How Long Should The Baby Sleep Before Feeding?
Infancy is the period of time that elapses between birth and puberty; therefore, it only involves 2% of a person’s total life. Still, it is a period for the development of the person. Therefore, it is convenient to know how long the baby should sleep before feeding.
Baby needs to feed before and after each nap
The importance of controlling their feeding becomes crucial in the first weeks of life, because it is common for the baby to lose weight in this period.
Some newborns can become so weak that they do not feed properly, with the consequent risk of lowering their blood sugar; which will cause further weakness.
It is usual that, in the first days of life, due to the stress caused by the amount of stimuli received in such a short time, the newborn sleeps for long periods of time. In these cases, it is necessary for the adult to wake him up to guarantee the amount of daily suctions that the baby needs.
It can also happen that the baby stays awake only while it is being fed. If at the time of his nutrition he becomes drowsy, it is recommended to continue feeding him until he falls completely asleep or until the adult considers that the child has satiated.
The lack of feeding in a baby can cause the interruption of its rest and its consequent irritation; for this reason it is essential to respect the feed intake.
Although there is no recommended minimum or maximum amount of daily milk suction, it is advisable to feed the newborn in compliance with each demand and until it is satisfied. During the first 3 or 4 weeks (5 or 6 if the born are twins or twins) the baby should be guaranteed feeding every 3 hours, after each nap.
First weeks of life
Although babies are born with a wide variety of reflexes in the service of their survival, they require the attention of an adult for their functionality. For this reason, it becomes extremely important to attend to any sign of crying, which may indicate that the rest has ended and the consequent need to feed.
Respecting their hours of rest, as well as their diet, is essential to achieve good development; therefore, a balance must be struck between the two needs.
Mismanagement of the amount of time a baby should sleep can hinder its proper development and cause long periods of excitement.
After the third day from birth, the baby is likely to stay awake even during periods when he is not hungry. Pediatricians advise that caregivers sleep when the child does.
Consequently, they advise not to worry excessively about keeping the home without noise, since they consider it healthy that the newborn can sleep between some habitual sounds.
It must be remembered that a baby does not differentiate or recognize day and night, therefore, adapting to sleep for longer periods at night will be a habit that must be conditioned by the adult during its development. Some of the points that it is advisable to keep in mind to achieve this gradual learning are:
- Keep a very dim light on.
- Do not speak too loudly.
- Put him to bed once he’s changed and fed.
- Don’t play with it.
It is important to maintain an organization with the schedules, both when eating and sleeping; This will also help to organize the baby and avoid irregular periods of sleep and feeding that can generate strong arousal.
Sleeping through the night is not normal
According to data and statistics, only one 6-month-old baby in every 1000 sleeps through the night. In practice, a newborn is not able to begin to link the different sleep cycles before three months. There are also many cases that do not succeed until after a year of life.
The regular sleep usually coincides with the period in which they keep the blood glucose level stable. According to this, wanting to get the child to sleep through the night in a row before these ages will mean an anomaly in their development. It is advisable to respect the cycles.
