Too long between feeds?!

[GanglyGiraffe]

DD is 2 days old. Trying to feed on demand, but the problem is the lack of demand!! Last feed was at 14.15 and she hasn't feed since, she just won't wake up for long enough.

Yesterday she went about 8hrs between feeds. Midwife came thismorning and told me to give her a bottle if still not feeding regularly.

Shall I? Will it stop me from being able to breast feed if I give her a bottle?

Her latch is good when she does feed, she just isn't interested.

Please help

[Meglet]

With DC2 I was a mean mummy and always woke her for feeds. Probably every 90 mins to 3hrs, depending on what I was doing (showers / eating / dozing). It seemed to work well as she shot up the weight charts.

[Pourquoimoi]

Oh brilliant, glad it's going we'll now .

Take care.

[timewastingonhere]

Glad to hear things are better for you both

[crikeybadger]

Glad to hear things are getting better Gangly- she'll probably not stop feeding now.

[Olympicrock]

Hope she fed well overnight

[GanglyGiraffe]

Yes threeWheels it's really difficult, glad it's got better for you now.

Thank you all so much for your help. DD is feeding again now so had a really good night. I think it was a mixture of her being too sleepy and me not being thorough and 'mean' enough when waking her up. (I also found a really good app for monitoring her feeds!)

Thanks again

[ThreeWheelsGood]

The support you're (not) getting sounds terrible, OP. We had this same problem a few days ago - my first dc was born on Tuesday. On Friday she wouldn't feed at all - community midwife visited (helped me with latch on) so had afternoon feed, but then ended up at midnight without feeding.despite trying solidly since 5pm! Baby was either asleep or crying, no inbetween, so wouldn't keep breast in her mouth - me and DH were besides ourselves with lack of sleep and frustration.

The midwife led unit where she was born said to call anytime when is been discharged so we did, early on in the evening they advised more skin to skin, but when she still didn't feed they said to come in and a midwife helped me get get to latch on and stay on, had hour long feed! Such a relief. The midwife got her to latch on and kept her awake by rubbing her feet and hands, great idea.

she has been feeding on demand happily ever since. The problem was my breasts were engorged and rock hard, they'd changed shape and needed massage beforehand to make it easier for her to latch on.

all the best OP, this is tough isn't it? glad it's not just us!

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Good job! Another Mumsnet success story!

And you don't have to keep up the waking to feed for long, BTW. She'll start waking of her own accord for a feed. Like mine. Three times so far tonight...

[mathanxiety]

So three feeds in about 8 hours -- that is fab!

[mathanxiety]

Do whatever it takes to wake her every 2 hours to feed her -- cold water, cold breeze at an open window, whatever. You will feel exhausted. Well done for the progress though . Keep at it.

The alternative is dehydration, weight loss and jaundice -- and hospitalisation.

[GanglyGiraffe]

Currently on our third feed since my OP; well done DD!

[ElphabaTheGreen]

Exemplary post-natal support where you are

You're doing the right thing. Let us know how you get on.

[GanglyGiraffe]

I rang the ward and they just said to ring the community midwife...and her phone was switched off.

But as I say she's fed now and I will be waking her every 2-3 hours through the night. Plan to call my midwife in the morning and get her to come and give me some support.

[crackcrackcrak]

Needing to wake nb to feed in the first few days is quite common I think. Your instincts were right though that 8 hours is too long. Some babies need a bit of encouragement but thru get there. Utterly agree with others that mw advice re bottle is frankly bizarre!

When I had a bf hiccup with dd1 I rang NHS direct and a fabulous nurse rang me back with v good advice. She was entirely right too and probably saved our bf relationship give them a go if you need to

[BertieBotts]

Try not to panic, but do try and get some support. Bottles are not the only solution in this situation (and certainly shouldn't have been the only advice the MW offered!) but if your baby's blood sugar levels are very low they may need to be given formula just as an immediate boost - think of it as medicine, as it is in an emergency situation. It might also be possible to express colostrum, hoover it up with a syringe and feed her directly via the syringe, if you have an oral one like the type you get with children's antibiotics (supermarket or other pharmacies often have them) - you'll need to sterilise it but if you don't have a steriliser you can place it in boiling water in a saucepan for five minutes.

Have you tried feeding her lying down, I found that DS used to feed in his sleep then, because there was no gravity making it harder to keep the boob in his mouth.

Please do not be afraid to call labour ward at any time of the night - there will be midwives on shift at all hours, and also, small babies can go downhill fast and you don't want to wait around for morning if you're worried. Also remember they're used to people phoning in with totally PFB questions and they would much rather spend time talking to you on the phone and reassuring you than you sat at home not wanting to be a burden.

Even call just to ask how often you should be waking her if she's not waking for food, I was told not to let DS go more than 3 hours in the day and no more than 4 hours at night in the early days, but it might be that you need to try more frequently if she's not fed well so far. A midwife will be able to advise, and it will likely be a totally different one to the one who visited this morning.

