How to wake up your baby for feeding. How and when to wake up a child? Healthy sleep for a little person

If the baby sleeps sweetly next to mommy or in a separate crib, but quite a lot of time has passed since the previous feeding, mothers wonder whether they need to wake up the baby to feed.

Someone undoubtedly disturbs the baby a couple of hours after falling asleep, trying to give him food. Someone is sure that if he was hungry, the child would not sleep, but would loudly “tell” his mother that he wanted to eat. Who is right about night feedings and how to properly wake up the baby so that there is no stress on the child’s body?

In what cases is it necessary to wake up?

Of course, it is undesirable to interrupt a baby’s sleep, because in the case of a natural awakening, the baby’s psycho-emotional state will be better. But it also won’t work to say that you never need to wake up your baby. When deciding what to do, you need to take into account many factors, including the weight and age of the baby, his health, and the type of feeding.

If the baby is only a few days old, and he always sleeps for more than 3 hours without waking up, the mother should consult a pediatrician. Such long sleep may be one of the symptoms various diseases. On average, babies in the first month of life eat every 2-3 hours, so their sleep rarely exceeds this interval.

The baby is growing and increasingly prefers to sleep rather than eat, so by the age of 6 months, many babies generally refuse to eat at night.

To decide whether to wake up your baby to feed, you need to take into account the baby’s weight. A healthy child who is gaining weight well should not be woken up, even if he has not eaten for 4-5 hours. If the baby is premature or is gaining weight very poorly, long pauses between feedings can only worsen his condition. Such babies need to eat more often, so interrupting sleep for feeding is not necessary.

Another reason to wake up the baby for feeding at night is the mother’s decreased lactation. It is nighttime meals that cause a woman's body to produce hormones that support milk production. By waking up the baby for feeding, the mother will be able to overcome difficulties with lactation.

How to properly wake up a baby for night feedings?

Even if the baby is completely healthy and the woman produces enough milk, the mother may need to disturb the baby’s sleep for the next feeding. This happens if a woman needs to leave home, for example, for an exam or to take tests. Therefore, many mothers should learn how to wake up their baby so that it is minimally uncomfortable for him.

Take the baby in your arms and walk around the room. At the same time, you can talk to the baby or sing a song, give a small massage, stroke his back, move his arms and legs. Typically, such actions cause a quick awakening and interest in food.
Start changing your baby's clothes or diaper. Most toddlers quickly respond to such manipulations.
If all the previous options have no effect, bathing the baby may be a last resort. However, if the baby is so sleepy that you had to wake him up with a bath, we recommend contacting your pediatrician.

It is not necessary to wake the baby completely. You just need him to start suckling. To do this, take the baby so that you take a position that is comfortable for feeding. By stroking your toddler's cheek or lips, you will make him want to turn his head to his chest and grab the nipple, but not wake up. If the baby has taken the nipple into his mouth, but continues to sleep, he can be stroked or tickled on the cheek or ear, and the breast can be shaken a little.

It is important to carefully monitor the baby, and if he is constantly sleepy, capricious, unfriendly and lethargic, the baby should be shown to the doctor.

In the first month of his life, a newborn baby spends more than 20 hours a day sleeping, and the rest of the time getting food. Often, the baby falls asleep during feeding or sleeps too soundly and for a long time, shifting the feeding schedule. How to properly organize sleep and feeding for a newborn baby?

Many pediatricians (especially the older generation) recommend feeding the baby every 2-3 hours. When it comes to night feedings, doctors often insist that a young mother wakes up her baby when he sleeps for a long time. Although in reality, not everything is so simple.

Should I wake my newborn for feeding?

But a newborn, according to WHO pediatricians, cannot sleep for more than five hours: a child’s sleep lasting more than five hours in a row can be as harmful as its absence. This is especially true for premature babies or children who are not gaining weight well. To gain sufficient body weight, a child must eat well. Strict regime sleep and feeding are not suitable for all babies, but an individual (mixed) feeding schedule will be comfortable for both mother and baby. This regimen, with breaks between feedings of no more than 3.5-4 hours, will help the mother and ensure the baby is full. Frequently putting the baby to the breast will ensure a sufficient supply of milk, and will also serve as a preventive measure.

