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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Week old baby - advice needed please

16 replies

Mandymoo · 12/05/2006 20:40

Hey there

No longer has my baby boy made his appearance and i'm already starting to fret about stuff!

Tom was born last Friday weighinh 8lbs 91/5 oz and was a little jaundiced.

My "worry" is that all he has done in the last week is literally sleep and feed. I cant remember my dd ever being so sleepy. I know i will regret posting this as tonight he probably wont sleep at all but he wakes up every 2-3 hours, feeds and then goes back to sleep!

Is this normal? I'm concerned that he's having very little time awake during the day. Or should i just make the most of it?!

TIA X

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EvesMama · 12/05/2006 20:43

if you can 'rouse' him and he's not groggy, then he should be fine dd was also like this and midwife actually told me(very hot april 2002 at time), to sponge her down with luke warm flannel to 'wake' her up..tell midwife and see what she says..at this early stage i think it is prob very common..but id ask for a better opinion from midwife..hope its all ok

kayzed · 12/05/2006 21:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

notasheep · 12/05/2006 21:44

sounds normal to me-my dd and ds semmed to just eat and sleep for weeks.Your ds is still very young-and big congrats by the way

mears · 12/05/2006 21:47

Waking every 2-3 hours for feeds is fine. If he takes a decent feed and doesn't just sleep after a couple of sucks then he is fine. Enjoy while you can

cori · 15/05/2006 20:21

I have just seen this thread. My DS is 5 days old is the same. Except is he is not waking for feeds unless i strip him. He has had two decent feeds today but at other times he just takes a few sucks and goes back to sleep. I am on the verge of calling the hospital. Mears are you around?

HappyMumof2 · 15/05/2006 20:32

I would ring the MW for advice cori, just to be on the safe side

tortoiseshell · 15/05/2006 20:34

hi, congrats both of you! I've now had 3 sleepy babies, including ds2 who is 2 wks today. It's a problem if they're falling asllep after a few sucks because they won't feed properly and may then get even sleepier! If they're waking for feeds and feeding well I think its ok. Cori, you could try expressing some milk and giving that to wake him up a bit - you don't want to get into a cycle of sleepiness. La Leche League recommend switch feeding, so the most accessible milk is always being got - keep swapping sides. Also make sure they wake in the night for a feed.

Ds2 is much more awake now, and my mw said as they put on weight they gain strength and energy! Keep watching for wet nappies/yellow poos. Tiktok has loads of good advice on this.

Hope you're enjoying the babies!

tortoiseshell · 15/05/2006 20:38

cori - other things I've found to help the feeds - take him into bed, take all his clothes off and have lots of 'skin-to-skin' contact. Feed in low lighting. If he's falling asleep then blow on his face, tickle his feet, lots of verbal encouragement. Try bathing him before a feed, or change his nappy half way through. Sponging him down or laying him on the cold changing mat may help. Also, if he has an 'awake' time, feed him then - they do feed best when they're hungry!

Hope that's some help - sleepy babies can be a nightmare - mine have all lost loads of weight then been slow to gain.

jollyfolly · 15/05/2006 20:57

hello,congrats.... i'm with the others,check with the midwife to be 100% but it does not sound abnormal to me. My ds was a little jaundiced and for the first two weeks would feed two hourly then sleep again.... infact for the first month or so he rarely opened his eyes to look around..... now at 11 months he rarely sleeps and cant get enough of whats going on around him! make the most of it!

lazycow · 15/05/2006 21:01

I think jaundice makes them more sleepy. I read somewhere this wears off after about 10 days or so assuming they are feeding well when they do feed (though don't quote me on that). As everyone says if he is feeding Ok when he feeds then that should be alright. I would definitley try and wake him to feed him every 2/3 hours even if he is feeding OK as with jaundice I was told to feed ds as much as possible in the first 2-3 weeks. If he isn't feeding well then I would say that is a bit more serious and you may need to speak to the hv and keep a an even closer eye on nappies/weight etc.

cori · 16/05/2006 00:31

Cheers everyone, I called the midwife and they suggested a trip to a&e, did that. He immediately woke up and fed quite happily for half an hour. Has just had another feed and now gone down to sleep. They dont think there is too much wrong.
Interesting advice from La leche league. Will remember that. There is a breastfeeding drop in group on a thursday so will try and get a long to that.
Oh and sorry for the hijack mandymoo.

riab · 16/05/2006 13:40

I think its pretty common for babies to be very sleepy at first. The only concern is if they aren't waking for feeds! If your baby is gaining weight fine as he was over 8lb he should start being able to go 31/2-4 hours between a couple of feeds soon.

I agree that expressing a feed or giving a FF if you aren't planning on exclusive BF would give you a break (to ensure your milk supply is good YOU need to rest/est as well!) and also give you reassurance that he is taking a good feed.

A baby of 8lb-9lb should be getting approx 20oz - 25oz milk each day. If he is feeding roughly 3 hrly thats 7 feeds a day so about 3oz at each feed. If he is feeding well, gianing weight and you are getting some sleep then don't worry!

tortoiseshell · 16/05/2006 17:56

Cori - I'm quite surprised they didn't come out to you - our mws are on call 24 hours for b/feeding. Glad he's perked up a bit - keep an eye on his nappies!

damewashalot · 16/05/2006 18:33

My ds3 (10wks now) slept for most of the first 2 wks, he really did only sleep and eat, I would wake him after 4 hrs to eat and he would feed then go back to sleep. Neither of my first 2 did that so it was odd for me. He now sleeps through the night mostly but has days where he hardly sleeps atall, make the most of it, as others have said, as long as he is feeding ok and you are gettin plenty of nappies I wouldn't be too worried.

legophobe · 16/05/2006 19:27

Make the most of it. The only thing they need to do is grow :)

sparklemagic · 16/05/2006 20:02

Hi mandymoo, just wanted to add that my nephew was jaundiced, and was just the same; very sleepy. In fact my SIL had him like this for about SIX weeks, he didn't seem to wake up till he was six weeks old. I think she worried about it and did ask her HV for advice on how to get a sleepy baby to rouse a bit more, but (big surprise) the HV was pretty useless and gave no advice.

So maybe the jaundice does add to the sleepiness; I know my SIL was worried that my nephew would sleep all day and be awake at night, but this didn't happen in the end. Hope all goes well! Enjoy the rest while you can!

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