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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Help! Is anyone awake?

34 replies

cordiality · 12/02/2011 22:16

Should I wake a newborn up to feed? Dd was born at 3.30 yesterday morning, I didn't manage to breastfeed her as I have impossibly flat nipples and big unwieldy boobs, and ended up giving her formula . She drank about 40ml, which apparently is a lot? Then at about 10am she had a couple of ml of my colosseum from a syringe. Later, at around 3pm she had another 20ml of formula.

I'd love to try breast again now, and have all sorts of plans with nipple shields and/or niplette, but she simply won't wake up. I am starting to worry that she really needs to feed, it's been 7 hours. Does anyone have any advice? Am I worrying over nothing? Would you wake a brand newborn to feed her?

Thanks in advance, feeling a bit lost here...

OP posts:

Rosebud05 · 12/02/2011 22:19

Congratulations on your dd. My ds was sleepy for the first couple of weeks and I did wake him to feed every 3/4 hours to start with, I think. If she's been asleep for 7 hours, she's likely to wake up soon, so it would make sense to feed her before you try to go to sleep rather than being woken just as you're dosing off.

runnermum2 · 12/02/2011 22:19

I'm no expert - a first timer - but I do think that newborns should be woken if they don't feed after 4 hours. Hopefully someone more knowledgable is still up. Congrats on the baby by the way!

Rosebud05 · 12/02/2011 22:20

To wake a newborn, try removing some of her clothes, change nappy, tickle feet.

bouncingblueberries · 12/02/2011 22:20

I would, yes. ds1 was very sleepy when newborn and we were advised not to leave him more than 2 hours between feeds. Is this your first dc? Congratulations!

Olivetti · 12/02/2011 22:21

Hi - many congratulations on the birth of your daughter! As I understand it, you need to try and feed her to get your supply going - she'll probably be fine in herself, mine hardly ahd anything for about 48 hours, but you need to encourage the production of colostrum then milk. So I would try and wake her. Mine was the same, she would not wake for love nor money, so they told me to try and make her uncomfortable (obviously not in a painful way!) - take her clothes off, change her nappy, even a bit of cold water on her face, so she wakes and you can try feeding. If your midwife coming tomorrow? By the way, I too have one flat nipple, and I had to pull it out (sorry, tmi) so she could learn to latch on, now she feeds from the flat one no problem at all, and I don't need to do anything.

Rosebud05 · 12/02/2011 22:21

Also, if you want to bf, you need her to suck to get your supply going.

Sorry for multiple posts. just off to bed myself!

MamaChris · 12/02/2011 22:24

Congratulations :)

I've had one baby who fed constantly for the first 24 hours and one who slept that whole time. can you phone your midwife? I did and she was really helpful talking me through whether it was safe to let her sleep, how to wake her and offered to come out right away. None of us can see your baby to know if she needs waking.

DinosaurRumpus · 12/02/2011 22:24

I'd try to stir her now. 7 hours does seem a rather long time.

I had an overnight stay when dd was born. The midwives woke us if our babies went longer than 5 hours between feeds overnight.

If you lay her on a mat and start to remove some clothes and change her nappy she should stir enough to feed - then you can get some sleep yourself :)

Tryharder · 12/02/2011 22:26

Was she born at 3.30 this morning (i.e Saturday) or 3.30 on friday morning? I think it can be normal for babies to sleep a lot in the first 24 hours as they are knackered from being born.

But I would wake her up for a feed as 7 hours is quite a lot of time to go without something. Can you put her in bed with you with your top off and just keep her on or near the nipple. Have you been shown how to bf (I am assuming it's your first DC). The trick with big unweildly boobs is to support the breast with the other hand so the breast cannot move. But I think you need RL help. If you cannot get her to latch on or cannot rouse her, get the MW out. There will be a MW on call at this time.

thisisyesterday · 12/02/2011 22:27

yes, you should wake her.

ideally you want to be feeding her about every 2 hours

if you want to get off to a good start breastfeeding then you do need her to latch on and suckle frequently. If this is difficult then you need to express (every 2 hours) after first putting her to the breast.

i would strongly advise calling one of the breastfeeding helplines though and getting some advice frm a breastfeeding counsellor

flat nipples shouldn't be a problem, baby will pull them out as she sucks, but if you're finding it difficult then it will probably help to have someone watch you feed and give you some tips

whereabouts are you?

