My baby slept for six hours. Should I have woken her?

The question nobody answers cleanly

Is it all right for a newborn to sleep a six-hour stretch at night if she's gaining weight regularly.

We gave her doctor the full picture: she was around 4kg, about three weeks corrected and born at 33 weeks. Those details changed the answer, which is why one general rule did not work.

What the answer hangs on

Weight gain, first. A baby who is gaining steadily is getting enough across the day, and where those calories arrive in the twenty-four hours matters less.

How far past the early weeks she is. In the first fortnight, and while regaining birth weight, regular feeding is the priority and waking is often advised.

And whether she's under a feeding plan. Ours had been, and a plan overrides everything in this guide. If you've been told to feed every three hours, that instruction stands until the person who gave it changes it.

For us, with steady gain and a paediatrician who was following her, the long stretch was fine.

Night before day

One thing surprised us: longer night sleep often comes before longer daytime naps.

So a baby who sleeps six hours at night and then refuses to nap for more than an hour in the day isn't confused — she's doing it in the order it normally happens.

We asked whether it was too soon for her to have figured out nights, and whether it meant something. It doesn't mean anything beyond her body clock starting to sort itself out, which is exactly what you want.

Total feeds across the day, rather than the size of the gap. If the day's intake holds up, a long night is just a long night.

Wet nappies.

And whether she woke herself when hungry, which ours usually did. That was another useful sign that her appetite was doing its job.

If you're unsure, ring and ask where your own limit is — before you're lying awake at four in the morning doing arithmetic. Papa did this very often.