Just a few years ago, pediatricians advised mothers to feed their children at strictly regular intervals. The time period was 2-3 hours. After research, scientists found that newborns should be fed on demand. But many parents have learned from their own experience that it is better to use a mixed mode for feeding. It consists of feeding the baby on demand, but the interval between feedings should not exceed 4 hours.

Long breaks between feedings when breastfeeding can negatively affect both the baby and his mother:

In newborns, a long interval between meals can cause dehydration, as well as a drop in sugar levels;
For a mother, a break can cause stagnation of milk and a decrease in lactation volume.

When deciding whether to wake your breastfeeding baby to feed, you should consider several factors.

Age

If a newborn sleeps for more than 3 hours, this is a reason to think about it and contact a pediatrician. In the meantime, it’s better to wake him up so that the baby can eat, because in the first month of life, a long break between meals will almost certainly negatively affect the baby’s condition.

In older children, the interval between feedings increases and is 4 hours. If the baby, when feeding on demand, “sleeps” a little during mealtimes, there is no need to worry. The baby will wake up on his own when his body needs it.

In children on IV and children who are gradually transferred to the clock-by-hour schedule, such temporary disruptions in the schedule require correction. If feeding time has come and the baby is sleeping, you should wait 10-15 minutes and then gently wake the baby.

Starting from the 2nd month of a baby’s life, you don’t have to worry if he wakes up during night feeding and the routine shifts slightly. The older the baby gets, the less often he will wake up in the dark.

Weight

When deciding whether to wake your baby, you will need to consider the baby's weight.

Premature babies and children who are not gaining weight well should be woken up for feeding, as long intervals can weaken them further and worsen their condition.
If your baby is gaining weight well, then sometimes you can give the baby the opportunity to sleep longer. The child will wake up on his own when his body is rested or he feels hungry.

Health status

If the baby was born premature and very weak, you will need to wake up with an alarm clock at first and feed the baby according to the clock. Newborns need food every three hours. This regime will be temporary until the child gets stronger and gets used to this schedule. Gradually, with an increase in the volume of milk consumed, the intervals between feedings will increase.
A child with a cold and fever should be given the opportunity to sleep a little, because it is known that sleep heals. All the body's forces are now aimed at fighting the infection, so it is better not to disturb the child when he is resting.

When to wake a newborn

During an examination by a visiting nurse or doctor, every mother should be prepared for such mandatory wake-ups;
To comply with the feeding regime: breaks of more than four hours should not be allowed between meals;
If the mother has to leave for a long time, then it is better to wake the child and feed her before leaving;
If the family is about to travel, the baby should be woken up in advance, fed and prepared as normal for the future trip;
Often, the baby's drowsiness is a reaction to the medications taken by the mother. medical supplies– the baby’s sleep should be interrupted for mandatory feeding, so as not to disturb the sleep-wake pattern;
If your baby sleeps for an unusually long time and misses scheduled feedings, you need to take a closer look at him: check his temperature and breathing.

How to wake up

Note to moms!

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To wake up a newborn baby, parents should use gentle but effective methods. If you do the manipulation incorrectly, there is a risk of frightening the baby. The baby must move from the sleep phase to the waking phase comfortably so that he nervous system did not suffer from the unsuccessful actions of adults.