Good luck :) Glad to hear she's just had a big feed. Hope she keeps it up!

[GanglyGiraffe]

Thank you all very much. I've just finished feeding DD, she had a good feed so feeling a lot better now. (Dancing with Daddy seemed to do the trick in the end )

I'm going to have another good read through your responses and few DD again in a few hours.

Thank you again.

[crikeybadger]

Gangly- hope you've managed to get some help- that really is shocking advice from a midwife.

I would really suggest that you call the maternity ward, explain the situation and ask for someone to come and see you. They should be able to show you how to hand express and bring some syringes so you can get some colostrum in to your baby (if not waking up enough by then).

Let us know how you get on, if you get the chance.

[Bedat10]

Another one who is usually a lurker, but also been in similar situation with both my babies. Both were jaundiced, which can make babies sleepier than normal and therefore harder to feed. And cos they not feeding, have no energy, so dont wake to feed, its a negative cycle. First baby I left it too long (MW forgot to visit us and we has no idea what we were doing). Ended up in neonatal unit severely dehydrated. I felt terrible. Not saying this to panic you, just to say better to get baby seen earlier, so pop back to the hospital thus evening if you haven't already. With a 2 day old you'll be seen v quickly and they'll help you get sorted.
Second baby I recognised the signs earlier, syringe fed a couple of ml every hour which gave her more energy and then she was able to feed properly, and got better much quicker.
Good luck, am sure all will be fine (both mine are super healthy now, and bf both for ages!) and congrats on your newborn!

[timewastingonhere]

Sleepy well written and glad your baby was ok but your right non feeding can be a sign of many things -

OP - what type of birth did you have? As medicine used in labour can all have an affect on your baby; but the main thing is to get some advice and be offering lots I opportunities to feed, many babies are sleepy for the first 12/24 hrs post birth but as you are on day 2 baby may need a little more checking or help to get successful breast feeding established.
After 4 days in with my number 1 son with food refusal/sugar level problems etc expressing etc breast feeding worked out but at the stage you are at I was still in so try where monitoring the fact he hadn't fed...

Keep us posted and congrats on your new arrival it's a wonderful time -

[sleepysnorlax]

Please, please get your baby checked out. This is my first mumsnet post, I usually lurk but felt I had to respond as I had a similar experience with a non-feeding baby.

I had trouble getting my sleepy baby to feed on day 2 and was initially told by everyone (midwives, breast feeding counseller, paediatrician...) I asked that this was normal, not to worry and to tickle him awake etc. Luckily, because I'd had a c-section, I was still in the hospital and they picked up that he had a heart problem - his heart rate kept dropping and basically whenever I tried to feed him he passed out. The worst thing I could have done was force him to wake up as the shock could have made him have a heart attack.

They particularly noticed that he startled an excessive amount, if that helps.
Also, were you induced? We haven't had a proper answer from the hospital as to what could have caused the heart problem (it didn't last and was gone within a week), but Dr Google has suggested it could have come from a syntocin overdose. It must be quite common - the Dr who discharged my ds said that they see at least 2 cases of this a week but (for some reason) don't always keep the baby in for monitoring.

[Olympicrock]

Hows it going Gangley?

[timewastingonhere]

Ridiculous from the MW I mean not on here - just read my badly written first sentence sorry

[timewastingonhere]

Ridiculous advice given - you should ring your delivery ward as they can/should give advice for up to 28days after birth - not feeding can be very simple things but it can be a sign of more complex things such as low sugar levels etc -

Firstly I would make the call and tell them exactly the feeding pattern and they may ask you to pop in and check baby's sugar levels, secondly I would strip you and baby off except for a big cosy dressing gown and get baby skin to skin and close to your nipple. thirdly your milk probably has nt come in yet which is fine, but try to hand express into a small syringe, spoon or small container (I say small cause colostrum comes out in small amounts but is super powerful) anyway express a bit and put it on your finger and encourage baby to suck;

A website called kellymom is really good for breast feeding advice if I'm allowed to post that ??!?

Anyway a mothers instinct is best and I'm sorry the MW was so crappy for you

[KnittingZombie]

I would wake baby every 4 hours if they weren't showing interest more often. For the first week or two at least. I didn't realise until DS2 that this isn't just for baby, but also to get your supply going. Congrats on the new baby!!

[Pourquoimoi]

I'd agree, pretty crap advice from the midwife unless she is refusing to feed from you.
I also agree re waking her up, blowing on her, tickling feet etc, taking a layer of clothing off to encourage her to be awake and feed. You should try to feed her every couple of hours.

Only if she refuses to feed from you, and you really can't wake her up enough to do it then consider a bit of formula. After all, it is a lot easier for her to drink BUT do NOT use a bottle, use a milk feeding cup or a spoon.

Good luck, call out for help if you think you need it