YES!

WHEN YOUR BABY HASN’T EATEN IN A COUPLE OF HOURS

You should wake up your newborn to ensure she’s feeding every few hours, says Tracey Bridger, a paediatric endocrinologist in St. John’s. Regular feedings are important, at least until your baby has regained her birth weight. According to paediatric sleep specialist and University of Toronto associate professor Robyn Stremler, waking a newborn from long stretches in the daytime to feed also signals to them to be more active in the day, which in turn helps shift those long stretches of sleep to nighttime.

But once your baby is a healthy weight and is feeding, peeing and pooping regularlygenerally after the first couple of weeks-you can rest assured she can get that sleep and wake up to eat later, say Bridger. Because newborns have no concept of day or night, they can often sleep for long periods at all times of the day. This can be unsettling for some parents who worry about good sleep habits early on, but Victoria-based sleep consultant Donna McLachlan says there’s no need for a schedule in the first four weeks. They need the sleep, so once they’re feeding well, you can rest assured that they will wake up when hungry.

WHEN YOUR BABY IS ON A NAP SCHEDULE AND HE HAS SLEPT PAST IT.

By about four or five months, when your baby has established a fairly regular nap cycle, McLachlan says it becomes possible for her to oversleep and throw off a healthy routine. “I tell parents when they have jetlag, they feel awful because they’re overtired and off their rhythm, and that’s how babies feel when they’re ‘off schedule,’ she explains. To keep babies on the right eat-play-sleep pattern during the day-which helps them sleep better at night-McLachlan recommends roughly sticking to a daytime schedule and waking them up if needed. In other words, don’t sweat an extra 20 minutes, but be prepared to wake them before they’ve clocked an additional hour or more of sleep during the day.

The one time when it’s a good idea to let your baby get some extra shut-eye at naptime? When she’s sick. Bridger says we all need a little extra sleep when we’re fighting off an illness-just make sure your baby is feeding enough to be nourished and stay hydrated. And ensure she’s not running a rectal temperature of 38C or higher.

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