Dim lighting is considered best for waking up. Bright light can frighten your baby and cause him to cry.
Pediatricians advise waking up the baby when he is in the active phase of sleep. It can be determined by its characteristic motor activity– the baby slightly twitches his arms and legs, smiles in his sleep, his eyelids and lips tremble. This period of sleep is superficial, so it is much easier for a child to emerge from it than from the deep phase of sleep. If the baby is sleeping soundly, and when you lift his arm up, he does not react in any way, then his sleep is in the deep phase. It is not recommended to wake up the baby at such a moment. In order not to scare the baby, it is better to wait a little. The deep phase lasts no longer than 20-30 minutes.
Call the baby by name in a quiet, calm voice, without changing intonation. The mother's calmness is transferred to the baby.
Tactile contact also contributes to a gentle awakening: you can stroke the child’s arms, head and body, gently tickle his heel, and slightly move his arms and legs. You can speed up the process by holding the baby in your arms: contact with the mother will prevent the baby from getting scared, but a change of position and the proximity of a loved one will drive away sleep.
A child sleeping wrapped or swaddled should be freed from blankets, diapers and outer layers of clothing: lowering the temperature will also help the baby transition to the waking stage as easily as possible.
After waking up, it is important to prevent the baby from closing his eyes again, distracting him from sleepiness with conversations, soft stroking, and usual actions (for example, changing a diaper).

Already a month after birth, the baby and his mother find their own individual regimen, which allows them to make the processes of feeding, sleeping and waking up as comfortable as possible for both parties. Make sure your baby is fully awake before putting your baby to your breast. Talk to the newborn, change his clothes, change his diaper, play with him. Often the baby begins to fall asleep at the breast, because the closeness of the mother and the warmth of the breast is an island of stability for the child. You can distract your newborn from sleep active actions: stroke his head and cheeks, talk to him, hold his hands.

Should you wake your baby for night feedings?

The maximum allowable break between feedings should not exceed four hours, so all parents have to wake up the baby for feeding at night. Night feedings are necessary to establish the digestion process, since regular food intake for newborns guarantees normal work intestines and stomach.

It is night milk (produced by a young mother between 3 a.m. and 8 a.m.) that is considered the most nutritious for the baby. Feeding a newborn at night is important for the full development of his body. This is especially true for children who are premature or have poor weight gain. Even if the baby does not wake up to feed on his own at night, which often happens with premature babies (weak or premature babies may not wake up at night because their sense of hunger is a little weaker. Such babies need to be woken up) or babies sleeping separately from their mother, then he should be woken up and apply it to your chest. Attachment of the baby to the breast at night stimulates lactation, maintaining the amount of milk in necessary for the child volume.

A healthy baby up to six months needs several nightly meals. As the baby gets older, the number of feedings will decrease.

The baby fell asleep while feeding: what the parents should do

Which young mother did not have a baby who fell asleep while feeding? Inexperienced parents can upset the baby's daily routine by being afraid to wake him up or by waking him up too abruptly. So that the mother does not need to wake up the baby who has fallen asleep while eating, pediatricians advise following these recommendations:

during feeding, talk to the baby in a soft, calm voice to prevent him from falling asleep;
To prevent the baby from falling asleep, he should not be wrapped or dressed in several layers of clothing: a light vest and rompers, a “man” or a bodysuit without blankets and diapers - the best option for eating;
if the baby begins to fall asleep, stroking the child’s forehead above the eyebrows will help keep him awake;
no less effective way The fight against falling asleep is to change body position or change the breast during feeding: if you hold the baby by the arms, he will be distracted from sleep.

Changing breasts can be a problem for the mother: as a rule, milk from one breast is enough for the baby to be satisfied. In this case, he will drink only foremilk and have difficulty resolving lumps in the mammary gland. To avoid stagnation and the appearance of lumps, the mother needs to monitor the condition of the mammary glands.

Pediatricians note that correctly selected sleep patterns and frequency of feedings for a particular baby guarantee not only physical health, but also the child’s peace of mind.

Feeding a newborn: where to start?

For a newborn baby, feeding is the most important process that lays the foundation for future health, guaranteeing active growth and development. That is why parents have to ensure regular meals. What steps should be taken to make feeding as natural and comfortable as possible for both baby and mother?

