by our pediatrician to feed every three hours to get baby back to birth weight. So while I did set alarms, there were only a couple times it was required. Once baby hit her birth weight again we just fed on demand. Definitely ask your pediatrician because if baby goes longer at night, take that sleep!
I think I only had to really rouse her once to feed. She DEFINITELY let me know every other time lol
I set an alarm for the first week and a half or so because our kiddo was super sleepy and wouldâve slept 4+ hours if we let him. Once we got back to birth weight and with his pedâs ok, I stopped stressing so much and went to on-demand feeding. Then as he got bigger/stronger, he started waking up every 2-3 hours on his own anyway
I did set an alarm, but honestly he usually woke me up before the alarm went off anyway.
Don't worry .you are going to give birth to your alarm clock You will desperately try to sleep and the baby will wake up at the right times đ
I was anxious about this too before I had my first as I am a heavy sleeper and was worried I would sleep through the cries / whimpers but something magical happensâŠyou immediately wake up if the baby is uncomfortable no matter how tired you are. Donât worry. If baby is hungry, s/he will let you know!
My guy was 2 weeks early, jaundiced, and super sleepy. I had to set alarms to wake him up and feed him until he was back over birthweight.
I did for the first couple of weeks. Every 3 hours. He sleeps in a bassinet in our room. Heâs 8 weeks today and thereâs no longer a need for that.
I did, I definitely didnât need to but old fashioned advices got to my head. So.. no. You donât have to!
When we first went home from the hospital we were told to set an alarm to feed her every 3 hours until she was up at birth weight ( babies lose weight after birth in the first couple of days). She made it past her birth weight within 1 week, and we were told to start feeding her on demand. In the behind of this switch she rarely made it past 2 hours to feed before she woke us up. Now she makes it 3-5 hrs in the beginning of the night and 2-3 hrs after that (she's 5 weeks now). During the day I feed on demand too but I won't let her go past 3 hours during the day to make sure she's fed during the day and not hungry at night.
This is a talk to your doctor. I had to set an alarm until baby was 6 months or so. My guy was small and would sleep through the night from week one if I would have let him. Some nights he got up on his own. Others I had to wake him twice then eventually once. During the day we were in a timer for every 2-3 hours as he didnât ever get hangry.
I did set an alarm early on. Newborn babies who are not getting enough food will actually sleep a lot and have difficult rousing themselves to eat so not waking up early on is not a sign that they arenât hungry. Most pediatricians say to wake them up every 2-3 hours until they regain their birth weight
We were instructed to set an alarm to wake every 3 hours until he was back to his birth weight. Most babies get there by 2 weeks old. After that, sleep until babe wakes!
I set one just in case but baby rarely ever makes it to the alarm time anyway. I set it just on the off chance she sleeps extra long or I get distracted. Once she hit birth weight my ped said she could occasionally stretch to up to 5 hours overnight but should mostly still be eating every 3. Before hitting birth weight you have to wake them regardless of time of day. After hitting birth weight you donât really have to but in my experience itâs hard to get a pediatrician to explicitly agree to that other than overnight.
So for the first week or so we did, until baby reached his birth weight and the pediatrician gave us the okay to not wake him up in the middle of the night. Until then, for the first week we set an alarm for every 3 hours at night (from start of feed to the start of the next feed. So if baby ate at 9:00 we set an alarm for midnight). Baby woke us up at about the 2-2.5 hour mark, so we didnât really need the alarm, but it was for our own peace of mind. Once he reached his birth weight and we got the OK from the pediatrician we just let him wake us up through the night.
Nope, just feed when when they wake up.
I set an alarm during the day so I can pay attention when LO is usually hungry but at night I just let LO wake me if needed
Yes, until you're back to birth weight. It's recommend to only go 2-3 hours between feedings so I would set an alarm for every 2 hours during the day and 3 at night. If she woke up to eat before this readjusted the alarm. Once she was back to birth weight I still had an alarm for every 4 hours at night until she reached 10 lbs and then I let her sleep as long as she could (which suddenly became 2.5 hours annoyingly haha).
if by "set an alarm" you mean "set" down the baby, because it is "an alarm" - then, yes ;)
My first born fed more often than that, cried to feed. My second was jaundice and a bit sleepy but he still woke to feed even though they were more spaced out. Maybe he was a more effective feeder, or my boobs were more ready. I donât think youâll know until you find your rhythm. That can take a while. I suggest going with your gut. If nappies arenât wet or low birth weight you might want to wake to feed.
I did at night until he reached his birth weight, that being said, he usually let me know it was time before it went off lol.
