As exciting as it is, and no matter how much you adore your new baby, those night-time feeds can be totally exhausting. It feels as if you have only just fallen asleep after the last feed, when your baby wakes up again. Of course, broken sleep means that you are not properly functional during the day. Eventually you begin to think that you are incapable of doing what is expected of you and depression can set in.
The thing is, new babies have very tiny stomachs - about the size of their fist, and they can only cope with small amounts of milk in the beginning. This is why they keep waking up every hour or so - their tummies are empty and need refilling.
You can start to gradually lengthen the time between feeds, making it your aim to feed her every three hours during the day, and possibly longer during the night. This should eventually make her sleep for about three hours at a time.