The hands and breasts of a nursing mother should be washed with simple laundry soap, bottles and nipples (in case artificial feeding) must be disinfected: this will reduce the risk of occurrence.
If you feed while lying down, then take care of a fresh diaper on the bed - cleanliness is the key to health.
A comfortable position will make the whole process easier and more comfortable for both parties. Each mother is free to choose the position independently, taking into account her needs and wishes of the baby. Among the most preferable are the classic options - sitting and lying down ().
Correct grip of the nipple by the baby guarantees active and productive sucking, which does not cause problems for either mother or baby. If the nipple is not grasped correctly, the baby has difficulty eating, makes extra effort, quickly gets tired and begins to be capricious. In this case, the mother’s breasts suffer even more: cracks are likely to appear, as well as stagnation of milk due to inactive sucking. The basics of putting a baby to the breast should be taught to a young mother in maternity hospital(midwife or doctor), since the success of all breastfeeding depends on the first steps ().
If your baby falls asleep a few minutes after you start feeding, try waking him up to continue eating. If the child immediately falls asleep soundly, then feeding can be postponed.

Conclusion

Premature or weakened child. When the newborn was born ahead of schedule and/or is quite light in weight, he may not wake up to feed due to lack of strength. In this case, it is really necessary to wake up the baby, perhaps even doing it more often than once every 2-3 hours. Otherwise, he will gain weight very slowly.
In the case of a healthy, strong child, everything is different. Here it is better for mom to rely on her instincts and intuition rather than on the advice of others. Each child is individual. Some people regularly wake up every two hours to eat. And some people sleep 6-8 hours at night from birth. You should not wake up your baby for feeding if: He is gaining weight well, his mother has enough milk. If these two conditions are met, there is no need to worry. Here we can only be glad that the young mother has the opportunity to sleep and recover after childbirth. This is much more important than following the formal rule of feeding the baby every 2-3 hours.
A baby’s weight gain should be assessed not by one’s subjective feelings (“he’s eating little and not growing at all”), but by objective parameters—how many grams the child has gained, how many centimeters he has grown (). In this case, you need to evaluate a fairly long period of time - a month or at least a week. If the child really changes little in weight over time and practically does not eat at night, you can try to wake him up. However, you shouldn’t go to extremes: if you regularly wake up your baby, but he still doesn’t take the breast and falls asleep again, you don’t need to force him to wake him up. A hungry child will definitely eat. Otherwise, you simply risk disrupting your child’s natural sleep and wakefulness patterns.
When a young mother does not have enough milk, specialists breastfeeding It is recommended to increase the frequency of feedings. It is especially important to put your baby to the breast at night. It is in the dark, when the baby sucks the breast, that the mother’s body produces a hormone that affects the amount breast milk, which is formed the next day. Therefore, if you have difficulties with lactation, and the baby sleeps all night without waking up, you should wake him up and put him to the breast as often as possible.

We also read:

Mom's opinion: sleep or food

Do I need to wake up my baby to feed? No no need! Believe me, the first thing you will know is that the child is hungry. Now all leading pediatricians are inclined to believe that there is no need to wake up a child for feeding. That when he gets hungry he will wake up and demand food.

All about breastfeeding a newborn. How, when and how much?

One of important issues problems that arise in “newborn” parents: Is it possible to wake up a sleeping child?
But, before plunging into the world of the Internet - advice, advice from friends, relatives, neighbors, grandmothers on a bench, you should think carefully about everything yourself.

Despite the fact that the baby is already considered a separate unit, the period of bearing a child lays down his impressions, habits, preferences, against the backdrop of the interests of the expectant mother. Children complex mechanisms, and depend on the competent attitude of adults towards them.

So, for example, a mother’s sleep during pregnancy and the sleep time of a baby who has already been born, often coincides. Not just at all, if the pregnant woman did not sleep at night, or slept in daytime, accustom the newborn to a different sleep and rest order. Don’t immediately disrupt your established schedule.

After giving birth, mothers often become sharply active, because during pregnancy a lot of work accumulates, and they have to dramatically change the baby’s sleep schedule in order for the parent to sleep, but is this right?

Your sleep schedule after childbirth should initially resemble that of your pregnancy. When entering the outside world, the child experiences enormous stress. It is not known for certain what the baby experiences during the birth itself. He goes through the tests together with his mother, and you should carefully approach the sudden change in life; you cannot adjust the baby to the rules of existence. This is dangerous for future development. After the most difficult times, the present and future must be truly thought out.