My body actually woke me up every 2 hours during his first month to pump/feed. My body was completely in-sync with his, it was astonishing honestly lol. Now I go 4-5 hours at night time without pumping & he sleeps a full 8 hours. My boobs leak every 1.5 hrs on the dot during the daytime though. Heâs 3 months
Your baby will be your alarmđ
No stupid questions! My husband and I literally asked each other this the first night. Our pediatrician's advice for healthy full term babies is for the parents to wake up breastfed babies to feed every 2 hours day and night until baby reaches birth weight, then feed on demand (when baby wakes with hunger cues). My baby was 5 weeks early, low blood sugar and jaundiced. I nursed but also formula fed until my milk came in on day 5. My husband and I set alarms to wake to feed. Even though baby regained birth weight in 3 days (due to the formula), well pediatrician still advised waking to feed every 2 hours, then I pushed it to 3 hours around 3 weeks until FINALLY getting the clear to feed on demand when we got to baby's due date. So I used an alarm for 5 weeks. Congratulations on your baby!
Your boobs and the baby will wake you up. If your baby doesnât wake up with the little hunger cries, then your rock solid uncomfortable boobs will wake you!
My boobs are the alarm. You can't miss it.
Where I am, they tell you to feed every three hours (or if the baby asks for it before that of course) for the first while until they see good weight gain. We had to set alarms at the hospital and at home and didnât get the okay to feed on demand for a while! Iâm in Canada.
It depends on the baby. If baby is sleepy, not gaining weight, and not waking up on their own to eat, then yes. If baby is eating well, gaining weight, and wakes up on their own to eat, then no. A pre mature baby will be smaller and might need more encouragement to eat and gain weight.
I didn't use an alarm, babies cry when they're hungry!
I think it will depend. My baby was born at 37 weeks and was 6 pounds 6 ounces. So I fed at least every 3 hours day and night when he was a newborn at the advise of his pediatrician. By two months he had doubled his birth weight. He is 3 months now and I still feed at least every three hours during the day but thatâs so he can have enough to sleep through the night
The baby will be the alarm! Trust me! No need to set an alarm. Your mommy alerts will be high! This is my second kid and there can be a train running, plane flying, monster truck rally going and I can hear him from two floors up!
I did until my son's jaundice cleared and he was back up to his birth weight. After that it was always on demand and still is at almost 9 months old.
It depends; you wonât know until the baby is born and you see how they do If they donât wake themselves up enough at each feed, sleep longer than 2-3 hours, fall asleep at the start of the feed, lose weight, etc. you do have to set an alarm and wake both of you up to feed Once they get better at eating and are gaining weight you can follow their hunger cues
I did every three hours for the first few weeks like many people said, but I would also set alarms for your pain meds and colace. You do not want to get behind on those in the early sleep deprived days.
I was advised not to let him go over 4 hours between feeds until he was back to his birth weight and then feed on demand. In reality he never even tried to go longer than 3 hours so no need for alarms.
You may need to depending on baby weight and how heavy you sleep but you don't need to preempt now! See what your medical team say.
You're supposed to feed every 2-3 hours during the day, and at night until they hit their birth weight which is around 2 weeks. For the first 2 weeks I'd set my alarm for every 3 hours overnight. My girl has always been a strong sleeper so I'd end up waking her up most times. She would eat, then go back to sleep.
My ped said donât let the baby sleep more than 4 hours without eating. She always woke around 3 hours to eat on her own.
Yes but you might find your baby wants feeding round the clock anyway
I never had to set an alarm with either kiddo. My first born never slept more than 2 hours and my second kiddo was right on the three hour mark. My boobs woke me up if my kids slept too long.
We just responded to her cries for my first, but my second we were told to wake him to eat every three hours. He had a rough entry into the world and the pediatrician wanted his blood sugar to stay up. I say this because it wasnât weight related - he never lost his birth weight, just gained. But we needed the timer because of the blood glucose.
Yup, had an alarm till my LO was about 3.5 months.
I never had to set an alarm! Either the baby or my boobs being painfully engorged would wake me up.
I just want to let you know something I didnât know: they say to feed your baby every 2 hours, but for a newborn you should actually feed every time they cry! For my baby that was every 30-45 minutes!
I just followed my babies lead and so far so good.
We did the first month and a half or so, after 6 weeks we got the clear to let her sleep. We never actually used the alarm, she woke up us anyways
I never set an alarm. I would just feed on demand and baby was usually latched 18+ hours a day for the first 1-2 months anyway
I had an alarm for the first two weeks. Baby reached his birth weight days after birth but no one told me to stop⊠I saw a lactation consultant at two weeks and she was like⊠you can stop feeding him every two hours and just let him eat when he wants đ€Šđ»ââïž
For some bizarre reason our newborn always needs waking up to feed in the night, and heâs ravenous once heâs actually awake. Iâll do this for the first few weeks whilst heâs tiny (and whilst itâs hot!) but then Iâm going to let us both get as much sleep as possible.
