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Newborn not feeding

8 replies

lavalamp08 · 24/03/2018 02:15

My baby is just 23 hours old. We are home already but she's not feeding very good. We had skin on skin and she had a feed then, then again about 4 hours later (9am), then showed no interest at 1, had about 10 mins at 4, she messed about not really bothered at 8 - this was the first home feed, we tried bottle as I want to combination feed, not bothered and now I'm trying again but she's just not bothered. The HV or whoever is coming tomorrow and I'd be quite happy if she knocked at my door now
Should I be mega worried? What can I do?

OP posts:
villainousbroodmare · 24/03/2018 02:33

Wake her up nicely but firmly and latch her on for a bare skin feed every 2-3 hours, especially through the night, with no expectations of how much she will take. It's only droplets of colostrum until your milk comes in, which could be day 3-5. She is super-hydrated already to allow for this. Tickle her cheek, jiggle her, stroke her or blow on her to keep her awake for a bit. Leave aside the bottle for a few weeks - I think it's a good idea to introduce relatively early but for now it's pointless and undermining you in establishing supply. Night feeds are extremely important for that.

TheresALight · 24/03/2018 02:33

Congratulations on your baby!

Is she staying awake whilst you're trying to feed? Mine was very sleepy and not bothered about feeding and the midwives told me to take his sleepsuit off to feed so the cold would help wake him up and then tickle his feet to keep him awake whilst feeding.

If that doesn't help then you could ring the maternity ward at your hospital and should be able to speak to a midwife for advice.

KMoKMo · 24/03/2018 02:40

Have you had a wet nappy yet?
Are you changing nappy before a feed to wake her?
I don’t know how worried you should be. Could you try calling. A breast feeding helpline first thing if there are none that are 24 hours.
Your milk won’t properly come in for a few days but she should still be feeding to get the colostrum.
Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be along.
I’d do plenty of skin to skin with her to encourage her to root and latch herself.
Good luck.

MagicFajita · 24/03/2018 03:35

Firstly, if you're worried, get some proper advice from your hv or phone a midwife.

Secondly; my ds was like this in his first 48 hours before he started cluster feeding , it was normal for him.

Congratulations opSmile

ShackUp · 24/03/2018 05:07

Agree with above advice, neither of my babies 'asked' for a feed the first day, I just kept putting them to the breast at every opportunity. That encouraged the milk to come in (4 days with DS1, 24 hours with DS2!!).

ShackUp · 24/03/2018 05:07

Congratulations on your baby Thanks

laura1306 · 27/03/2018 15:36

I've just been through this and actually my baby had jaundice which was half the reason he wasn't interested despite him looking and reacting well to all of the general tests. It surprised the doctors in a blood sample and they brought him into children's ward for phototherapy and now he's on and off the boob every 2-3 hours and sometimes hourly. There's not always a reason though. I think if they're hungry they'll let you know. They will never ever starve themselves, they are incapable and would be screaming. Have you had a follow up from the midwives or health visitors at home? Newborns are often sleepy at first as they also have to recover from the birth but keep an eye as he days go on x

laura1306 · 27/03/2018 15:39

I would also say perhaps just stick to he breast for now if he's only just establishing feeding and it's not going that well. You will aggravate your milk supply and that will cause more problems for baby trying to feed. Keep it up, the first few days are the worst! I went and bought some emergency formula and had my cousin (breastfeeding support worker) on the phone at 5am the first night and round the next day because I thought I couldn't do it x

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