10 day old sleeping through the night and wont allow herself to be woken to feed - help!

[NewlyDumpling]

Hi

I have a 10 day old baby girl with very light jaundice that is clearing up. Her weight loss at 5 days old was 9% (on track) and subsequently she has gained 80gms and the midwife is happy.

However, she continues to show urates in her nappy every few days (red wee) and i'm sure this is unusual and that she might be dehydrated.

During the day she feeds ok, especially from 11am onwards when she is reguarly 2-3hours apart. In the evening this ramps up and she wants the breast every hour. Then suddenly at 1.00am she sleeps and doesn't wake for 6-7 hours!!!!

If I try to wake her she screams but wont feed on the breast and eventually nods off again.

Should I worry or just enjoy the sleep?

I don't have a baby- yet- but I do know that sleeping through is not normal and it will be down to the jaundice. She may need some light treatment to sort it out. Make a medical appointment today. Good luck x x

Jaundice can make babies a little sleepier, and 6+ hours is a long time for such a wee one to go without a feed, and especially given the urates in her diaper she should be seen by the Dr or HV today.

My little one had jaundice and I was advised to keep him under as much light during the day as possible so he napped by the window and I took him out for hours in the park during the day.I was a bit excessive on this point!{grin] It is very worrying but I think sleeping from 1am until 7 -8am and you say she is feeding well before that should be okay. I won't wake her during the night her body is resting and repairing. But speak to a HV. he is 5 years old now and fit as a butchers dog.

DS2 was jaundice and I was advised to wake him every 2 hours to feed him which i did for a few days BUT he was not feeding he wanted to sleep. Then one night I slept through the alarms which i had set for every 2 hours,and so did he, he was 2 weeks old and woke at 7am wanting a feed. and boy did he feed!!

From that day on I let him lead the way, if he woke i woke, if he slept i slept. I think babies know what they want/need better than we give them credit for.

Again i took him out lots,left him by a window where the natural light could get him etc.

He is now a healthy 2yr old

Newly, you need to check this with the midwife. The midwife may want to weigh her again. 6-7 hours sleep at 10 days old is a long time. How do you feel about co-sleeping so you can respond whenever she stirs a little bit? You can co-sleep safely - check with the midwife.

I'd get that red wee sorted, sounds odd.

How much does baby weigh?? If huge baby of 10 lb's don't worry so much but still seems odd for 10 days old. The problem is if blood sugars drop low it will make baby sleepy and grumpy. I would give the midwife/doctor a call. In the mean time try to give baby regular feeds, even if just a tiny amount, until red wee is sorted etc.

Good luck. As long a nappies are wet baby should be fine.

My DS was jaundice too and had red wee until he was about 2 weeks. I was told red wee was good as he was flushing out the jaundice.

I guess prob best to get checked(do you think her jaundice is improving?if not definately get on the phone to MW/HV), and I agree is unusally long sleep, but if shes tanking up beforehand then maybe thats why?

Have you tried waking her abit more before trying to feed in the night(eg change nappy), she mite then take a feed to drift back off.

The 1st few weeks are really hard, but shes already starting regain some weight, a good sign and shows your doing a great job!