But at the same time, parents should draw a line between caring and excessive patronage and indulgence of the little creature.

Little love is bad, but too much love is even worse!

From the first days, you should not take custody of the child so much as to blow away dust particles and react to any rustle while the baby is sleeping. Rather, such behavior will lead to stress for the parents themselves. You can't turn off the world while you sleep. Extraneous sounds should not be strong, but their absence is also useless.

Smart border permissible noise- light music in medium tones, calm voice. The TV on, the telephone or doorbell ringing are also slightly muffled, without the need to turn it off. Everything must be within human earshot. Everything should resemble normal life, but a little moderate.

The baby's parents must understand What is acceptable for them during sleep is also quite acceptable for a child. The only exceptions are those people who, before pregnancy, could throw noisy parties, listen to loud music or watch TV. But even with such parents, the child gets used to this rhythm and noise, although he experiences stress at high volumes. But if parents don't understand the need to turn down the sounds of life a little, then they may be thinking about having children too early. After all, the birth of a baby often requires organization and meaningful actions. Parents become more mature and wiser with childbirth.

But on the issue of infants and awakening

The thing is, every time you close your eyes, infant wakes up a little different. With every hour and day, during sleep, without stopping, complex processes growth and development. Sleep is a period when the baby’s brain is active, but the organs are slightly inhibited. They work, but not as much as during the day, but the brain works even harder. Its task is the full development mental abilities. The division of brain cells, control of the functioning of all organs and systems, without failures, is also his responsibility. For a baby, sleep is his future health in all areas. You can’t just go ahead and disrupt internal processes..

Disturbed sleep and abrupt awakening bring a lot of stress to an adult’s body, and the same happens to a child. Therefore, if he is strong enough, eats well, goes to the toilet, then there is no risk that while sleeping most time of day, he will not receive enough nutrition. Often children, without waking up, can suck milk from the breast or from a bottle; do not disturb it. You just need to place it correctly to avoid milk getting into your respiratory tract.

Healthy sleep for a little person

Human sleep consists of certain phases, with their own stages, competently formed by nature. There are stages of phases fast and slow sleep , their violation provokes various failures of organs and systems. After all, in a dream, a person restores strength, calms the psyche, fights all kinds of viruses and bacteria, strengthens immune system, and improves the proper functioning of the whole body after a hard day. The same happens to any living creature. And if adult through the outside world you have to train your formed brain, then small child It is necessary to grow this very brain, and precisely during sleep.

How the brain grows, develops, and works will determine what kind of psyche the future person and personality will have. Will the baby be in good health?

You can't neglect your health!

Adults often notice that a sudden awakening often brings various disorders - this and headache, and dizziness, often a person feels even more tired than he was before sleep. The mood can easily deteriorate and the person becomes easily excitable. This causes a lot of trouble. And this is directly related to interrupted sleep.

The work of restoring the body is interrupted, all systems seem to be paralyzed for a moment, a person at the moment of awakening can himself be paralyzed, not understanding what is happening around him. His brain has to, without finishing its work, start working again during a period of vigor. But it doesn’t look like cheerfulness at all. The person seems devastated and wants to lie down and sleep again. The same processes occur with children.

Hear and understand your baby

If someone says that an infant does not hear anything and does not care when he is woken up and how this happens, then this is a great misconception. It doesn’t matter for what good purpose this is happening - to feed, change, wash, or play. You shouldn’t try too hard to retrain your child’s body to sleep at night., and not during the day, if the time is confused by the baby. But it’s not his fault; most likely, during pregnancy, mommy allowed herself to deviate from her sleep schedule - she went to bed later than usual, or slept a lot during the day. Of course, she is not always to blame for this. Pregnancy restructures a woman for a new life, but the expectant mother must take care to go to bed on time. There are many ways to do this - herbs, music, activity during the day.

