Newborns sleeping too long should be woken up to breastfeed?

This is an automatically translated article.

This article is expertly consulted by Master, Doctor Ngo Thi Oanh - Pediatrician - Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Ha Long International General Hospital. Uncle Ho has over 10 years of experience working in the field of Pediatrics and has strengths in examining, diagnosing and treating respiratory, digestive, urological, and child nutrition diseases.
Sleep is extremely important for the physical growth and intellectual development of infants and young children. Children often sleep longer than adults, especially in the first months of life. So, should babies who sleep a lot be woken up to feed? This is a question that many parents with young children are concerned about.

1. Baby's Sleep Needs

The average total sleep time of a newborn is about 16 - 20 hours/day, and this time will gradually shorten as the baby grows older. Sleep in children as well as in adults, includes 2 types:
Rapid sleep (light sleep): about half of an infant's sleep time is light sleep, the baby's eyes move rapidly in the front - back direction; Slow sleep (deep sleep): the child does not move his eyes. Children sleep deeply for about 8 hours/day, including 4 stages: Stage 1: drowsiness, dozing, eyelids drooping or blinking continuously; Stage 2: dozing, the child can still move, twist, startle. Stage 3: deep sleep, no movement, silent; Stage 4: very deep sleep, no movement, silent. About half of a baby's sleep time (8 hours) is during the day, the rest of the time they sleep at night. There is no one sleep formula that accurately assesses a child's sleep needs. Normally, babies can sleep for 4 hours straight, but sometimes they can sleep for 10 hours straight, or others only sleep for 2 hours. To determine whether a child is getting enough sleep, it is important to rely on the child's development; Monitoring sleep and weight of children at this time is very necessary.

2. Is it okay for babies to sleep a lot?

Parents should not be too worried about children sleeping too much if sleep does not affect the child's nutrition and development. A deep sleep can bring the following benefits:
Growth in height, intellectual development: During sleep, the child's brain will secrete growth hormone - a hormone that helps children grow taller as well. as inclusive growth; Help children relax, comfortable, and not fuss when they wake up: Just like in adults, sleep in children can help the body relax, relax; Strengthen the body's resistance to be able to grow healthy.

3. Should babies sleep a lot, wake them up?

Newborns have small stomachs, so each feeding is only about 90ml of milk, while their daily nutritional needs are up to 600ml to ensure basic physiological activities, so babies are hungry very quickly. That's why babies often wake up on their own after sleeping 2-3 hours to ask for a feed without having to wake them up. But there are also cases where babies sleep for 4 hours straight and don't wake up, so in this case should the baby be woken up?
For children who have a long sleep but still develop well and gain a reasonable weight, they can continue to breastfeed on demand, however, they should not let the baby sleep for too long without breastfeeding. Especially, for low birth weight and preterm babies, waking the baby up to suckle is even more necessary for the child's development. Babies need to be fed every 2-4 hours, this can help them gradually form a balanced and reasonable nutrition.

4. How to wake your baby up to feed

4.1. Touch your baby This is a simple way to wake up your baby. You can gently touch the baby's arm or cheek, or you can also gently wipe the baby's cheek with a wet towel.
4.2. Remove the swaddle If the child is swaddled to sleep well, when the swaddle is removed, the child may wake up. Removing the diaper on a young person can also help wake the baby up.
4.3. Listen to music, turn on the lights. Soft music is also another way to wake up children. It is possible to combine playing music with turning on moderately bright lights to help children wake up slowly. Do not use too strong light or too loud music.
4.3. Breastfeeding A mother can wake her baby by lifting her out of the crib and placing her in a comfortable position to feed. Babies may instinctively open their mouths and suck, and that's also a sign they're starting to wake up.

5. Some notes for children's sleep

Sleep plays a very important role for babies, so when babies sleep, it is important to note some of the following issues:
Children should sleep on their backs, not on their stomachs; Do not wrap too many towels and blankets when the child sleeps; Do not cover the head as it may cause suffocation. Bed items such as blankets, pillows, ... need to be neatly arranged;

Children's bedroom must be clean, cool, away from kitchen smoke, cigarette smoke or other places with lots of toxic smoke; Babies should not be left to sleep for too long without waking the nursing baby. In summary, long sleep in infants brings benefits for the overall development of children, both physically and mentally. However, to ensure nutritional needs, infants should be awakened to feed when they sleep too much.
Children need to provide enough elemental zinc/day for them to eat well, reach the correct height and weight and exceed the standard. Zinc plays a role in affecting most biological processes taking place in the body, especially the breakdown of nucleic acids, proteins... Organs in the body when zinc deficiency can lead to a There are a number of diseases such as neurological disorders, irritability, etc. Therefore, parents need to learn about the role of zinc and guide them to appropriate zinc supplements for their children.
In addition to zinc, parents also need to supplement their children with other important vitamins and minerals such as lysine, chromium, B vitamins,... errands.
Please regularly visit Vinmec.com website and update useful information to take care of your baby and family.