I just had my baby girl (3rd dd) on October 6th--yayee! N-E way, just a few questions regarding this newborn! She is the sleepiest baby I've ever had! Her pediatrician told me I should wake her to feed her (breastfeed/bottle/whatever) and that I shouldn't let her go without eating for more than 6 hours. Now, I know babies can get dehydrated if they don't nurse, but honestly, this kid is lazy! She sucks quite strongly when I breastfeed her but her latching on is a so, pardon the expression, half-assed, it's like trying to fit a square nipple in a round hole!!!!! Plus, like I said, she's a sleepy baby. Is this normal? I'm worried she's not eating/getting hydrated (paranoid in fact--I'm constantly checking her fontanel/soft spot). I've tried wiping her face, gently flicking her feet--anything to wake her to eat (every 2-3 hours), but usually she doesn't. I know babies will let you know when they're hungry, but dd is worrying me.
Any advice out there mamas? Also, desperate mom that I am, I also gave her some formula (2 oz) just to "make sure" she eats, but about a half hour after drinking the stuff, dd made a gagging face like she was going to choke--no vomit though and she seemed okay afterwards--could it be 2 oz is too much? Or do you think it was the formula? ???? You would think after 3 kids, I'd know what I was doing!

The first thing I'm thinking of is jaundice...do you notice if she is jaundiced at all? Yellowing of skin? eyes?

Otherwise, babies will wake wake when they are hungry..every 1/2 hour, every 2 hours, every other 6 hours.....she is obviously too tired to latch even. If you are concerned, I wouldn't hesitate to taking her to emergency.

Do let us know how things go.

FIrst off...CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My initial thought to the *sleepy baby* is jaundice. Did you have any *meds* during your labor/delivery? That might have something to do with it as well. I think 6 hours is WAY too long for a newborn not to eat! I'd continue to wake her, undress her whatever it takes to get her to eat. Even if she only bf for a few minutes, she's getting something :)

Good luck!

I'd be concerned if she went that long. Try getting her nekkid and rubbing a cool cloth over her, or take a bath with her and see if she'll nurse in the tub.

Her bilirubin at the hospital was below 12 (an 8 actually) and the pediatrician ok'd us to take her home. I see the pediatrician on Tuesday (holiday Monday) and I've been checking her eyes/color--she seems "normal"--. I'll keep waking her--she doesn't like it when I clean her cord, so maybe that's what I'll stick with! Thanks mamas--if you guys have any more advice, I'd greatly appreciate it!

If your baby is sleepy, the longer she goes without nursing the sleepier she's going to get, and the harder it will be for her to nurse. I highly recommend waking her to nurse at least every 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night. Also, please contact your local La Leche League leader. She'll have some great pamphlets with ideas to wake her up.

Congratulations on your new baby!

I know that when I had my third I forgot a few things - like remembering to burp the baby when we are done nursing! It'll all come back to you.

I would try to wake her every 2 -3 hours. Methods of waking babies: undress her (usually babies don't like to be undressed so they wake up), a cold wet washcloth on her skin, try holding her away from you in the air... I find the first two work the best.

Don't give up trying to nurse. Some babies take more time to learn how than others.

What's the latching - on problem? can you describe it? Maybe some of the mamas here have suggestions that are more specific.

You CAN do it, you just had a baby - what an amazing feat! It'll all come back to you. And there are mamas standing by, ready to help.:)

No new advice here... just thought I'd empathize. I'm two for two for sleepy babies. My first thought was jaundice too, as my first was and he was REALLY sleepy. Once his levels got back to normal, he was not sleepy, lol.

Buy ya know, my dd was not jaundice and she was a sleepy one too. Not so bad during the day... every three hours or so. But I really had to work to get her latched on and fully awake. At night she'd sleep 5-6 hours.

Stripping her, maybe moving her to a brighter location if she's in sort of a sleepy surrounding, maybe some energetic music on the CD player?

I was going to say that some babies sleep a lot right off because birth can be exhausting, but I'd think she'd be "caught up" by now.

Let us know what the doc says...

Nelle

my 3rd was the same way. the nurse and i seriously had to try for 45 minutes to wake him up to feed him. he was jaundiced. he is still a good sleeper, and he is a good eater too!

congrats!!

If you had meds during your birth it could have something to do with your babes reactions right now.
Some babies aren't very hungry after birth for awhile. Depends on the baby.

I want to encourage you not to be too paranoid unless you see signs of a problem. Give you self some credit, she is only 4 days old today. Rest with her because you need this!!!!

Keep trying to feed her as your heart leads you, but do not stress unless there appears a problem with her. You need to recover Hazel and it wont happen easily with stress and worry.

My 7th baby had meds while she was in the hospital. Different story, but she was asleep for 2 weeks. I remember how I felt too. There was nothing wrong, jsut meds in her system.
Enjoy your baby and do what you can. If she wont feed and you cannot get anything down her, make notes to relay to the pediatrician. Keep a journal of everything and that can help them know what YOU have done and what the babe is or is not doing.

I hope I don't sound like I am trying to tell you what to do because although I ahve birthed many babies, I am certainly not doen learning myself. Hugs and congratulations.

My son was also a sleepy baby and I ended up at the LC's office since I KNEW something was going on. It turns out that he was so sleepy from the c-section that he wasn't nursing long enough to get enough calories to stay awake so was too sleepy to eat. It was a catch 22 situation. What I ended up having to do for about a day was to pump right after nursing then give him that pumped milk after the next feeding - it was only an ounce but that made the difference. It took about 3 feedings like this (nurse then supplimented BM while I pumped) and he was a different baby! I was also told to nurse every 2 hours during the day and to allow one 4 hour overnight and to keep this up for a bit (we pushed it for a week). After the week, he was nursing on his own every 2-3 hours with a 4 hour stretch at night and from that point on, he was fine.

Definately don't let a newborn go more than 4-5 hours once a day and no more than 2-3 hours the rest of the time if she's sleepy but I think once you get her to take a bit more milk, you'll see a difference. Go to a LC if you still feel you need help - it's sometimes costly but SO worth it in the end!

Ann

Well mamas, dd is a little more awake! She fed about every 2-3 hours last night (little wailer that she is) and this morning about 3 times already, so maybe we're all turning a corner (pray we are)! Thanks so much again for all your advice--you've set my mind at ease! Thank you also for the well-wishes! It's been a little trying this time around with dd#3's birth; dds #1 & 2 are both sick and so is dh...plus dd 3 was 3 weeks earlier than expected, so my house is upside down trying to get the crib up, etc....blah blah blah! I am taking it easy though--that's why the house is trashed, lol! I thank you mamas again! Amity's site is such a blessing and so are all you guys!!!!!!!!!!!:)