Do I HAVE to wake to feed?

[Nate'sMommy]

I am mom to a touchy DS 3 month old.  Since day 1, his whole goal in life is to be asleep - he will nap for hours on end and still sleep 12 hours at night.  At what point do can you stop waking to feed (if it has been more than 3-4 hours)?  If you don't wake, will you end up trying to play catch up at night?

The reason I ask is that I DON'T wake to feed during the day and we have now entered a twilight zone where he IS trying to get more calories at night by waking to eat more...For example, he has only wanted 6 oz so far today in his morning bottle, and is 3 hours into a nap (it is 1pm now).  I am going to be waaaay behind on food, but I HATE to wake a sleeping baby (especially a touchy one!) 

Thoughts?

[kim&savannah]

I would wake him during the day so that he isn't waking at night.  It sounds like he would be fine with a 4 hour schedule, so maybe just wake him if its been 4 hours since he ate, and then, if he's still tired, he can go right back to sleep.  But especially at this age, there is a big growth spurt, so he will need the calories.

BTW--I am insanely jealous--my spirited l.o. has never slept like that!!!!    

~Kim

[Deb_in_oz]

i woudl suggest that you wake him to eat if it has been 4 hrs between feeds.  i would also suggest that you DON"T put him straight back down even if he would have slept longer.  he is 3 mo and on the cusp of not only the growth spurt but also will probably start cutting back on that daytime sleep soon (maybe not, but most likely will do) and I think it would be in your best interest in the long run to have him on an established routine closer to where you will end up.

for example
 - if he starts cutting abck on sleep you want it to come from his naps not from the 12 hours he is (luckily) doing at night.
- when he hits his GS you will be able to get the calories in the day because he is not going longer than 4 hrs (otherwise he might miss a whole feed if you still put him down between 6:30-7:30 or so) and then might start getting lots of nighttime calories
- by breaking up his day more clearly you keep it clear what is day vs night.

JMO - he could stay this way for a lot longer but generally at some point all babies start having more awake time and cut back their naps t0 1-2 hrs each one.  you will just have to be the judge of that over time - i am only giving you a heads up on what MIGHT occur.

meantime enjoy all that "Y" time