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Feeding Your Baby's Developmental Cravings
Recognizing Baby's Cues
By iParenting
Dr. Reddy does recommend waking the baby to feed her during the day every two hours to promote a nighttime sleeping schedule. As Baby's stomach capacity increases, time between feedings will lengthen. By the age of 3 months, she may have longer sleep/wake patterns, and may only wake once in the night. But every baby is different, and breastfed babies may wake more often for beneficial nursing sessions. Most experts agree that it is unrealistic to expect your baby to consistently sleep through the night before 6 months of age.
Even if your baby is waking frequently at night, now is a great time to establish bedtime routines. You can help by lying the baby down at the same time for naps and bedtime, and by starting a bedtime ritual such as winding a music box, or darkening the room.
While there may not be a "baby manual," Dr. Reddy recommends the book, Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5 by The American Academy of Pediatrics. He says it addresses common problems like colic, reflux, feeding problems and crying, and is an excellent resource for parents when they're trying to decide what's normal. Otherwise, Dr. Reddy reminds parents to never hesitate to call the doctor if their newborn is crying inconsolably, is feverish, unusually irritable or has a color change to his skin.
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