My newborn sleeps very long stretches at

Yes — wake her to feed, until her weight gain is confirmed by her paediatrician. Until a test weight shows she is gaining well, NHS guidance is to feed regularly (around 8–12 times in 24 hours) and to wake a sleepy baby for feeds; once the clinic confirms good weight gain and daytime feeding, you can let her wake on her own. That "when to stop" is the clinic's call — not something to guess at 03:00.

Full screenshot-friendly guide (one page, printable):
baby-long-night-wake-to-feed-2026-11-02-e3fc03d3.pdf

---

1) What you've tried → what works better tonight

2) Tonight (≈20 min of work, spread out)

• Waking her (under 5 min): nappy → lights on, talk in a normal voice → skin-to-skin upright or straight to a feed → feed fully to her cues → burp → on her back, own firm flat crib, nothing loose in it.
• Feeds: target 8–12 in 24 h; if she's been asleep ~3 hours, wake her. If your clinic wrote an interval, theirs wins.
• Rotation: A on duty 21:00–01:00, B 01:00–07:00, handover written on the fridge at 01:00. Wake the sleeping adult only if the on-duty adult has been trying 15 minutes, or if it's an emergency. The elder's night line (toilet, warm drink, usual ritual) is covered by whoever is on duty.
• Morning, 5 min: fill the log — one row per feed: times, breast/bottle, how she ended, wet nappy, stool. Then write: longest stretch, feeds/24 h, wet nappies/24 h, anything given to her (name, who prescribed, time).
• For the next clinic visit, ask two things: *"Please do a test weight and compare it with her birth weight and her last weight."* and *"From what point do we stop waking her for night feeds — please write it down so we're not guessing at 3 a.m."* Bring the log, her last weight with its date, her birth weight and gestational age.

3) Avoid list

• ✗ Don't let her sleep through feeds while her weight gain is unconfirmed (jaundice or not).
• ✗ Don't shorten, skip or "top up" feeds on your own; no new bottles, no formula-strength change, no water, juice, cereal or thickening powder.
• ✗ No herbal or "jaundice drops", melatonin, powders, or anything bought online.
• ✗ No sofa or armchair with her, and never a planned settle there.
• ✗ No bed-sharing if anyone in the room smokes, drinks, takes anything drowsy, or if she was early or under 2.5 kg.
• ✗ No cry-it-out at this age; no new sleep method this week.
• ✗ No driving or carrying her while sleepy.
• ✗ Don't shift the whole family clock on a school night — Tuesday starts tomorrow.

4) Decision tree

```
SHE IS ~12 WEEKS AND SLEEPS LONG STRETCHES
├─ Any RED FLAG below? → STOP HOME CARE → emergency / same-day help now
├─ Weight gain NOT yet confirmed (no recent weight / was jaundiced / underweight)
│ → WAKE HER TO FEED. 8–12 feeds in 24 h, full and responsive.
│ Same bedtime order. Log in the morning. Book the test weight.
├─ Weight confirmed good · feeding well in the day · wet nappies as usual · no illness
│ → Then, and only then, let her sleep and wake on her own.
├─ Weight unknown, fewer wet nappies than usual, or feeding less in the day
│ → Book a test weight; keep feeds responsive meanwhile.
└─ "She just isn't right" (feeding much less, floppy, unusually sleepy, 38 °C or above)
→ Same-day assessment. Under 3 months, that alone is enough to be seen.

THE ADULTS
├─ Falling asleep holding her, driving, mid-sentence → STOP; hand the baby over
├─ "I cannot keep going" today → ask for help today; asking is not failing
└─ Weeks of broken sleep, daytime not holding up → clinician, with the 7-night diary
```

5) Red flags

Emergency now (call your local emergency number — in Spain 112, verified in the local EMS table for Madrid/Spain, which is where your household notes place you; if you're elsewhere, use your own area's number; don't drive yourself, ask someone to drive or call for help): blue lips or face in sleep · breathing pauses · ribs pulling in · grunting · hard to wake, limp/floppy, or refusing feeds entirely · weak or high-pitched cry · green (bile) vomit, vomit with blood, blood in stool · fitting, staring or jerking.

Same-day assessment — under 3 months, even if she looks well: temperature 38 °C or above, or 36 °C or below, or a temperature that keeps changing · jaundice not improving or getting worse, dark yellow/brown urine, pale creamy stool (keep a stool sample to show the doctor) · markedly fewer wet nappies or a deeply sunken soft spot · not gaining or losing weight · sleeping much more and feeding much less · any parent saying "she isn't right".

6) Success in the next 24 hours (a measure, not a promise)

Every feed full and responsive · 8–12 feeds and wet nappies logged · she was woken and fed while her weight is unconfirmed · every sleep in her own crib, on her back, nobody asleep on a sofa with her · one adult got one uninterrupted 4-hour block in a bed, handover written at 01:00 · the two clinic questions written down · Tuesday morning ran on time (school bags, inhalers, elder's morning).

Sleeping less tonight is not failing. Two blocks that happened are worth more than one perfect night.

Scripts to screenshot:

• *To your partner or grandmother:* "Same chain every night: dim light, feed, pyjamas, one or two books, then her in her own crib on her back. No new method this week. While her weight gain isn't confirmed, we wake her to feed — the clinic decides when we stop. A is on duty 21:00–01:00, B 01:00–07:00, each block 4 hours in a bed. If anyone feels sleepy holding her: crib first, never the sofa."
• *To the paediatrician (Spanish):* "Nuestra bebé tiene unas 12 semanas y ha estado durmiendo tramos largos de noche. (1) ¿Puede hacer una pesa de control y compararla con el peso de nacimiento y con el último peso? (2) ¿Sigue ganando bien? ¿A partir de qué momento dejamos de despertarla para comer de noche — nos lo escriben en el plan para no adivinar a las 3 de la mañana? (3) ¿Qué nos hace volver, y hasta cuándo?" Traed el registro de 24 h, el peso de nacimiento y el último peso con su fecha.

---

Notes on figures: the 8–12 feeds/24 h and the jaundice/wake guidance are from NHS jaundice guidance; night waking through infancy for at least the first year is from the NHS child-sleep service card; the ~12-week age is an estimate from your household notes (11 weeks on 26 Oct → ~12 weeks on 2 Nov) — she is "a newborn" in your message, and the age changes little of tonight's plan. The ~3-hour waking rule is my practical rule of thumb, not a clinical threshold; a written interval from your clinic overrides it. Emergency number: 112 for Spain (EENA — 112), verified via the local EMS table for Madrid/Spain — confirm it matches your area if you've moved.

*This organises home routines and observation. It does not diagnose anything and changes no feed volume, interval or medicine — those belong to the clinician who sees her.*

Source: nhs-conditions https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/jaundice-in-babies/
Source: nhs-conditions https://www.nhs.uk/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/sudden-infant-death-syndrome-sids/
Source: nhs-conditions https://www.newcastle-hospitals.nhs.uk/services/great-north-childrens-hospital/childrens-sleep-service/sleep-infants-0-12-months/
Source: nhs-conditions https://www.lullabytrust.org.uk/baby-safety/safer-sleep-information/co-sleeping/
Local contact (not a Source): EMS 112 — EENA — 112 (Madrid/Spain, local EMS table)
Hand off: the clinician who sees her reads the numbers and sets the feeding plan; this page reads no device reading, no study result and no prescription.