First few days - should you wake to feed?

[dycey]

My did has just had her second baby by c section. He fed straight away and all has gone well. But she is in Delhi and wants some advice.

He is quite relaxed and sleepy and neither of us can remember if you should wake to feed a baby in the first 3 days?

Does it matter when they are only on colostrum? I know midwives tell you to wake every 4 hrs later on.

Advice much appreciated

That is my sis! Not did

I would offer a feed at least every 3 hours during the daytime, just to try to minimise the night feeds if possible, and stimulate the milk production. But a newborn can be pretty impossible to wake if they don't want, so there's not much you can do about it sometimes! Congrats to her

Is he jaundiced at all? If so, then defo offer a feed every 3 hours. She could try holding him by a sunny window to make him a bit more awake. congrats on your new nephew.

I would - for the first couple of weeks or until birthweight is regained. You want to be feeding them 10-12 times (or at least 8 times) in 24 hours so I'd aim for every 2-3 hours in the day and every 4 at night.

I would definitely do so every 3 hours - feed more if asked for but I wouldn't leave a newborn longer than 3 hours. DD got jaundice because I waited for her to ask for a feed.

A baby held close to mum - as all new babies should be, as much as possible, and not sleeping in a cot or crib for long periods - will not need waking to feed, but will give feeding cues many, many times a day, and they should be responded to :) This would mean feeds totalling a lot more than the every 3 hours equivalent, usually.

The advice to 'wake him every x hours' is not always helpful as the baby may not be ready to feed and waking him can turn him 'off' and cause problems with the baby fighting/rejecting the breast.

Hope all goes well with your sis.

I did not know that tiktok about not putting them down to sleep. DD2 used to sleep for 5 hours at a time in the first few days (and thereafter). Sometimes on me, but often in the fishtank thing in hospital. Then she'd wake up and feed for 2 hours at a time :o

you're of course absolutely right tiktok, we were in for 5 days with jaundice, being told the important thing was that DD was on the light machine for long periods, not that feeding had anything to do with it, let alone to look for lip smacking etc. the day I started disregarding what they told me was the day I fed her everytime she so much as squeaked, 24 hours later we were home, jaundice all cleared up...

I don't know, I co-slept and had ds with me all the time from when we got home from the hospital, and he still slept 6+ hours at a time if I let him. He was quite jaundiced though.

The 'normal' way for new babies to sleep is the 'fish tank' next to the mum's bed, but this is absolutely not the way nature planned it for babies to get the breastfeeding they need!

Close contact is so helpful so the mum can watch for early feeding cues and respond to them. The slight movements and mouth twitching can be easily missed if the baby is in the crib, and they may only last a second or two any way. If the feeding cue is missed, then babies may get worked up and cry to be fed, but some babies may simply go back into a deep sleep - and this is partic. the case with babies who are jaundiced, small, or simply laid back in their personality.

Robyn - good for you to break the rules :)

Spidookly - it worked out well for you, but for some babies, 5 hr sleeps are really not a good thing.

I was told off by the midwives because DS and I both slept for 14 hours on his first night with no feeds. He did get jaundice so I don't know if that was related, but we were both absolutely knackered after a 30 hour labour and nobody woke us up!!

MoonUnit - yes, sometimes v. jaundiced babies will sleep for ages with no cues, and it's sensible to be proactive and help them wake.

We had several problems in the first few days (forceps delivery, didn't breastfeed til about 12 hours after the birth, 2 days in a light box) which I'm sure didn't help with normal breastfeeding either.

I was told off by a mw for letting ds sleep on me, she told me he was too hot (didnt seem so to me, the skin in contact was, but the rest of him felt cool) I took him back out of the tank once she left.

After a section they do tend to be lethargic, but if they are close to mum they can have snoozy feeds.

What can you do though, short of having an industrial volume alarm clock which would really annoy the other mums? I know nothing would have woken me that first night.

Midwives seem quite keen on you not touching the baby more than strictly necessary in hospital, just in case I got told off for lying the baby on the bed at all in case he got an infection and DP was told several times to stop carrying the baby around, he should put him in the cot and wheel him of he wanted to walk around.

I found that baby being sleepy at night for first two nights was a massive bonus to help me recover post C section, she soon woke up and fed lots once milk was in, so I wouldn't wake baby to feed it. Have heard babies are more sleepy post CS - not sure why, but my CS baby definitely sleepier in first night than two vginal DDs

I woke to feed every 2 / 3 hours for the first couple of weeks. I would feed, change nappy, have a snack, go for wee then I would start getting them up to feed again. Only in the day time mind you, after midnight I let them wake me for a feed.

But having c-sections meant my DC's were back in their cots once each feed was over.

I woke dd2 up every 2-3 hours but because she slept on me most of the time she fed much more than that. The benefit was I didn't even feel my milk come in unlike with dd1 when I didn't gave a clue what I was doing and probably not feeding enough & I woke up with boobs like footballs!

Oh tiktok I know that. I was a little concerned but the midwives insisted she was fine. Sometimes I would pick her up from sleep, then if she was still happy to sleep on me would just leave her.

Sounds really dim, but just had a lightbulb moment that if she'd been on me the whole time it would have been different in terms of how deeply she slept, interaction with me, feeding cues etc. I've had 2 CSs, so not much about it has been as nature intended, unfortunately.

Still, she was just a big, late baby so I think the midwives were right to a large extent.

Bumper my milk coming in second time was way easier too - not a sudden rush of mad weepy hormones and breasts like rocks

this time around my boobs seem to know what they're doing much more than last time - I don't wear breastpads anymore, but always had to last time right until I stopped (14 months)

I did. My DS was pretty jaundice though and would go 4 hour in the night if I let him. Plus I was really engorged so I set my alarm for every 2 hours and it worked for us.

Thank you all very much for your helpful replies - she is v grateful and would say so herself but is still in hospital. Thank you!

Can I just ask how jaundice works? My ds developed it after a few days. Would this be because I didn't feed enough? It cleared up easily once I let him snooze in daylight.

Neonatal jaundice is v. common and it is more common when babies are not bf well or often enough - the baby needs to have plenty of access to breastmilk and to feed efficiently and often from the very start, not just to get bf off to a good start but to deal with the jaundice. Once jaundice develops it can make babies sleepier, and feeding more difficult.

Answer is to ensure all babies bf well and often from the start and have the contact with mum that makes it easier :)