You should consult your doctor about this, which will give recommendations on how to cope with insomnia at night and drowsiness during the day.

An interesting fact is that when born, little people can also be both larks and owls.

It is difficult to change natural clocks at once at will. If the baby walks at night and sleeps during the day, you should carefully shift his sleep by minutes, and not immediately try to put him to bed whenever the parent wants. Gradually, every day, put the baby to bed 10-15 minutes later or earlier. Over the course of several weeks, the regime can be shifted without disturbing the harmony of natural mechanisms.

Teach the expectant mother to sleep on time

During pregnancy, if the baby starts beating in the stomach at night, it does not always mean that he is up and ready to frolic, perhaps he is sleeping, and his legs and arms twitch reflexively in his sleep. Once mommy waits a little, the baby will sleep peacefully again.

Getting a pregnant woman out of bed quickly can interrupt the baby's sleep. And then you will have to sit with a jumping stomach for more than one hour. At this time, the expectant mother may want to eat or watch TV, which will also completely wake up the baby. And after childbirth, this time may be perceived by the child’s physiology as acceptable. Therefore, in order for the baby to sleep properly after childbirth and be healthy, parents need to organize sleep during pregnancy, and not suffer and torment the child after his birth.

Looking at the baby snoring peacefully, many young mothers are worried about the question: “Should I wake the baby for feeding?” Some begin to disturb him after a couple of hours of sleep, fearing that the newborn baby, weakened from hunger, will not be able to wake up. Others believe that a hungry child will not be able to sleep for a long time and will loudly notify his mother of his desire for dinner. Of course, you shouldn’t interrupt a child’s sleep - natural awakening is much better for the baby’s psycho-emotional state. However, not everything is so simple and when deciding whether or not to wake a newborn for feeding, it is necessary to take into account a number of certain factors: age, weight of the child, health status, type and method of feeding.

Baby feeding techniques

Many young mothers have probably heard about feeding their baby “by the hour” from their mothers and grandmothers. Some people still adhere to this method. Its essence lies in the fact that daily feedings occur in strict accordance with the schedule: every four hours, starting at six in the morning, with a long six-hour break at night. Naturally, with this regime, the question of whether to wake a newborn for feeding is not even discussed: nap child, which coincides with the time of the next meal, is mercilessly interrupted, and the night cries of a hungry baby, on the contrary, are ignored. In this case, the young mother, her child, family members, and neighbors can only be asked to be patient: sooner or later the baby will adapt to the regime imposed on him. However, a nursing woman should know that, in addition to constant stress, such a diet can cause her problems with lactation (it is no coincidence that Soviet times there were so many “artificial ones”), and cause gastric disorders in the baby.

Another technique involves feeding the baby “on demand”. As a rule, at first it has to be applied to the breast quite often (sometimes several times per hour), but already during the first month of life the child develops the most optimal regimen for himself. The “on demand” feeding method does not oblige you to strictly observe the time intervals between feedings, so there is no need to wake up a slightly sleepy baby - at the next feeding he will definitely catch up.

Baby's age and weight

When deciding whether to wake your baby for feeding, it is important to consider his age. For example, a baby a few days old who sleeps soundly for more than three hours in a row - serious reason become alarmed and seek advice from a pediatrician. A baby sleeping for long periods of time can be a sign of a number of diseases. On average, the approximate interval between feedings is one month old baby is 2–3 hours, then it gradually increases to 4–4.5 hours. The child increasingly prefers sleep to night feedings. By six months, many children completely refuse to eat at night.

The baby’s weight at birth and subsequent increases are also of no small importance for the mother in solving the pressing issue. No need to bother healthy child, even if he sleeps 4-5 hours straight. For premature, weak, poorly gaining weight babies, such long intervals between feedings can be dangerous. This can lead to dehydration, further weakening of the body, and aggravation of existing diseases. Such babies require intensive nutrition and, accordingly, more feedings. In this case, it is simply necessary to interrupt the child’s sleep.

Wake up, baby!

