1 week old not opening eyes (much)

[bluemousemummy]

ds3 9 days old now and hardly opens eyes at all, maybe for a total of 5 minutes all day. Is basically asleep or feeding round the clock. Is this normal? I don't remember this with the other two. He was a few days early by dates but basically term, and a healthy weight (8lbs 8oz) although he lost a fair bit the first few days as my milk didn't come in for ages, so was 7lbs 13oz on Sunday. He's feeding well and lots of wet and dirty nappies etc but just not alert at all. MW came on Sunday and said he is just conserving his energy, she's coming again tomorrow but I just wanted to see if anyone else had had the same thing?

IIRC DD was much the same for the first few weeks :)

I'm sure it's absolutely nothing to worry about.maybe he just likes his sleep. Having said that my niece didn't open her eyes much and it was later discovered she had an eyesight deficiency called coloboma which makes her eyes sensitive to light. The pupils of her eyes are a tear drop shape. I'm sure this is not the case with your little one though but thought I'd mention it as you've taken the time to post on here.

As long as he's feeding well and the nappies are good I think he should be fine. My first was a very alert baby, right from day 1, whereas no.2 was a sleepy baby- slept loads and loads in the first 2 weeks, even the first 6 I think. If you have any concerns go the doctor though- I think your instinct would tell you if there was a problem-I think it's more of a concern if they are sleeping so much and not feeding properly.

DD1 totally alert, major eye contact with everyone from day 1

DD2 barely opened her eyes for 2 weeks or more. I think my friends were a bit "worried" as she was always sleeping when I had visitors, would come round briefly (with half opened eyes), feed & sleep some more!!! No one saw her awake until about 2 months