Newborn doesn't wake up to eat

[Kaylen]

my baby is 12 days old now and from the get go she has been sleeping a lot during the day and wouldn't wake up for feedings. I have tried everything to wake her up but nothing works - she just falls asleep again.

On top of that I think I overfed her this morning and she projectile vomited everything and went to sleep and now it is almost 4 hours later and i have only been able to give her an ounce of milk.

Btw, I am feeding her pumped breast milk and supplementing with formula. I am not making enough milk to keep up with feedings. When i try to breastfeed her she falls asleep while nursing and at the end she only gets less than 0.5 ounces after an hour of nursing. I am so worried about her. she is gaining weight but very slowly, and she is not eating the recommended 2-3 ounces per pound of weight.

How do I get her to eat? I have doctor appointment tomorrow and will discuss with doctor, but I don't expect miracles.

 

[xxMichellexx]

I was just about to post the same thing.
We are formula feeding. He eats 2oz then isn't interested, his feeding is all over the place and he just wants to sleep. My sons not gaining weight tho so I am worried, and frustrated!! He was 9.12lbs born, dropped to 9.6, and has been 9.8 for almost ten days 😪 xxx

 

[sethsmummy]

is she jaundice at all hun (yellow or orange looking skin/eyes)? When you want to feed her strip her right down and make sure you dont hold her too close to you as she will think its a cuddle... hold her length ways along your arm with your arm held out away from you. All else fails try a nappy change half way through. xxxx

 

[sethsmummy]

https://i57.tinypic.com/w0041w.jpg like this

 

[Lau88]

As much of a pain as it is you'll need to strip her and get her angry before each feed, also don't allow her to be comfy when feeding. My daughter was terrible for this and had to be readmitted to hospital, she was also jaundice. If she has jaundice then you need to have it checked out, it can be really dangerous. My lo is 4 weeks now and still sleeps alot but does wake for them now although only 3oz at a time still a lot better than the 15ml that I was having to force down her. My midwife told me to wake and feed 2oz every 2hours it was hard work but we got there eventually, but even with that hard work it took 3 weeks to get her back to her birth weight.

 

[sethsmummy]

As much of a pain as it is you'll need to strip her and get her angry before each feed, also don't allow her to be comfy when feeding. My daughter was terrible for this and had to be readmitted to hospital, she was also jaundice. If she has jaundice then you need to have it checked out, it can be really dangerous. My lo is 4 weeks now and still sleeps alot but does wake for them now although only 3oz at a time still a lot better than the 15ml that I was having to force down her. My midwife told me to wake and feed 2oz every 2hours it was hard work but we got there eventually, but even with that hard work it took 3 weeks to get her back to her birth weight.

^^

I was meant to say this too. I had the same problem with ds1 although i had to spend 6 months making him feed every 2 and then 3 hours and the most he took was 2oz at a time x

 

[Lau88]

Its so frustrating, my lo was only 5days old when she was readmitted and they wanted to put an Ng tube in.i was an absolute state crying pretty much the whole time she was in. I tried so many bottles and teats but in the end I found a teat she likes, its short and seems to fit in her mouth better. My lo has a habit of putting her tongue up the roof of her mouth completely blocking any way to feed too.

 

[sethsmummy]

it is horrible. they never found a cause for my son and in the end he ended up on a double calorie prescription milk because he just wouldnt take enough and most of the time sicked up half the feed again afterwards. When he was born we struggled to get 8-10ml into him at each feed and the midwives were horrible about it trying to make out like i wasn't trying hard enough. We still have weight issues with him to this day and hes almost 5. xxx

 

[Kaylen]

Was was a little jaundice when she was born but doctor says it's gone now. I am trying to feed her 2 oz every 2 hours and today she has thrown up twice already. She held down one for about an hour before she threw it up. I tried changing diapers and undressing her. The throwing up is bothering me now. She was born 8 lb 13 oz and she was a whole pound down in less than a week. Then she gained some back after we started formula but she won't be back to her birth weight tomorrow.

I wake her up every 3 hours at night and she eats fine then. I guess she gets hungry after more than 2 hours. I just can't get her to eat more than 2 oz. not sure if that's enought at this point it not. Doctor said we can give her 3, but she just spits it up. I am so worried and I feel like a failure.