Olivetti · 12/02/2011 22:29

We actually ended up taking our little one to A and E on the 5th day because she just wouldn't wake up. Turned out she was totally fine, but the guidance the consultant gave us was that if they don't wake up for one feed, that's probably ok, but if they don't wake up for the next one, it's worth taking medical advice - remember you can always phone/go to A and E if you get really worried in the night, that's what they are there for. Don't panic - newborns are real sleepy heads, I'm only telling you this because I found it really reassuring toknow what I could do if I felt really worried at night. Sometimes you can feel quite cut off, especially at weekends.

RudeEnglishLady · 12/02/2011 22:29

I had to wake my son at this age because he was a bit jaundiced and tired. I would wake your baby - nicely! and try and feed again. FWIW, my milk didnt come in until DS was 4 days old so he was given glucose and water and a few mls of formula in hospital until then. It was 2 weeks before he would indicate that he wanted to drink so I just got in the habit of waking him every 2-3 hours. I think this frequency should ensure your baby gets a drink and your milk builds. I also used a pump to help build the milk/ feed the baby in the first few weeks but this could be bad advice. Only one baby so far!

TruthSweet · 12/02/2011 22:30

Congratulations on your new baby.

Please call the MW/maternity ward for advice about your baby - it may be absolutely fine that she is sleeping BUT we don't know you/your medical history/your baby's medical history so you need advice tailored to you/baby from someone who has access to your notes.

Some meds given in labour can make baby sleepy, some meds mum took in pg can make baby sleepy (by that I mean long term prescribed meds not a paracetamol at 3ms pg) and we don't know if these kinds of things apply so it would really be for the best to contact the maternity ward.

This is meant in the nicest possible way and so that you and baby get the best care.

Can you arrange for a MW to visit tomorrow morning or for you to go to see an Infant Feeding Co-ordinator at the hospital for extra help in latching baby on?

A bit of reassurance though - newborns need about 5mls of colostrum every hour (obviously if you can get more than that, then great). You can hand express and syringe this up to feed baby if baby won't latch as a stop gap until you can get baby to latch/baby seen by MW/IFC.

RudeEnglishLady · 12/02/2011 22:30

Oh - Congratulations, where are my manners?!

FreudianSlippery · 12/02/2011 22:34

Congratulations!

Definitely try to wake her.

Keep persevering, it's hard with big boobs and flat nipples but with my second baby I managed without any nipple shields and it was much more enjoyable.

Basically the key is making your boob into the correct shape with your hand, to make the nipple stick out more. I needed a lot of help with this at first as it is an acquired skill! Don't be afraid to ask the MW.

You need to make the correct shape with one hand and only then do you bring baby on, mouth wide open etc, with the other. Fiddly at first but you'll get there! When baby's a bit older she will be able to latch on without help.

That's great that you are topping up from a syringe (some MWs are funny about them but I'm sure it's better if you want to keep BFing!)- I did this with DS for the first 2 weeks. I made sure that he only had FF after a breastfeed, never before.

Good luck :)

Pilchardnpoppy · 12/02/2011 22:56

Hi, yes you should wake a sleepy baby to feed her if she is going and longer than 3 hours maximum between feeds. Hold her as much as you can, even when she is asleep, wearing an easy access top so when she stirs into a light sleep and showing those early hunger signs (rooting, sucking hands, chomping) you can latch her on quickly. The reason to hold her is that she may stir, and you might not notice, but then she drifts back to sleep when sleeping on her own

Where abouts are you? I am a peer supporter so if you're anywhere near me I'd be happy to get in touch.

crikeybadger · 12/02/2011 22:57

Agree with other posters who have said that you should speak to a mw for reassurance.

Tryharder suggested skin to skin which is a great idea. You could also try biological nurturing (see here to help her latch on.
Keep her close to you and try and feed whenever she stirs.

