Skip to main content
Skip to main navigation
Skip to talk navigation

Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Saved Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Flip

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Newborn just wants to sleep and not feed

20 replies

LousyMe · 16/06/2013 17:22

I had an EmCS on Thursday at 37wks and my DD was very sleepy for 24 hours but we did lots of skin to skin and she suckled a lot even though my milk wasn't in. Yesterday and through the night she fed every 3 hours but it was a real effort as she just wanted to sleep and refused to open her mouth.

We are now on day 3, my milk is in in anger, and she hasn't fed since 12 noon. I've tried numerous times but she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps next to the nipple. The MW was here at 12 and weighed her, she has lost 6% since birth so she was happy with that but since that visit she seems to be jaundicing up and will not eat. I'm getting increasingly worried. We've both been through a pretty traumatic time but I just want her to eat something.

Can anyone offer me some tips please?

OP posts:

Report

curlew · 16/06/2013 17:26

I would call the midwife straight away- if she's sleepy and looking jaundiced if only to get reassurance. She might need some light therapy.

tiktok · 16/06/2013 17:35

Agree - call the midwife. You may need to hand express and get the milk into her somehow .... hope the midwife can help.

rrreow · 16/06/2013 18:01

Have you tried stripping her down to her nappy? She might just be so comfy & warm that she doesn't want to wake up to feed. If that doesn't have any effect I'd put in a call to your midwife.

SolomanDaisy · 16/06/2013 18:05

Jaundice makes babies sleepy, you need to get someone to check him.

BabsAndTheRu · 16/06/2013 18:10

Agree with the other posters. My first DS was jaundiced and that's what they do, they sleep and don't feed and even when you think they are feeding they are actually using you for comfort. DS was re admitted, I expressed and he was feed through ng while having light therapy. We eventually went onto combination feeds with him where he had 6 feeds from me and 1 formula feed as breast milk takes longer to flush the jaundice. Symptoms before he was admitted were dry nappies, dry lips and lose of weight. He was born at 35 weeks, its very common in early babies and really easy to sort out so don't worry. DS is now 4 and extremely healthy and very active. We were in hospital for about three days till it was sorted. HTH

BabsAndTheRu · 16/06/2013 18:12

Sorry meant to say call your midwife today

LousyMe · 16/06/2013 18:32

Thanks all. Since I posted I stripped her to her nappy and she has had a bit of a feed. She is doing lots of weeing and pooing. The MW doesn't seem concerned at all. She is coming in the morning.

OP posts:

superbadspeller · 16/06/2013 18:44

I had the same with dd1 - turns out the house was too warm and that was making her so sleepy and comfy she couldn't be arsed to wake up! Glad she's fed now :) newborns are there to panic us

mrsmartin1984 · 16/06/2013 18:58

My baby was sleepy with jaundice. I changed her nappy and while I was at it ran a baby wipe over her to wake her up. Try also blowing on her face and tickling her feet

Elasticsong · 16/06/2013 19:02

Try to make sure she's near a window too. Natural daylight helps with jaundice, I was told.
Dd2 was very sleepy for the first couple of weeks too. And then, oh yes, she woke up! Good luck.

curlew · 17/06/2013 08:05

But DO check with the midwife/health visitor/doctor today, even if she has woken up a bit. It's really better to be safe than sorry with a newborn.

dopeysheep · 18/06/2013 06:57

Please get her checked for jaundice. My dd was the same and had light therapy but the mudwives were very blase and I had to push for the heel test. They won't do it at home.
I know it is an extreme case but I read about a little boy who had untreated jaundice and he ended up with brain damage because the midwives just said to put him in the conservatory.
Better to check and be ok.I think than leave it.

dopeysheep · 18/06/2013 07:02

The doctors told me that it was impossible to tell.just by looking if the jaundice needed treatment it needs to be a blood test. Just a heel prick and it only takes a short time for the lab to process.
I got fobbed off loads by the midwives and she did need treatment in the end please don't just leave it trust your instincts.
Light therapy is just where they lie under a lamp it's avtually really calming for them my DD loved it!

Petcat · 18/06/2013 08:04

My DD was also very sleepy and didn't want to feed after a traumatic birth at 37 weeks. She was only 5lb7oz and had low blood sugar so I was instructed to feed her at least every three hours. This proved incredibly difficult and stressful as I literally couldn't get her to wake up enough to latch on most of the time. She ended up being syringe fed formula by the midwives when I failed to rouse her. I had to express milk to build and maintain my supply and the whole experience was extremely stressful and demoralising.

Turned out she also had jaundice. She spent 36 hours on a biliblanket next to my bed and I was able to feed her by keeping her in her nappy, blowing cold air on us with a fan and tickling her toes a lot. Once the jaundice started to clear she really woke up and now she's 4 weeks and certainly lets me know when she's hungry (which is a lot!)

As other posters have said jaundice can only be diagnosed with a heel prick test. It's really worth pushing for a proper diagnosis as there can be potentially serious complications if it's left untreated.

NotQuiteCockney · 18/06/2013 10:08

If she's pooping, that should help clear the jaundice. (The bilirubin gets excreted into the gut - if the baby is pooping, then the extra bilirubin gets removed from her body. If the baby isn't pooping, it can end up back in her blood.)

Stripping her down to just a nappy and offering lots of skin to skin should perk her up. But if she's pooping, I wouldn't be too worried.

dopeysheep · 18/06/2013 10:41

My dd was weeing and pooping like a trooper from day one. Feeding as well although quite sleepy but she still needed treating.

curlew · 18/06/2013 10:47

She really needs to see the doctor- I do hope that's why the OP isn't around......[worried emoticon]

Quilty · 18/06/2013 12:05

Hi OP, advice I've been given so far is strip both of you down for skin to skin, tickle their feet/neck to wake them up a bit. Try different positions - rugby hold and lying down is working well for me.

Quilty · 18/06/2013 12:07

Oh and if your boobs are getting really full, hand express as much off as you can as they sometimes won't latch on to a really full breast.

SolomanDaisy · 18/06/2013 12:27

Yes, it is very hard to tell from appearance whether a baby needs treatment. My DS was only the checked as we took him in, the midwife thought he didn't need treatment but wanted to be cautious. He was transferred by ambulance to a special care unit as soon as the results came through. He had actually been seen by a doctor the day before too.

Flip

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.