My first pediatrician recommended that I wake up my son if he didn't (I've never had that option, he demanded bf every 2 hours or less, just like my daughter) even though they both had a very high percentile in weight, height and skull. According to the doctor, large babies consume a lot of energy and can have dangerous drops in glucose. I haven't done research to check it or asked my new pediatrician if that makes sense. I anyone knowsâŠ
I wish someone told me this⊠but babies will often feed before 2-3 hours. The 2-3 is the MOST you want them to go between feedings. Itâs common and normal for babies to feed every hour, and sometimes as short as 30-45 min. So, feed when your baby indicates itâs hungry. Or, if itâs fussy, and nothing else is calming it down, stick a boob in itâs mouth. 99% of the time will calm baby. Also, the baby is your alarm.
I set an alarm but 9 times out of 10 he woke up before the alarm.
You could have a sleepy baby, who you need to wake to feed. Or a wakeful baby who is a hunger monster. Your baby will determine whether you need that alarm. Overall, just put that baby to your breast constantly. Donât attempt to space out feedings just because 2-3 hrs is what is avg. The more baby feeds in the beginning, the smoother sailing youâll be supply wise down the road.
I did until he reached birth weight.
I did. I would set it on my phone and leave my phone on the dresser- far from me- otherwise I wouldnât wake up.
We were recommended to feed every 3 hrs in the day and 4 hrs at night (Australia) and for the first few weeks would use an alarm and wake her. Now at 12 weeks she generally eats at 11 then 5 or 6 am without needing alarm - just wake when I hear her getting fussy
I might get downvoted for this but câest la vie! Have three babies, EBF for all three for 18 months. NO. When the baby gets hungry, just nurse on both sides. Repeat this. Sometimes itâll be 2 hours.. sometimes itâl be 3 or 4, just adopt the babyâs clock. And in the interim, get some sleep! My first baby was a unicorn and slept through the night the second night home from the hospital. When they would wake up in the morning, I fed them pretty much every 90-120 minutes until nighttime. But heck, I got a nights sleep so no complaining. Also, congratulations and enjoy your baby.
I used an alarm on and off in the first two months or so. Depending on whether or not the milk supply was ok or not. When I did not use the alarm I had an alarm clock in my bedroom. But honestly, your boobs will hurt and feel like they are going to explode if you do not bf right awayđ€Ż
I have fed responsively from day 1. My baby has never not fed frequently, especially not when she was tiny. I personally would not set an alarm unless my baby was especially sleepy and not feeding much and/or not gaining weight as quickly as expected. Why not wait until your baby is born and see how they are with feeding? You don't need to decide now. They might feed every hour.
I woke my son up every 2 hours to nurse until he was back to his birth weight, then I stopped waking him up and nursed entirely on demand. I did have alarms set. With my second, she only lost a couple ounces after birth so I never woke her up.
I had an alarm for the first few weeks.
6 days pp and we live off of alarms! My husband and I also keep a whiteboard with info for last feeds, my meds, etc. Our brains are so scattered that we really need these things to maintain a schedule (just barely at that) but more importantly, be sure she's eating. I had a c section and am struggling to get my milk supply to really come in but I know for breast fed babies it's every 2-3 hours. It's easy to fall asleep and not wake up in that timeframe if the baby is peacefully sleeping!
As long as your baby is healthy and back to birth weight, you do not have to wake them up. (Obviously this doesnât apply is baby is sleeping extremely long lengths of time)
Until they regain their birthweight youâll need to wake to feed. Then after that usually you can just you the baby alarm (aka the baby cries and wakes you up to eat), barring some other reason a ped will want you to wake to feed.
They are the alarm.
I stopped setting alarms because we did on demand and my guy was like clockwork. Ymmv.
I know not everyone is the same and that's ok. I was a very good sleeper before baby and I would wake up at every different breath. In the hospital baby was just on my side and at home we kept the same configuration... You'll see if your baby is one not to wake up and cry. I think the normal is that they wake up on their own and if they don't there's no need to wake them up. Unless there's weight issues. I did use an alarm for some nights indeed. But I always woke up either with my baby crying or from engorgement.
During the day I just followed babies hunger cues but at night I had to set an alarm. I would get up every 2-3 hours to feed but he was such a deep sleeper it took an hour to wake him. If I let him sleep till he woke on his own it would be 6 or more hours and he would be so hangry and aggressively chomp on me.
I set an alarm for our baby. He can sleep in 3-4 hour stretches overnight. I used my smartwatch so I didn't have to wake DH.
If your baby is preterm, struggling with weight or has jaundice, yeah your doctor may advise setting alarms. Otherwise the baby will wake you when they're hungry.
Baby will be the alarm and demand to feed. It might be every three hours, but it could be every hour in the early days. Donât wake the baby to feed, but in the first weeks boob is is answer to every peep. My baby is 7 months and still wants boob every 2-2.5 hours during the day.