The more frequently you can feed in these early days- the better your supply will be.

Don't forget though that her stomach is the size of a marble at the moment, so the key is little and often.

Hope you get some help from your mw/bfc soon.

ascouser · 12/02/2011 23:07

Every hour Truthsweet ?? 8 to 12 feeds in a 24hr period is typical

FreudianSlippery · 12/02/2011 23:10

Did you have pethidine during labour? That can make baby sleepy.

TruthSweet · 12/02/2011 23:21

ascouser - I meant that if all they are having is 5mls of colostrum an hour then they are generally ok - it might be that they get the colostrum in larger amounts than that (i.e. feeding less frequently than hourly) but that 5mls contains what they need for approx an hour.

Anyway, I would expect a very newborn baby to feed far more frequently than only 8-12 times (some babies just don't feed as much as that though). It does depend on how you classify a 'feed' - do you count baby cueing for suckling 5 mins after finishing suckling last, the next feed or a continuation of the previous one, for example. Note suckling not feeding as newborns need to suckle a lot but may not take much in each time they do it.

WimpleOfTheBallet · 12/02/2011 23:23

I don't think pethadine matters at the mo...I wonder where the OP is? I hope she's ok. It's hard in the fist days.

FreudianSlippery · 12/02/2011 23:41

Probably having a snuggly feed with baby. :)

Keep trying Cordiality! I haven't figured out if you're at home or in hospital - But either way please get a MW or somebody to help with the latching. It is often portrayed/assumed that you just say Hey baby, here's boob! and they do it themselves, but that is often not the case! It's tricky to start with but before you know it you'll be latching her on without even opening your eyes :o

With DS it made all the difference that the MWs came for every feed on the ward and helped me latch him on. This never happened with DD (different hospital) and I really struggled.

Sorry I'll shut up now as I'll start ranting about lack of support in hospitals... Anyway hope you've managed to get some of the good stuff into your lovely new baby and are getting some rest.

ascouser · 12/02/2011 23:51

OP... I hope you have found a solution already. But to answer you question... Yes, try and wake baby (congrats btw) by the various means suggested here already.

Pain relief given during labour may have had an effect and that will take time to work its way through the system.
Has baby passed the (black poo) meconium (sp?) yet? Perhaps it's still coming through and that's fine too.

Typically 8/12 feeds (by a feed I mean and effective feed with a good latch and baby prompting a supply feeding for a long as they want and offering the other side if necessary) per 24hr period is good and that averages about 2 or 3 hrs. If its more often than that thats fine to.
However, when your getting to four hrs begin to do some waking techniques. Don't go beyond 6hrs.
Saying all of that, what is most important is watching the baby not the clock. Look for those feeding cues and respond.
Loads of skin to skin btw can help them out of a sleeping patten and it's easier to feed when they are coming to. Someone has already mentions biological nursing...that's worth a go.
If you are giving formula don't forget on those occasions to do some hand expressing. It's important for you to keep the demand up in these early days. Keep telling the body you need a supply.
HTH

Original poster

cordiality · 13/02/2011 00:07

Hi all, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. We managed at last to wake the baby, she really took some persuading! We then tried feeding her through nipple shields and from a bottle but she had no interest. However - breakthrough! - I have just managed to get her to latch on a little bit lying ony back and letting her root! She's definitely had a few drops at least of colostrum and it's given me the impetus to carry on.

I'm in north London, she was born only 21 hours ago and we've had no sleep at all yet, so hopefully things will start getting easier. One of the probs I guess with an easy labour is that you get to go straight home and you don't really know anything! Also, I really don't know who I would call as 'my midwife'! Apparently someone will come see us tomorrow or Monday so we can ask her lots of questions then.

Once again, thank you so much for your help, I never expected to get so many replies, my DH now thinks mumsnet is amazing! (I won't tell him about AIBU...)

OP posts:

MamaChris · 13/02/2011 00:16

well done both of you getting that first feed :)

if you don't have a number for a midwife, you can always call the postnatal ward, or labour ward will be able to put you through if you don't have that number.

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