Falling asleep on breast.

[chezziejo]

Hi

Dd is now 11 days old and breast fed. She was 9lb 3.5 oz when born and is now 8lb 10oz. I know weight loss is expected at first but in getting worried as she dosnt seem to feed much at all. A good fees would be ten mins on each breast after a lot of persuasion and changing nappy to wake her etc. ahe has a sniffle and has saline drops which I got yesterday night from gp. Any suggestions on how to her awake? Midwife said not to bother with formula and keep going. Nappies are a bit greeny looking but bad too ba and she's weeing a fair bit. Any suggestions? Feeling quite down and worried about it now.

Thanks

Are you feeding her as soon as she wakes up every time? Don't wait - pop a boob in as soon as she stirs and hopefully she won't go to sleep quite so quickly. How many feeds is she having in 24 hours?

I have been trying to. Even changing her nappy to get her awake in-between boobs. She's having about 6 feeds bit only for ten mins or so. Nobody seems concerned at the moment. She's not dehydrated just very laid back I think. Saying that she really gobbles it down in those ten mins. Perhaps I should just stop whittling and go with her it but I'm such a worry pot. Midwife and health visitor involved and being quite supportive too.
Thanks for replying.

When my milk took a week to come in, we (DP's idea) instigated a policy that if DS opened his eyes, I would offer him the boob - a week later he'd put on the 10% of weight he'd lost, plus a bit more.

Sometimes he'd feed for a couple of minutes, sometimes he'd footle about for half an hour, and it could be 10 minutes or 2 hours between feeds. I had them all written down (along with nappies... I think just to prove to myself that he was eating enough!), and it was demanding, but it really worked.

6 feeds just doesn't seem very many - we were 15-20 at 11 days - he only went down to 6 feeds when he was over a year!

chezzie, it's good your baby looks healthy and it's good the midwife and HV are in the picture.

You are right to be keeping an eye on things, though.

6 feeds in 24 hours, and those with a bit of a struggle, is unusually low for a baby of this age - not a problem if the weight is going up but you don't say whether it is or not. It is less concerning if the weight is rising; more concerning if she has plateaued or is still losing.

Babies of this age should not need to be woken up to feed - they should be showing they need to feed with feeding cues....so you can encourage these by having her skin to skin with you for as much of the day and night you can, responding to every twitch and stirring with an offer of a feed.

Read about breast compression and try this every time she slows down and seems to be nodding off; switch breasts during every feed so she has at least both sides every session.

Does this help? Could you do this?

Aww, what a horrid time to get the sniffles, DS has them too but luckily at 17 weeks he knows what he's doing feeding wise even if he's uncomfortable.

Is she jaundiced? You might need to rouse her to feed if she's awful sleepy, try removing a layer of clothes.

That said even if she's healthy, according to my LLL book, falling asleep after approx. 20 mins sucking is normal because sucking babies have a system to stop them from exhausting themselves trying to feed, she should wake again approximately 20 mins later, feed her again. Its the effect of a hormone CCK.

But if you have other concerns about feeding or her health, don't be afraid to ask for more help and advice from your midwives or a bf support worker, or call one of the national breastfeeding helplines. That's what they are for.

Congratulations on the arrival of your daughter xx

What I meant about the 20 min thing is that sometimes if she falls asleep, its not always because she's finished feeding, she might just be resting and need another side shortly. So offer again when she wakes.

I also posted before I saw you say six feeds, which is a little on the low side. Tiktok is right. Also, make sure you keep telling your midwifes/hvs about the feeding frequency and sleepiness, especially if you have more than one as they don't always remember where you are at with so many babies to look after.

The sleepiness, infreq feeding and green poo could be related to the cold, but obviously in a baby this young its more concerning than in a older baby as they don't have the same reserves to manage with.

Hope she's eating better soon x

I agree that six feeds is low in 24 hours - I'd try to get in at least a couple more.

More than a couple, Zuleika - at least twice as many, as this baby may have some catching up to do.

Cheers everybody. I keep trying, she has been more alert strangely. Been at her for two n half hours and she's almost emptied one side and a bit of the other. Dp managed to get an oz of formula down as well. She's sleeping now after much prodding and poking poor thing.

She is losing weight was 9lb 3.5 at birth and now 8lb 10oz and still on the 10%. She is being monitored closely, hence still under midwife and health visitor as well.
They mentioned giving me Domperidone to keep milk up. Managed to express some off too so dp can top her up as well. I'm absolute shattered to be honest and have a 2.5 year old as well who is not at all keen on having a sister at least mil has landed and is helping out for as long as we need bless her.

Glad you're getting good help with this, OP.

It's good you are being supported by m/w and HV - still losing weight at this age merits it.

When you say you have emptied one side, you may have understood this is important, and you may have been keeping your baby on one side only for long periods, returning her to the same side repeatedly. This is the opposite of what you need to be doing to a) maintain milk supply and b) increase your baby's intake and therefore weight.

If you need to know more, just say :)

Thank you. Have trying to swap between the two, she just had more from
That side then the other but will try to do it more regularly .

Really appreciate all the advice thank you

Thanks for all the advice given and a quick update.

She continued to Lose weight and hospital checked her over. She's got probable bronchiolitis and is on oxygen and fed by ng tube as she stopped feeding altogether by breast or bottle.

Glad you are getting medical help, OP - it shows that babies who are not feeding as expected do need keeping an eye on, and you stayed alert to her possibly not being well.

Hope the hospital are making it easy for you to express to maintain your milk supply, and hope she gets better soon.