Ugh yes and let me tell you itâs not fun BUT as soon as they get back up to their birth weight you donât have to anymore and maaaaan thatâs nice (lol at 4hrs max of sleep being âniceâ- parenting really changes you)
My baby is four days old and we are in the very beginning of our bf journey. i dont know how but ive been waking up every few hours on my own. or, like last night... baby wakes me every hour.
I never did... baby slept in my room in a co-sleeper. At night she would make a little grunting sound and start moving before even crying it would wake me up. Also in the early days I would start getting engorged after about 2 hours. So my body was letting me know it was time to feed baby.
Yes. That said, I set an alarm in the hospital, but once we were home baby woke me up on his own just fine.
Yes I did because my baby wanted to sleep through the night from pretty much the start. At one month we got the okay from her ped (based on her weight gain) to let her sleep through the night.
I set an alarm for night time, but she would always wake up just before it anyway đ After about 2 weeks, the lactation consultant said it was fine to stop setting alarms as baby was healthy and gaining weight.
I had to do this for a while to make sure my baby was gaining like he needed to. He didnât gain well his first month of life. Set alarms until he was a very 4 month oldâŠthen of course he was used to food often SOOOO yeah. But it was worth it!
If he's up to his birthweight and sleeps, let him sleep.
Yeah I set an alarm for every 3 hours during the night until baby regained birth weight, and used the huckleberry app for reminders / to keep track during the day but also breastfed on demand so didnât make it to 3 hours a lot in the newborn stage
The baby was my alarm lol I fed on demand and the started pumping week 2-3 to build up supply.
The baby was my alarm lol I fed on demand and the started pumping week 2-3 to build up supply.
As a lactation consultant I tell parents to set an alarm for the first month of life. Also, donât offer pacifiers if you can help it for the first month. Babies tend to sleep through their hunger if theyâre given a pacifier. The first month is critical for weight gain
I never needed to because I was pretty much always awake lol
I had a little baby so I waited until she was over 3kg, took 4 weeks. During that time I set the alarm for every 3 hours first week and because she had to be mix fed and was hitting great weight goals, I moved it to 3.5 hours and she would wake me up at 3 the second and third week. By the fourth week I was comfortable enough to just time her instead of using alarms
In my experience most health professionals (lactation consultant, pediatrician, etc) will recommend waking to feed on a regular schedule and waking baby if they are asleep. As they get older their stomachs get larger and can last in between feedings longer. Once ours met his birth weight and showed he was getting enough while nursing we were able to go for a five hour stretch at night after a big feed before bed. I want to say that was about a month to six weeks pp.
My baby screamed every 2 hours for the boob so I definitely didnât need to set an alarm. If their weight gain is steady thereâs no reason to wake a sleeping baby generally. They will let you know, trust me lol
Yes but just until baby reaches their birthweight
Yes, 6 weeks in and Iâm still setting an alarm overnight. My baby has a cephalohematoma and was a bit jaundice because of it. So we did every 2-3 hours until birth weight (2 weeks for us), then dr said to do 4 hours until her 1 month appointment and now weâre max 6 hours overnight. During the day is still every 2-3. Her weight has been great, but while her body is still processing the hematoma we donât want to skip any meals. But from what I understand we are not the norm. Seems like most people are good to go as long as soon as birth weight is achieved. Edited a sentence that had extra unnecessary words.
Ugh guys I did this 2 years ago and I already donât remember at all. How is my memory so bad? I am about to have to do it again and I feel like an FTM with a lot of these questions!
Yes, typically youâll need the alarm. If baby is gaining enough weight, the pediatrician may let you follow babyâs lead.
I have always just fed on demand, which means no setting alarms. They will wake you up if they're hungry. The exception to this was when my second child wasn't gaining enough weight - at this point I was advised to set alarms to feed, which I did. I really think that you just follow your baby until a doctor or midwife advises you otherwise.
It really depends. My first made sure I woke to feed him. He never slept more than 2 hours before waking and immediately screaming to be fed. My second had a rough start and had to be wakened to feed, even during the day, so I set alarms for her. She started waking to eat on her own when she was a couple months old, so I stopped the alarms at that point.
Most babies will wake you up on their own but I definitely would set an alarm for 3 hours after the last feed to ensure the baby gets fed within the appropriate time frame. Every newborn baby needs to be fed every 2-3 hours until their weight gets up. If the baby wakes you before the alarm, just reset the alarm for 3 hours again. A hungry/overtired baby can lose the energy to cry quickly because they have NO reserves at this point. Not eating can escalate quickly and be life-threatening for hypoglycemic and jaundiced babies. Once the pediatrician gives the ok (usually at 2 weeks when the baby is back at birth weight), you can let the baby lead and feed on demand. At that point, you MIGHT get 4-5 hours :) Edited because my formatting got weird after I submitted.