Do i wait for baby to start crying to eat at night /should i be ready to feed when she starts making sounds?

Question

My friend used to set her alarm and when it goes off she would go and be ready to feed as soon as they start to make a sound that they (twins) are hungry.

Answer 1

Infants, like us adults sometimes wake up in the night. I'd let her begin to fuss a little bit, so you are sure she is actually hungry and not just briefly wakeful.

Hang in there, you are doing fine!

Answer 2

Learn from mistakes of the past. With my first baby, I would wake up at her first stirring sounds, and feed her right away, without giving her a chance to cry. But in retrospect I don't think that was a good idea for two reasons.

1) It doesn't give the baby time to recognize her inner-body warning signs, letting her know that she is hungry (but when she cries first, she cries because she's hungry, this is training for when she grows big enough to talk and tell you "I'm hungry")

2)Some babies (even new babies) talk in their sleep. so not every stir, and sound will turn into loud wails of hunger. Hence, you could be getting more sleep, and the baby can be getting more sleep, instead of the both of you being up for a feeding that isn't necessary.

Answer 3

Do yourself and baby a favour...wait for baby to wake up to feed.  As long as they are gaining weight...they will cry out when they are hungry.

Answer 4

wait. babies move alot in their sleep and make a lot of noise. I know several times I would accidentally fall back asleep when I thought my baby was waking up and to wake up a little later and she is still asleep. So just wait, and try to sleep as much as you can. :)

Answer 5

NEVER WAKE A SLEEPING BABY!!!!  It'll just get her into a bad habit OF waking up if she's asleep let her sleep It'll teach her and she'll sleep through the night sooner and don't get up to feed her till she's crying crying like she's up and hungry it teaches them patients!!

Answer 6

If you can hear that the baby is awake then I wouldn't wait until he/she starts crying.  Crying is the last signal a baby does to indicate they need something, if you can pick out the cues before this then that is better for you and the baby.  But if you are asleep and wake up to a crying hungry baby that is fine too.

Answer 7

I always say let sleeping babies lie..  I have a 16 month old daughter and a 3 month old son.  When they sleep, I thank God.  When they are happy, I thank God.  A good piece of country wisdom, "don't fix it if it ain't broke."

Answer 8

I used to get up and feed my baby as soon as she made a noise. After a while I got so tired i was only waking up when she was fully awake and starting to cry for it. Now if I know she can't be that hungry, I just leave her and she will fall back to sleep. Hope this helps.