Breast feeding question for family member

Hello trusted friends! I have a question I'd like some insight on for a family member.

Dh's cousin gave birth to her first child March 11. She was 6.2 lbs and 18 inches long. Dad is really tall and slender, mom is petite.

She's a great feeder. Eats every two hours during the day. Lactation consultant now has her waking her throughout the night(three hours) to feed as she's gaining, just not enough. S(mom) was telling me how hard it is to wake her as she's so sleepy. And she hates it(mom). I told her to let her sleep. She's eating every two during the day, she's tired and not hungry, and when she is, she will let you know. And last night, it was every three hours she was up eating.

Mom is sleep deprived, first time mom, and I think doctor has her in a nervous tizzy. I also, personally think, she's a nervous first time mom and takes whatever the dr says as the bible.

Did anyone wake their infants seven weeks later to feed? I mean, she is gaining. Just not "enough." Who decides what enough is? My 6.5 yr old is 40lbs. Every kid is different, ya know. Any sage advice I can lend her??

 

Was the baby a preemie? We had to wake our preemies to feed them every 3 hours around the clock for 4 months, and then stretched it to 4 hours from 4-9 months. Mine started at 3lbs 9oz though... How much does the baby weigh at 7 weeks? Mine were finally about 6lbs at 7 weeks.

ETA: it was difficult to wake my girls... The nicu nurses told us to strip them down to make them a little uncomfortable to get them to wake up and eat.

 

The twins were a little smaller than that at birth (36 weekers) and they ate pretty much every 3 hours at night until they were 3 months old. But they woke up to eat, I didn't have to wake them. (And they were EBM and formula fed with a bottle if that matters.) 
 
Caleb was born March (breast fed) and he now goes 4-5 hours at night for one long stretch (usually every 3 hours after that though). He was born at 6lb15oz and 20in, so a little bigger. What does the doctor say about her waking the baby? Or does the doctor agree with the LC? 

 

She wasn't a preemie. She was due 3/12 and had her 3/11. She was over 8 lbs at last check. She goes back on 5/12 for two month checkup.

She said she undresses her and changes her diaper and she's still sleepy lol. Not sure what dr says but I think on same page...

 

I'm a strong believer in the baby will wake up when s/he is hungry.  I have never woken any of my kids to eat.   All babies are different sizes and grow at different rates.  
 
My twins fell off the growth curve around 18 months old and my pediatrician at the time told me that as long as they are growing on their own curve, they're fine, don't pay attention to the charts, etc.
 
Baby has gained 2 pounds in 2 months?  How is that not gaining enough??

 

Wait that's not even 2 months!  That baby is growing fine.  (In my humble opinion..)

 

Sounds like she growing well... And it sounds like she is eating plenty during the day. Without being a preemie and small, I can't imagine why the lc or doctor would think its necessary to wake her to feed.

 

Lol! I am just trying to ease her stress, because to me, she is your text book first time mom. For me, I had twins first, so I didn't have time to worry about some things, if that makes sense.

 

I've never woken any of my 7 kids to nurse them at night.  I have 2 kids that were/are in the 10% for weight and I was never told to wake them at night. The one is now 14 and is 5'6 and weighs 120lbs. The other is 6 and weighs around 40lbs and is tall for his age. Kids will grow at their own rate. It sounds like baby is growing just fine!

 

Baby is in 10% and has stayed that way since birth.

Thank you. It's all very reassuring to her.

 

Like most of you who did not have preemies I never woke my kids at night to nurse them. DD with the lower birth rate came every two hours around the clock, I was lucky if I got one three hour stretch out of her at night. Despite wanting to keep them on the same schedule I soon stopped waking DS during the nights because he could go longer pretty soon (unless I knew he was due to wake soon anyway).
 
Is her doctor using the right charts for looking at what the baby is expected to gain - if following the curve is not enough indicator that the baby is growing according to its own rate? I remember reading that exclusively breastfed babies gain more slowly than bottle-fed babies and that many charts do not take this difference into account but I could not find a link just now.

 

Full diapers, growing.. I say leave her be. My boys fed every 3 hours for the first 3 months or so, and then they just abruptly slept through the night. I was so sleep deprived at that point, I had full on anxiety and PPD... doctors who push moms to get less sleep and ramp up anxiety over a baby that is clearly gaining weight and following natural and normal sleep cycles are really irresponsible, in my opinion.

 

It's very true that they should be using the WHO's breastfed baby chart as it is different. Here is another page which breaks it down even more succinctly. 
 
As to what I did- I aimed for 8-10 feedings in 24 hours. I preferred to do every 2 hours during the day, unless there was a growth spurt, and about every 3 at night. With my boys, (one of whom was 4 lbs 10 oz when we brought them home) I was militant to wake them for quite a while, but some of that was because my littler boy would wake sometimes at 2.5 hours to feed and I'd feed both at the same time. Some babies are small and like my other, slightly bigger son, would just rather die than eat- so I woke him up when his brother woke to eat. With my daughter who was a ginormous singleton compared to her brothers, (over 8 pounds at birth) I again aimed for 8-10 feedings but was very relaxed as long as she was growing. My daughter would eat before going to bed then wake usually twice in the night at that age. She had plenty of pee diapers and was starting to chunk out so I did not worry so much with her.
 
Here is a link for nursing babies 2-6 weeks old. She should be able to relax her standards to slightly below this.

 

My baby isn't even on the WHO's chart!  She's in like the 150th%!

 

If she's 8 lbs, then she's gained 29 ounces.  In 7 weeks, that's more than 1/2 ounce per day which is right on target.  Healthy babies typically gain between 1/2 and an ounce/day in the first months.  While she's at like .6oz/day (ok, math nerd here), and that's a little on the lower end of that, it's still totally great!  Anywhere in that range is good.  And if she's having enough wet and poopy diapers, I'd totally stop waking her up.
 
I did have to wake Sabrina.  I also breastfed, then pumped and gave her bottles.  Eventually, I had to mix formula into breastmilk.  And with all that, she was still only gaining about 1/3 oz per day.  She's never been on the charts.  At 8 1/2, she's finally hit 40 lbs. 
 
But your cousin's baby sounds totally fine!