How long should a newborn go without a bottle?

My little boy is nearly 5 weeks old and when he was first born me or my partner was waking him up religiously between 2-3 hours to make sure he was having enough (little boy lost too much birth weight due to not latching on). Now we let him let us know when he wants feeding which when he was on 4oz was about every 3-4 hours. He went on to 5oz a couple of days ago and has been going about every 41/2 - 5 hours for a feed. However, tonight he finished his last bottle at quarter to 9 and he was still asleep just after 3!! It wasn’t till my partner was getting ready for work and I woke up and asked him the time that I panicked. I gently poked him to make sure he was okay and he startled but was still asleep. I did wake him up to change and feed him but my question is- is it okay to let him go that long without a bottle? He’s putting weight on beautifully now so I’m not concerned that he’s not having enough. This is the first time this has happened but want to know incase it happens again. He’s combi fed and has breast milk and formula. Not going to lie, I had a really good undisturbed sleep! 😂😂

Show your support

I was like you . Religiously making sure she was fed every 2-4 hours. Once I stopped to let her let us know, that anxiety of making sure she is feeding “enough” was so strong. But then I think as long as they’re gaining weight, then let them sleep, they’ll soon tell us they’re hungry. My girl is combo feeding too. Tonight was first night we’ve had a 4 hour stretch and I did a little happy dance when prepping her bottle! 😂 Take the win mumma! Xx

Is it normal for them to go this long though without waking up at their age?xx

Omg I’d just let baby sleep and get your sleep in too, I would not complain, wish I was in your boat 😂 Baby would definitely wake up if he was hungry so I wouldn’t worry too much!!

@Dana I’m not complaining, I’ve had the best nights sleep in 5 weeks!😂😂🙈 just wasn’t sure if I should be concerned or not?😬xx

My little boy was born in Sept and this sounds similar to us, he's been taking 4/5oz every 4 hours both HV and MW said that it seemed a lot but if he was draing the bottle then it's fine, he normally does the "last feed of the night" any time between 10-12pm and then it could be 5am ish beofe the next feed or sometimes longer x

My little girl goes up to 7 hours sleeping before she wants a bottle at night I was like you timing it and waking myself up to make sure she was getting fed on time it was until someone said if she’s not waking up for it the leave her and let her wake when she’s ready , during the day is a different story

If baby wasn’t premature, is gaining weight steadily, has 5+ wet nappies a day and is happy and healthy… don’t wake them. The sleep is good for them and good for you.

@Claire omg 7 hours, how 🫣 are you breastfeeding or using formula? I need your secret haha the longest I had was 4 hours last night and that was the first time and my little girl is 3 weeks old

@Dana i started breast feeding and then gradually introduced formula , she’s been on formal nearly 2 weeks now and I’d say that’s helped plus I swaddle her , she does make noises in her sleep but I just leave her and then she goes quite c

Mine goes 5hrs before she’s hungry. I’d let him sleep. He’ll tell you if he’s hungry. Some days mine will wake up after 4 hrs but longest has been about 5.5hrs

When baby has reached their birth weight and over its no concern. My little boy is 8 weeks and he sometimes hoe's 6 hours between bottles. Xx

My 4 1/2 weeks old just went from 8:30pm to 5am without a bottle. She soon lets me know when she wants one. At the start I woke her up max 4 hours but she’s gaining weight so we stopped doing that in the night. She feeds 3 hourly in the day (but I can deal with that). Honestly they will let you know x

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌

‌

‌
‌