My baby wakes up for his night feeds but doesn't feed?

Question

My son is 2 weeks old, he wakes up usually twice a night to feed at around 1/2 am and then 4/5/6 am depending.

His first 'feed' that he wakes for, he may nurse for around 5 minutes before we both fall back to sleep.

Last night he fed at 11pm, then woke at 3.30 am fed for about 5 mins and wasn't awake again until 5.30 and didn't start to properly feed until around 6am.

He's gaining weight and his nappies are regularly wet and dirty so I know he's eating fine.

I'm just curious as to why he wakes if he doesn't really want/need to feed and is it OK for him to go that long without a feed.

(he's exclusively breast fed)

Answer 1

It is absolutely ok for him to not eat during the night. That's the goal you are hoping for -- that he can get enough to eat during the day and therefore be able to sleep longer at night without needing to wake to eat. If he is already only sort of eating in the middle of the night -- I think that's a good thing. He will absolutely wake up and eat if he is hungry. Also at only 2 weeks old, he is still completely getting adjusted and probably has no schedule of any predictability at this point. However, it is absolutely preferable that he NOT eat as much in the middle of the night. Hopefully, he will continue that trend and shortly no longer even awaken as long as he's not hungry. Don't count on it yet though!

Answer 2

yeah that's fine for him to go that long my daughter slept right through the night since she was 3 days old i was worried and asked my health visitor and she said her weight is fine and to let her sleep through if she wants to and they kept an eye on her weight just in case but she was fine shes now 15 months and still sleeping through

i also breastfeed her

Answer 3

He's happy and contented hun,,he just wants the comfort ,,typical man really!

Answer 4

usually when babies are breast fed and they are sleeping for that long they are not gettin all the feed they need, so they sleep as it uses less energy. when did u last get him weighed? also if he is waking and it isnt for a feed maybe hes too hot?or too cold? but it sounds to me like hes not getting enough milk. talk to your health visitor and see what they say. is he feeding a lot in the day?

Answer 5

All new babies lose weight, after their first week, so that is not unusual. Both my daughters went through the night without a feed at all. They got a good feed about 6.30pm and although they woke up on occasions, they just laid there but were never fed. I had no sleepless nights with either of them, but my Nurse always said if they are hungry they will cry to let you know

, but never wake them, all because its a certain time.They do not want waking all because the clock says its time. I used my brain as a Mother to define what was right or wrong.If they do cry, you should try getting their wind up, as that can be very uncomfortable, and once you have done that they should go back down again.If they are premature well that calls for a different set of rules, as they need more small feeds often.

Answer 6

i found the same with my second daughter shes was waking for something to suck on so we ended up giving her a dummy which i didn't really wanna give her one but she was either sucking her fingers or she was waking for a cuddle and crying as if she was wanting a feed so we give her a dummy and she settled alot better  

Answer 7

Aww I can't believe that he is two weeks old already!!  And no I cant answer any of your questions about parenting without going all googly about a baby.  Sorry

Hope this helps lolololol!