Would my baby let me know she was hungry during the night?

For context, my little one takes a dummy, and she can’t do without it, to be honest — especially when going off to sleep and during sleep. My baby could be just after a feed, and the same thing happens as it does during the night. The dummy will fall out, she’ll stir — sometimes to the point of waking — and I’ll get up, put the dummy back in, and she’ll go back to sleep. This could happen a couple of times during the night.

But as a first-time anxious mum, I worry: am I completely oblivious to my baby’s cues, or am I being selfish when it comes to sleep? Is she telling me she’s hungry? Am I pacifying her with her dummy when, in fact, I should be getting up and making her a bottle?

I was religiously that mum who was up every 3–4 hours feeding my baby when she was very young, to the point where it was mostly me waking my baby rather than her waking me — until I got the go-ahead from my HV to let her sleep.

I’ve always heard the phrase, “A baby will wake if they’re hungry,” or “A baby will let you know if they’re hungry,” and after seeing that a hunger cue can be spitting the dummy out, I’m now sick with worry. But she would be screaming — or it would result in screaming — wouldn’t it? 😣😩😖😫 Or at least stay awake and babble, as she usually does first thing 🥹.

She’s 20 weeks old as of today and has slept through from very early on (only after HV gave the green light).

She is within the recommended amount of ounces each day — sometimes more.