falling asleep at breast

[BoobyRuby]

Apologies if this is something that has been covered - I had a look but couldn't find anything!

Anyone got any tips on how to keep my 8 week old awake while feeding? At the mo he seems to be falling asleep after about 15 mins - I have tried keeping him on as I know once he gets to hind milk he slows down a bit but sometimes I don't think we even get to that stage which worries me. He seems to feed every 2.5/3 hours during the day.

He's a pretty efficient feeder when he gets going, and I am producing tons of milk, so I don't know if I am worrying over nothing.

Finding it frustrating especially at night, as I know if he kept going for longer he'd sleep longer! At the mo he's usually doing 8/9pm - 11ish, then waking up 1/2am and 4/5ish (pretty normal I think?) and also he seems to be putting weight on normally.

I have tried tickling his feet/palms, stroking his cheek to get him rooting, and opening a couple of poppers on his babygrow to see if that makes him more alert but no luck. At the mo I can't even imagine how I'll do this magical dream feed everyone talks about!

Any help greatly appreciated - sorry for the long post x

It's possible that 15 minutes is all he needs now. If you've tried waking him and he won't then maybe he really has had enough, is he drunk when he's falling asleep?

The distance isn't that bad really, are you co-sleeping? That will help with the night waking. If he's going in the right direction wrt weight then he is getting what he needs.

Just wait till he decides to go through a nurse-in and you have him on for most of the day! lol it seems like it's one extreme to the other at times, but it does settle down.

Ruby - this is perfectly normal, and would only be an issue in a baby who was failing to thrive and who did not have the energy to stay awake to feed.

There is no such thing as 'getting to the hindmilk'...people misunderstand this, as something the baby has to 'drill down' for, and stay on for a long enough time.

15 mins feeds are on the normal spectrum, and you can tell by your baby's growth and behaviour all is well

As the others have said it may be that 15 mins is all he needs. Both my DDs were very efficient feeders and usually finished feeds within 15 - 20 mins. If you are worried then maybe change his nappy when he falls asleep to wake him, then put on the other side. My other trick (a little mean though......!!) I always had a glass of water near me when feeding as I'd get really thirsty, if Dd fell asleep before I thought she'd had enough I would dip my finger in the water and let a few drops fall on her forehead - that usually did the trick!!

It is really normal for them to fall asleep at this age whether breast or bottle feeding. He is doing well. Like someone else suggested, you can try swapping sides and making the room light with the main light on if you don't already. Luke warm wipe over the face might wake him more. I know what you mean about wishing he would take more in a feed to sleep longer, but he will still have quite a small stomach at 8wks.

The only other thing is if he feeds less often in the day you can try feeding more during the day, so his night feeds might become further apart iyswim.

Thanks guys - I haven't tried switching sides, will def give that a go but you're all right - if he is putting on weight normally then I shouldn't worry! I know what I should do though - stop reading those bloody books that tell me what he and I should be doing

I didn't know that about hind milk tik tok, that is very reassuring as I was stressing myself out about that one.

Please don't worry. Sounds like everything is just fine. Like others, ds was very efficient. 20 minutes, would kind of fall of breast with obvious satisfaction. Was sleeping well, feeding regularly and putting on weight.
Sounds like your ds is exactly the same.