how long is too long?

[crayfishgirl]

I hate to even ask this question, and will preface it by saying that my daughter is and was a non-sleeper.  

My son is one month old and has been sleeping progressively longer between feedings at night....last night he slept 9 hours striaght.  Awesome, yes (especially given that my 2 year old was up twice in that period), but is that too long to go between eating?  Not just for his sake, but for my milk supply?  Should I be waking him up (we have always had a policy of "never wake a sleeping baby")?

He is growing well and seems fine.  My husband hoped for a sleeper, but I correctly predicted that I'd be neurotic if that happened because it is so far from what we've experienced to date.

Thanks in advance....

[Marissamom]

the tandem nursing moms I've talked to through LLL have said that their babies slept through the night a lot earlier than most. I'm just going with it, bit I'm just getting 5 hour stretches half the time, and a couple 7 hour ones. 

[D_McG]

I only woke mine until my milk came in. DD was an awesome sleeper from the start although it took a nosedive after a while. Enjoy it while it lasts!

[Heba]

The rule of thumb I always suggest to mums is to wake babies if 4 hours have passed only until baby has regained birthweight.  Then let them sleep as long as they want to!

That said, if there were other issues such as a poor start to bf, or concerns about insufficient intake etc, then I do revisit this.  But in general - as you say - why wake a sleeping baby!  If they're ready to eat, they'll wake up, and if they're not, then waking them up is unlikely to make them ready to eat...

[crayfishgirl]

Thanks Ladies.

I jinxed myself.  The next night he was up every 3 hours, and again last night.   Sigh.  That said, he is a way better sleeper than my daughter, and I've decided to not wake him if we ever see longer stretched again!