So P is 5 days old now and so sleepy. C was wide awake from birth so this is new territory for me. He slept 10-3:30 am, ate, went back down from 4-7:30 when we woke him up to eat again, and he's been dozing all morning. He ate once mid morning because I woke him to, but refused a bit ago again and just fell asleep. My milk is just coming in and I don't want to mess up my supply by not nursing enough.
Anyway, what should I be doing? How often do I wake him? He takes a pacifier really well and keeps it in, but should I take it away so he wakes more?
Is he back to birth weight? I would wake to feed him until that happens for sure.
DD was born at 36 weeks and was very sleepy in the beginning. She also STTN at 4 weeks, so maybe you hit the jackpot and got a great sleeper with P. It's possible!
Post by carolinagirl831 on Jan 26, 2015 13:01:09 GMT -5
No advice... because I had a wide awake newborn like C from the start! I am so hoping for a sleepy newborn this time : ) just checking in to say I wouldn't know what to do with a sleepy newborn either.
Post by humpforfree on Jan 26, 2015 13:01:31 GMT -5
Mine was similar! I woke him every 3.5ish hours until he was back up to birth weight (about a week). After that we let him sleep however much he wanted at night (4-5 hours?) and then I just made sure to feed him every 3 hours during the day (sooner if he wanted). It worked out well/ he has always been s good sleeper & never had day/night mixed up.
When he nursed at night I did let him stay on as long as he was sucking, until he fell asleep- I think it helped my supply.
Post by lurknomore on Jan 26, 2015 13:02:20 GMT -5
I think the rule of thumb is to wake every 2 hrs during the day and 3 at night until back up to birth weight. To wake (and help keep him awake while nursing) take clothes off to naked, cool washcloth on face, palms of hands, rubbing his feet and palms of hands.
That's all I remember right now. Watch his color for jaundice. Not enough eating in the first few days, esp in babies who are a bit early, can lead to increased bili levels.
Post by barefootcontessa on Jan 26, 2015 13:04:22 GMT -5
I try to feed a newborn every two hours during the day. If baby is sleepy, I will tickle his check, put a washcloth on his cheek, take his clothes off, etc. Nighttime I tend to nurse more on demand. GL!
Post by whereintheworld on Jan 26, 2015 13:07:01 GMT -5
I woke every 2-3 hours during the day, then every 3-4 hours at night. Mine were sleepy for the first 2ish weeks. I would take away the paci until solidly back to birth weight, unless you are in a ton of pain and need the relief.
I would aim to feed every 1.5-2 hours until back to birth weight. Irritate the heck out of him with wet washcloths, naked time (skin to skin is great to help milk supply). No advice on the paci thing as I never used them but I would think you'd want him on the boob as much as possible now to establish milk supply that using a paci might be detrimental.
I had a nurse that advised me to look at the overall picture of feedings rather than just the clock. I could not wake DD2 up for about 5 hours when she was 2 days old, but she cluster feed for several hours right before. The nurse said the long stretch of sleep was unlikely to effect my supply when you take into consideration the cluster feeding.
She also woke up considerably more after a few days.
Post by dancingirl21 on Jan 26, 2015 13:12:58 GMT -5
J was the same way (born at 36w 5d). Our pedi said that when they are early, they might be more sleepy. We woke him every 3 hours to feed for the first couple weeks, then he was gaining enough that they were comfortable with us stopping. He woke 1-2 times per night, then slept a good portion of the day until he was around 1 month old. Enjoy the snuggles!
I have no idea about his weight. I asked in the hospital and they basically told me he was good, not to worry about it, and no jaundice. Will have a pedi appointment either tomorrow or Wednesday and see their LC so we'll know more then.
I was told to wake every 3 hours until back to birth weight. I got a sheet to record nursing sessions and they wanted to see 8-12/day. DS was sleepy despite being overdue and we were lucky to fit 8 in with how much effort it took to get him to eat.
