Saturday, October 11, 2008

To wake a sleeping baby . . . or not?

So Finn has been sleeping for progressively longer stretches of time for the last 3 nights in a row - on his own in his bassinet! (He's been sleeping with us in our bed since he came home from the hospital - and I love having my babies in bed with me, I do! But I'd like him to be able to sleep elsewhere and not only be able to sleep with us, you know?) The first night I put him down in his bassinet, he slept for 4 solid hours. The next night he slept for 6 hours before he woke, and last night he slept for 7 hours before waking up. This would all be good except that I weighed him this morning and discovered that he only gained an ounce and a half this week. So what should I do? Should I make a point of waking him at night to feed him to maximize his calorie intake? Even though he's been gaining well (up until now, anyway), I still worry over his weight ever since the first few weeks when he struggled so much to gain.

Thoughts would be appreciated!

5 comments:

Karly said...

Kailey was always a slower weight gainer, even with high calorie formula. Our pediatrician always wanted us to wake her up, which we did until about 16 weeks...ever since that point she has always slept for 10+ hours. I was still stressed and keeping track of ounces at that point and she ended up adjusting and taking in more during the day. I know that doesn't help you at all since you are nursing and I would say to go with your instincts~they are good ones! In retrospect, I would never have worried about how much Kailey was eating or not. She gained weight at her own pace and ate when she was hungry...I feel it's really impossible to get them to eat when they are not hungry and doing so won't make them bigger, only heavier, if that makes sense.

Anyway, my vote is that Finn is old enough (and big enough) to wake up and eat if he were hungry and sleep if that's what he needs. Just my .02!

Just do what your gut is telling you.

~KC: said...

I agree 100% with Karly. :)

Laurie said...

Me too!
I wake Dylan to feed him before I go to bed around 10p and he'll sleep through until about 6/6:30a. I've never woken him during the night to feed him and he's been sttn since about 6 weeks of age.
I say enjoy the rest!! : )

Crittle said...

I was OBSESSED with Malea's weight gain and we did wake her up to feed, but only to a point. I can't remember when we stopped, so I guess I'm no good to you here. At some point, you start to trust your sleepy baby to wake up on their own, but that can take time.

Overall, add me to Team Karly. What she's saying makes sense.

Alycia said...

I say let him sleep and see how things go. Give it a shot. He may end up being less crabby and the sleep is definitely good for you. Good sleeping habits are so important and if he wants to create them on his own don't stop him! Remember Joey... : ) I imagine you will find that he will just eat a lot more and faster in the morning.

Time for a date night!