 

[Lau88]

Don't feel like a failure, you're doing all you can we know how hard it is. Have you tried wiping a baby wipe over her legs? Mine didn't like that, slept through a massive cannula being inserted but woke up for a wipe. 2oz at 12 days for a sleepy baby is good going. I've found since changing to comfort milk my lo feeds more as she's not as constipated, its a thicker powder so you need a bigger hole in the teat but anything is worth a try.

 

[sbl]

In the special care baby unit they tell you to strip baby off and hold them away from the warmth of your body.
also try tickling their feet and keep your baby finger under their chin during feeding.
My lo was preemie and so sleepy for the first few days.
Jaundice can cause this is term babies so I would definitely get a bilimeter reading done just to be sure.

 

[Kaylen]

Don't feel like a failure, you're doing all you can we know how hard it is. Have you tried wiping a baby wipe over her legs? Mine didn't like that, slept through a massive cannula being inserted but woke up for a wipe. 2oz at 12 days for a sleepy baby is good going. I've found since changing to comfort milk my lo feeds more as she's not as constipated, its a thicker powder so you need a bigger hole in the teat but anything is worth a try.

What is
Comfort milk? I've never heard of it before.
She was having poopy diapers a lot the last few days but today she hasn't had any at all. I see her straining and trying but nothing. She had similar episodes before where she would only poop during the night and nothing during the day, but I thought that was over. Now it's back to that. I hate seeing her suffer.

 

[Lau88]

Comfort milk is for colic and constipation, it's probably called something else in USA as I'm in England but it's a dietary milk that you can buy rather than get on prescription.

 

[Neko]

Its alimentium in the US. I wouldn't just start buying that forumla. It costs twice as much.
https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/s...1-7a02-2528-23e7-000038367333&kpid=sku2452367


My DD was a little early and jaundiced and had feeding troubles. I did what was recommended here. Stripped her, held he awake and more upright that you would generally do with a newborn. I was told only to wake her every 2-3 hours. So if 3 hours is working for you, that's fine. By the time she was a month old, she was feeding better and didn't need to be woke or kept awake.

 

[star1]

Hi. Firstly hugs, it's really difficult having a sleepy baby and being constantly worried about how much milk they are having. It doesn't normally last too long though, my twins are 3 weeks old now and very rarely having to be woken up for feeds or kept awake during them anymore

To add to what everyone else has said, there's a couple of tricks to make them take more from the bottle too. Firstly, make sure you have the bottle at a relatively shallow angle so it brushes the roof of their mouth - that encourages the sucking reflex. Secondly, wiggle the bottle around in their mouth and pull it out of their mouth to encourage them to suck harder. I often get into a bit of a rhythm where I am pulling the bottle out a bit after each suck - the baby then pulls it back in and drinks a lot more if that makes sense

With regards to the throwing up, if it isn't until an hour after they have fed then they must have digested a good amount of the milk. Have you tried elevating one end of the cot? Also make sure you keep the baby upright for 20min after the feed (not easy I know when you're feeding every 2 hours and it takes an hour to feed them!)

 

[sethsmummy]

if 3 hours seems better for her hun i would stick to it, and 2oz is more than enough if its all shes wanting to take. If she is still being sick quite a lot after only taking 2oz then i would take her to the doctor and ask about reflux (this is what my son had and why we ended up on the nutricia infatrini). Hopefully she will get herself into a 3 hourly routine hun so you wont have to do any more waking up. 1 poop in a 24 hour period is fine too hun

dont panic your doing fantastic!

 

[Kaylen]

Thanks for the help and reassurance everyone! The doctor gave her a medication for reflux so we will see if that helps. Last night she woke up every 2 hours and took 2 oz each time. She seems to have more appetite. Unfortunately still struggling to poo. Doctor said he isn't worried yet so we will have to call back if this is persisting.

I noticed that she sucks harded if I pull the bottle out so I will try to use this technique when feeding.
Unfortunately she still isn't back to her birth weight, but she was a big baby so they have her another week. She has 4 oz to go!

 

[sethsmummy]

thats fantastic hun hopefully now she will gain back that weight reflux is a horrible thing xxx

 

[ButterflyX]

My boy who is 15 days old is the same