Baby falling asleep

[c1403]

Hello All

DD2 is 4 days old and we are doing well so far with breastfeeding (problems with latch at first but I seem to be overcoming it)

However, where I am struggling is with how long she feeds. Sometimes she will go a good 20-30 minutes on one side and settle well, on others (especially at night) she will go 10 minutes and take herself off and fall asleep only to stir half an hour later for more.

I have spoke to a breastfeeding support worker who has said not to let her fall asleep after 10 minutes and wake her up to finish, but sometime she just wont budge and is not interested.

I guess my question is am I heading for problems if I let her carry on these short frequent feeds? When should I be changing sides etc. I know the fuller fatter milk comes at the end of the feed and sometimes she isn't getting that far. She has also been sick after a few feeds (one was a huge projectile sick) so I don't want to be overfeeding her too much. It may be worth noting she was a tiny 6lb (full term) x

 

[pinkpolkadot]

DD2 does this sometimes, not so much recently though. I do try to wake her up if it's in the night so she will sleep a bit longer afterwards, I tickle her, sit her up, strip her off or change her. If she had only fed 10 mins
I would be inclined to start her back on the same side next feed. I also find she is more sicky if I don't wind her enough, not sure if this might help with your DD

 

[MoominJ]

I find changing my lo between feeds wakes him up for the second boob. I also had problems with him falling asleep when he was really little, I was told to strip him off before feeding, keep tickling him under the chin and a gentle blow of cold air in the face help!

 

[luna_19]

I had a very sleepy baby in the beginning. I would always strip him down to just a diaper and tickle, pinch, use a cold.cloth to keep him going. Then always change diaper then offer the other side. We only did this when we were trying to get him back up to birth weight and get through a bit of jaundice, after that everything fell into place

 

[lisa1980]

My DS2 is 2 weeks old and has been like this up until the last day or so when he seems to have started a growth spurt and will now happily stay on the breast for AGES (and feed hourly!)

I used to change his nappy after he had fed a bit to try to wake him up a bit and I'd put him back to the same breast if he wanted to feed again within the hour or so, but I wouldn't stress too much about it if those things don't work as it'll likely improve with time.

I remember the same with DS1 and it seemed to just work itself out and he gradually started taking more and more without me doing anything.

 

[c1403]

Thanks Ladies... I have tried most things but she just seems to be stubborn, stay asleep and wont latch properly. If I put her down she will stir 20 minutes later to finish. She has been on and off the breast all morning (been alternating sides), with very little sleeping so I am wondering what is going on...

I have my BF councilor coming out again today as my nipples are quite red and scabby (although I am not feeling pain apart from the first time she latches) so going to see if there is anything that's a cause for concern.

 

[JessesGirl29]

Echoing what others have said you can try to wake her up to feed longer (I used to tickle his feet) but if she doesn't want to I wouldn't stress at this point.
I only woke him up again for the first two weeks until we him back up to birth weight. As long as you are having lots of wet and dirty diapers you are dooming great. My biggest lesson as a Mom is not to worry about things early on in regards to 'making a rod for your own back', babies are just too young at that age for them to do that.

 

[c1403]

Just to update. Midwife visited today (day 5) and she has actually gained weight and not lost....so something's going right.

Midwife did point out when feeding was that she was 'dummy sucking/comfort sucking' during her feeds. Once I started breast compression's she would suck more and stayed on for 20 minutes.
Although.....about a hour and half later she did a massive poo, so I changed her thus waking her and she nursed again for just 7 minutes before going to sleep.

I am just going to follow her cues and try not to worry too much.

Thanks All

 

[luna_19]

Sounds like things are going great

 

[JessesGirl29]

So good to hear!

 

[c1403]

This baby must be a really efficient eater....we managed to get through last night with 4 feeds of 10 minutes , 2.5-3hours apart.

Today she has fed every 2 hours, sleeping in between.

She never seems to feed much more than 10-15 minutes but is obviously settled and producing plenty of dirty and wet nappies. I will get her weighed next week just to be sure she is still gaining....seems strange she doesn't want to feed for longer but I am not going to worry just yet.

So happy I decided to do this again, I had a real hard time with DD1 and it just didn't work out, I could easily have not bothered this time but its soooo much different especially as I've seeked help early.

I love these boards as its so nice to have others to talk too, not one of my friends have breastfed their babies...so my knowledge was pretty poor until I came here :-D