New, confused and slightly worried Mum

[kiwicath]

Hi all. Had my wee man Jake on the 23rd. Wonderful birth and he's a little gem but he is sleeping constantly and has never woken up on his own and asked for a feed. He would sleep all day if I let him. Tried waking him every 3-4 hours but when I do he doesn't seem to be hungry, just snacks on breast then falls asleep again. On the occassions he does "go for it" he can go 20-30 minutes before falling back to sleep but still loads left in breast. Got Gina Ford sitting on one shoulder and demand feeding gurus on the other. Anyone else with incredibly sleepy baby, is he going to starve and should I wake him regularly or let him sleep and if so how much is too much. Delivered in Cairo and living in the Sinai so no midwives to check up on me. Any tips or advice would be much appreciated.

Dear Kiwicath

Yes, don't worry - both of my dd's lost a little bit of weight between birth and week one. I'm glad to hear he's perked up a bit.

I'd probably say there's no such thing as a typical baby (or a typical mum). Mercifully I was before the GF revolution, so I went along quite happily demand feeding with no thought as to routine's, and found they settled into one anyway. Its all very new for them as well as for you in the first few weeks.

I took mine out at a couple of days old each - but more through ignorance than anything else. The only thing I thought of was that although (even in darkest Yorkshire)I could whip my thruppennies out to feed anytime, any place, I don't know what the social conventions are in Sinai?

Oldest DD was very colicky, and I found a sling invaluable. She seemed to like the curled position it held her in, and I found it a damn sight easier to use than the "back / front pack" type even when she was much bigger.

Very best to you all.

Aargh - sorry for random apostrophe!

Take him out! There is no such thing as 'too early'. Show that baby off before he gets cradle cap and baby acne - which happened the minute I got round to arranging social events with ds!

So glad you weren't worried about Jaundice,
Get that bonny baby out and show him off, and if no one notices him straight away take him right up to people and display him, that's what I used to do.

Enjoy your precious gift.

Yes take him out, and as a bonus the best thing if he is a bit jaundiced is the sunshine, it breaks down the bilirubin.

Glad to hear that he is feeding more today

Sounds like things are going really well kiwicath!

Hope you got out today! I like the sound of winters in Sinai, it's freezing here!

DD became slightly jaundiced becuse she was too sleepy in the day and would go up to 5 hours between a feed. Luckily the midwife picked it up very quickly and it needed no treatment except more regular feeds.

GF advocates waking a baby for a feed every 3-4 hours in the first week or two both to ensure a good milk supply for breastfeeding and to ensure enough milk intake. Babies tummies are tiny and they need to feed little and often.