Breast feeding help please

[digitalpaintartist]

DD was born yesterday at 04:47am
I have been feeding on demand but she is sleeping constantly. I last fed her at about 5pm today and she's been asleep ever since. Midwife visited today and said I should be feeding DS every 3 hours but she just sleeps. She pretty much slept all day in hospital yesterday too and midwives commented on how relaxed she is. I have attempted to wake her and get her to feed but she wasn't interested really. She has given me plenty of dirty nappies despite this. Has anybody got any advice please? Thank you.

[Bonnylassie]

Congratulations! I would wake her and feed her even if she falls asleep. Tickle her feet and get her feeding. I would normally go with the never wake a sleeping baby but at that age I would want her to have a dream feed at least.

[Lou573]

Hi, congratulations! I should think you need to wake her up for a feed now if she hasn't fed since 5pm. The problem is that they are so sleepy that they don't wake up to feed, but if they don't feed they don't have the energy to wake themselves - vicious circle. Can be tricky to wake them so may need to do nappy change or strip some clothes off.

[Iwantawhippet]

Will she feed while she is asleep? My babies would have a little feed. You could take off her nappy to wake her.

My first slept a lot in the first 48h after coming home - which was a great relief to me. After that his nights became more wakeful and he wanted a couple of feeds.

[Lou573]

Also - try to make the most of the sleepy stage to get some sleep yourself, it's followed by the feeding constantly stage!

[PoloZolo]

Congratulations on your new baby!
I found using a syringe to get milk into my sleepy little one helped when he was too sleepy to feed, could you ask the midwife for some feeding syringes so you can hand express some milk into them and try that?
Also you could try stripping her off into just her nappy & having skin to skin cuddles in bed.
Was the midwife concerned? Do you have a drop in breastfeeding clinic you could go to to get some real life support? I'd try and go and see someone if possible or call one of the national breastfeeding helplines to get some proper advice.
Good luck!

[ItchyFoot]

Dd was like this the first week or so. Often used to have to strip her naked just to wake her a little. I fed her every four hours at first.

[cookiefiend]

Not to worry you, but DD1 was the same and the lost too much weight. Sometimes they have little energy so are sleepy. You need to wake them to feed in those first few days. For DD1 changing Her nappy or stripping her clothes off woke her and keep tickling her feet.

Each feed in the early days is really small, but the suckling is what encourages your body to produce enough milk in the days to come so it is important that you feed often. Congratulations!

[SlightlyperturbedOwl]

Definitely wake and feed regularly, it helps clear any mild neonatal jaundice (which can make them sleepy too) She will soon get the hang of it. Congratulations

[digitalpaintartist]

Thank you everyone. I've woken her using the suggestions of a nappy change and she's now on the breast (and seems to be sleeping as she feeds). Unfortunately I've struggled to sleep myself!

[Bonnylassie]

I wasn't sure if you were bf, my dd always fell asleep at the breast but I found if I moved her gently or blew on her face she wouldn't wake up fully but enough to start feeding again. She's four now and loves a cuddle with her hand on my boob or down my top!

[PickleBot]

Congratulations! My DD is now 9w and we had the same problem. I had to get her practically naked to feed long enough. Once she was so asleep we dunked her in the sink to wake her up as nothing else worked!