Even if the baby is completely healthy, gaining weight remarkably and feeding “on demand,” the mother sometimes has a need for extracurricular feeding. This may be caused by going to the clinic, taking tests, undergoing medical commission and other reasons. That is why parents should know how to properly wake up a child.

Sometimes parents who try to speak in a whisper and move around the apartment exclusively on tiptoe so as not to wake the child are surprised to discover how difficult it can be to wake up the baby.

Holding the child in your arms, walk around the room with him, talk, sing a song, gently stroke his back, do light massage, try bending and unbending your arms and legs. As a rule, these actions are enough for the baby to wake up and show interest in food.
Change the child's clothes, change his diaper - children react very sensitively to such manipulations, loudly expressing their protest.
It is not necessary to completely tear the little sleepyhead out of the embrace of sleep; it is enough to get him to suck the breast or pacifier. Take the baby in your arms and take a position that is comfortable for feeding. Usually, when stroking the cheek or lips, the baby, smacking his lips, turns his head towards his mother, and, grabbing the breast, begins to suck without really waking up. If the child still falls asleep, you can tickle his heels, cheek, ear, and also lightly shake the chest or bottle.
If there is no reaction to the actions described above, try carefully giving your baby a bath. This last resort, which should be used in exceptional cases. It should also be noted that the child’s state of drowsiness, in which it is so difficult to wake him up, requires close monitoring by a pediatrician.

When deciding whether to wake a newborn for feeding, a young mother should not go to extremes. It is necessary to observe the child for at least a couple of weeks in order to make sure that he is healthy and receiving sufficient quantity milk, gains weight well and shows interest in food. Only after this can the mother allow herself the opportunity to relax for several hours while the baby sleeps soundly. But if constant drowsiness child does not allow him to eat properly and has a negative impact on general condition child (he is lethargic, capricious and unfriendly), you should immediately consult a doctor for advice.

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When should you wake up your baby for feeding?

In some cases, waking a newborn for feeding is simply necessary. This primarily concerns mothers whose babies are not gaining weight well. After all, with prolonged sleep, the child does not receive the necessary useful material. Critical underweight can lead to a decline in the child's development.

Also, it is during the newborn period that neonatologists and pediatricians recommend feeding every 2 hours. In the first 28 days, waking up a newborn for feeding is simply necessary to establish the mother’s lactation and for the development of the baby. In this case, doctors often recommend placing the baby on both breasts at one feeding in the first days.

If mom doesn't practice co-sleeping with a baby, if the baby sleeps for too long, it is better to wake him up for feeding. If the mother practices co-sleeping, then the child can eat while half asleep.

If a lactation crisis occurs, then you need to put the baby to the breast as often as possible. Otherwise the milk may burn out.

If a mother has a blockage of the milk ducts - lactostasis, then she needs to put the baby on the sore breast as often as possible, preventing it from overflowing. In this case, it is imperative to wake the newborn for feeding. Otherwise, complications such as mastitis are possible.

It is also worth considering the factor that the older the child gets, the longer the intervals between feedings become.

How to wake up your baby for feeding

So that waking up the baby for feeding does not turn into hysterics and nervous breakdowns, you need to follow some simple tips:

Each sleep is divided into active and deep. When you need to wake up your baby for feeding, you just need to wait for the active phase and remove the blanket. As a rule, the child will immediately wake up on his own. If the baby does not wake up, then you can stroke him along the body to the legs. When the newborn opens his eyes, it is better to pick him up and hold him for a while. It is also advisable to change your baby's diaper before feeding.
If you hold the baby in a “column” position, pressing it to your chest, he will definitely open his eyes.
Some parents begin to quietly hum some children's song to wake up the baby. But under no circumstances should you turn on the radio or TV, make too much noise near a sleeping baby, or turn on bright lights. Such actions by parents are likely to lead the child to fear and hysteria.
Stroking and massaging a newborn's back will help improve blood circulation and then the baby will wake up faster.

Don’t worry that after waking up the child will give his parents a “ sleepless night" As a rule, after eating milk, the child quickly falls asleep.