Infants on Schedules

[misol]

my daughter's pediatrician told me to wake her up to be fed if she didn't wake up on her own, but i was breastfeeding.

is the baby breastfed?

If this was when your baby was very young, it probably had more to do with establishing your milk supply than your baby's actual hunger or sleep needs.

[fctjc1979]

If this was when your baby was very young, it probably had more to do with establishing your milk supply than your baby's actual hunger or sleep needs.

That's kind of what I was thinking. I was told the day that I left the hospital to stop waking my baby up to eat since they knew that my supply was good. But I think it also depends on the child too. My oldest was premie, so I was told to wake her to eat to make sure she had what she needed to grow. But after her first month checkup, I was told that it was ok to stop doing that even though she was still small. I'm sure it also depends on the doctor, too.

[fctjc1979]

That's kind of what I was thinking. I was told the day that I left the hospital to stop waking my baby up to eat since they knew that my supply was good. But I think it also depends on the child too. My oldest was premie, so I was told to wake her to eat to make sure she had what she needed to grow. But after her first month checkup, I was told that it was ok to stop doing that even though she was still small. I'm sure it also depends on the doctor, too.

I forgot to put in there that they were both breastfed.

[melissa ann]

I have a 14 month old that I had since he was 6 weeks old. Mom wanted me to wake him up to feed him and not to let him sleep too long. Well, if he was sleeping, I let him sleep. When he was hungry, I fed him. The same as I did for my own kids. With dcb, no matter what time he had a morning nap, after lunch I would put him down for a nap like the rest of the kids. He is down to 2 naps. I usually put him down around 7am (he gets here around 6). I feed him breakfast let him play a bit then down he goes or he will fall asleep mid morning and miss lunch. He usually sleeps for about an hour in the morning and then after lunch he will sleep about 2-3 hrs. He adapted really well. Mom says that when the kids are home they don't nap all day. Her two kids are 3 and 14 month and her nephew is 4. But the kids know my schedule and get along well with it.

[nannyde]

Ooops I see that he is 2.5 months. I thought it was 4.5 months.

I would stick as close to the 9 12 3 schedule as possible but at that age you mileage may vary. Those are start of bottle to start of bottle times. So they are going maybe 2.5 hours in between feedings.

With bf babies though.. it's kind of a crap shoot at this age. I would TRY to get them into a routine where he ate about a half hour before my other kids went down for a nap and then got him up first before the kids got up to do the next feed.

I would not do a four hour nap. I would freak if a kid slept that long during the day. I'd have to pester them to make sure they were okay. I think that is too long between feeds during the day. JMHO though.

[professionalmom]

I never wake a sleeping baby or child. If they are asleep, it's probably because they need it. The only exception I have ever made was with my own daughter who was 5lbs 5.5ozs at birth. She was full term, just small (we have small babies in my family). It tired her out to nurse so she kept falling asleep on the breast. So I had to "tickle" her to get her to keep going. After her weight took off, we stopped that.

Other than that type of situation, I do not see any value in waking a sleeping baby. I believe my state also requires (or at least recommends) that babies eat, sleep, nap on demand. That's what I have always done. They do develop their own schedule soon enough. But just when you get the "new" schedule figured out, they go through a spurt and it changes.

[Former Teacher]

It is required in TX that we have written feeding schedule that is signed MONTHLY. If the schedule changes for whatever reason within that month it must be resigned and dated.

I would tell the parents that we did not go by the schedule. It is something that the state needed to see. We went by the infants wants and needs.

I then would explain that in the infant room we went by the child's needs. Out of the infant room, the child goes by the centers' wants and needs.

Some parents agreed, some didn't. I didn't care. As long as the child is taken care of and is content, that is all that matters.