I forgot the timing, but I think it was feed every three hours. I kept track the first couple,of weeks. To get them to eat, the nurse recommended tickling feet, removing layers, etc.
N was the same way. He was born at 38 weeks exactly. I was told to wake him to eat every 3 hours until he regained his birth weight, which he did about 2 weeks later. After that, the pedi said I could let him sleep as long as he wanted, and to wake him every 3 hours during the day to eat. I often had to strip him down, tickle his feet, use a cold wash cloth, etc., to wake him. I honestly think it may have contributed to his good sleep habits later on. I had supply issues, but I don't know if they were entirely related (I pumped around the clock for the first 2 months or so).
We woke her every 3 hours to nurse until she was back to birth weight at 2 weeks. After that, I would still wake her during the day if it has been 3 hours since she last nursed, but let her sleep at night.
Same!
Definitely make sure he gets good feedings regularly during the day. You probably know the tricks to waking him and keeping him awake.
People kept telling me to never wake a sleeping baby, but even once she was a birthweight, I still woke her to feed during the day between 3-4 hours.
Post by undecidedowl on Jan 26, 2015 14:11:31 GMT -5
Mine were both very jaundiced so I had to wake to feed every 2-2.5 hours around the clock. Otherwise, I would wake to eat every 3 hours during the day and 3-4 hours at night until back to birth weight. I would try not to use the paci too much since you want all his sucking effort to create a good milk supply. I would usually give a paci during the hour after DS1 ate and then take it away so that the next time he wanted to suck he would nurse.
Wake up every 2-3 hours until his birthweight is back up. Then I stretched to 4 hours. When we woke up, always did a diaper change first and left her a little under dressed. Warm & cozy = sleepy. A little cooler, and wide awake. We always dressed her light and used an A&A swaddle to keep her warm over her onesie etc.
This is exactly what we did. Timing, diaper change, clothes, everything.
Post by whitepicketfence on Jan 26, 2015 14:29:59 GMT -5
DD3 was a very sleepy newborn. I FF and it didn't take very long for her to return to her birth weight. I honestly just let her sleep. I didn't wake her at all to eat but, rather, just kind of went with the flow. She became much more alert around 6 weeks.
I think the rule of thumb is to wake every 2 hrs during the day and 3 at night until back up to birth weight. To wake (and help keep him awake while nursing) take clothes off to naked, cool washcloth on face, palms of hands, rubbing his feet and palms of hands.
That's all I remember right now. Watch his color for jaundice. Not enough eating in the first few days, esp in babies who are a bit early, can lead to increased bili levels.
GL and ejnoy!
This is what I remember. Although I would usually stretch it to 3-4 hours at night. Feed him a lot during the day so that he associates eating with daytime.
DS was a week late but still super sleepy. Trying to keep that kid awake to eat caused many meltdowns on my part. At the time I seriously thought it was the hardest thing in the world and that I was failing my baby because he would not eat. I had supply issues so that May have been one of the causes. It got a lot better after about a week and a half. And I guess the plus side is he has always been an awesome napper.
Naked, cold washcloths, lots of tickling and manipulation were all things I tried.
We did every 2-3 hours until birth weight. The nurse practitioner told me to keep waking him for the first month or two, but that sounded like my own version of hell to do long term. A started waking up on his own around 2-3 weeks, so I stopped waking him at that point.
I know that I just plain forget how much a typical newborn sleeps every time. It didn't seem like my oldest slept all day in the beginning, but I think at least part of it was she was my first and I had no clue or point of reference. I remember thinking that DS1 slept almost too much as a newborn and then the same thing with DS2 and I know at least for me, I just forget/block out the first few weeks. Because soon enough, they aren't sleeping enough.
Post by fortmyersbride on Jan 26, 2015 14:39:24 GMT -5
DD2 just started staying awake for more than a few min at a time (almost 3 wk's old). Her older siblings were awake (and crying constantly) from the start, so this was a surprise. She was back at her birth wt at 3 d old, so I haven't woken her at any certain intervals. She has started clustering a lot of her feeds in the evening.