Should I wake him to feed?

[rb3]

My ds is now a whole 10 days old, and is sleeping for very long periods. We are feeding him expressed breast milk whenever he wants it, but he will sleep between feeds for anything between 3 and 6 hours. I'm starting to get worried that he is not getting enough food and that we should be waking him after 4 hours.

If he sleeps for longer he then does tend to take more at the next feed, he is 9 lb and taking in between 500 and 600ml in total a day. Do you think this sounds ok or am I starving my lo?

First time mum, can you tell????

3-6 hours is fine. I would wake him after 6 if he hasn't stirred. How often are you expressing?

I'm expressing 4-5 times a day and getting loads. Just now got 120ml from each side before they ran dry (sorry if that's tmi!)

I agree with mears I'd wake after 6 hours if he hasn't woken himself.

You might find that you will need to increase expressing to at least 8 times a day to make sure that your supply does not reduce as his needs increase. It is also good to express at least once during the night. Even though you can get a l;ot of milk expressing initially, your production will dwindle unless expressings are increased.
Sounds as though you are doing well though. Will you be able to introduce direct breastfeeding?

I tend to do one of those expresses (?) during the night, depending who is on duty at what time.

We may try direct feeding again but because of my size and shape the only way the midwives could get him to feed from me in hospital was to grab a handful of me, grab him by his neck and force the 2 together. The look of sheer terror on his face after 2 days whenever he was put in a breastfeeding position was horrible. Even the breastfeeding counsellors at the hospital noted how distressing it was for him. We have a good breastfeeding counsellor locally and when I feel more confident in how much he is getting we may try again.

What a shame rb that he became so distressed. That's good that you have good support locally. Are you still in hospital?In the meantime do you ever have him just skin to skin for a cuddle only? That will take the fear of the breast away if he is there without being forced to do anything.

I don't think you need to worry about what he is getting - the amount you are expressing is good at 10 days. I would increase expressing though to keep it that way. Any extra you get, pop it in the freezer for later.

When you have time too look this website may be really helpful for you, especially since your baby has shown signs of breast rejection.

biological nurturing

rb....i really struggled with positioning and i feel for you.....my ds was 10lb 11 an i am 14 stone and have enormous boobs.....i couldnt feed him in cradle at all and had to do the football hold as my nipples hang low...it was a nightmare feeding when out. I did manage somehow but expressing at least once a day so i could go out and not face the huge ordeal of getting him positioned and keeping him there kept me going with bf when i thought about stopping.

WELL DONE YOU FOR EXPRESSING AND KEEPING GOING....HUGE PAT ON THE BACK FOR YOU!!!!!!!!

I do think wake after 6 hours unless the 6 hours is at night then i would probably express and leave him sleeping.....?????

Thank you for your feedback. Looks like I was panicking about volume unnecessarily, none of you seem concerned! I was getting quite worried and standing over him after 4 hours dithering.

We came home from the hospital at the end of the second day. They wanted to keep me in because they hadn't seen me feed him successfully, but I managed to persuade them I wasn't going to starve him and they let me go. After that I hand expressed and we gave him about 3 top up feeds with formula while I got the breast pump going.

Thanks for the support and the link mears. I will have a root around that website, I certainly don't want to raise a man afraid of breasts! I'm trying to make time for skin to skin, hopefully when we start to get more of a routine I can build it in more

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who struggled because of size as well. Some of us just don't have Baywatch boobs do we!

I dont often disagree with mears but I am going to sound a note of caution here....a 10 day old baby regularly sleeping this long is unusual and his weight and his poos and wees need checking out. His intake of between 500-600 mls a day is below the usual mathematical rule of thumb, and I would worry that the low intake coupled with the long sleeps means he's conserving energy rather than feeding

I do agree that expressing 4-5 times a day is not enough to build up and maintain a good milk supply, too.

Is it possible to get your baby fully checked out, rb? I mean by this an accurate weight, and a discussion about his poos, especially. He should be producing several fist-sized soft yellow poos a day.

Lots of good info already on helping him feed normally and directly from the breast...hope things work out

Hiya Tiktok. I did swither a bit over this one however rb did say he wakes 3 hourly sometimes so I felt it was better to be led by the baby rather than wake him and find that he is then being 'forced' to feed by bottle too. Nothing worse than being in the frsustrating position of trying to get a disinterested baby to feed. He does take more when he goes a longer period between feeds.
I certainly agree with you about poos and pees needing checked out to ensure all is well.
rb - the main important thing is being in touch with your local breastfeeding counsellor as they can support you and assess your baby too.
I am sure we agree on that one Tiktok

Hi, mears....3 hrly is not very often for a 10 day old, though, and this baby is not even doing this any more than 'sometimes'.

I agree with not forcing the baby to feed - skin to skin cuddles and quick responses to early feeding cues will help make sure the right moments are chosen. Deliberately waking a baby from a deep sleep (with all the awful things people are told to do - splashing cold water on the baby, for instance, WTF???) is rarely helpful to happy bf

He's definitely doing ok on the poo and wee front. We're seeing 4/5 big yellow mustardy poos a day and plenty of heftily wet nappies too. He wee'd during the last change and it's completely clear. We have the midwife discharge visit tomorrow so will check out weight with her then too.

I think I'll wake him from the extra long sleeps and try and sneak some more milk in that way. What is the mathematical rule of thumb? Thanks foe the advice Tiktok

rb - the very rough guide is that babies need 2.5 ounces per lb of body weight in a day, or between 130-160 mls per kg of body weight in a day. This is for formula but the same calculations are used for breastmilk.

I think at that age 10 days, you need 7/8 feeds/pumps in a 24 hour period to build up a good milk supply. He needs a similar number of feeds, I did roughly 2.5 hours in the day and 4 hours at night at that stage.

And yes I never let him go more 3 hours in the day even if I had to wake him - although agree with the others if he was in a deep sleep I'd leave him and try again 20-30 mins later. He is 8 weeks and we are down to 6/7 feeds, although I don't know how much he is getting.

re: feeding, well done for doing well with the pumping but you need to see a breastfeeding counsellor ASAP, I think there is already a risk that it will be too late he'll never accept the breast, and also that your milk supply will diminish unless you express more often.

Also agree re: skin to skin, as much as possible, recommend having baths together although this works best with another adult around to help the baby in and out. I even sometimes feed in the bath!

Perhaps offering more frequent feeds would be the way to go, but don't persist if baby is not receptive. I appreciate what you are saying about 3 hourly not being that often for a 10 day old baby but I have to say from my own experince, I had babies who didn't feed that frequently as newborns. Made up for it at other timea later. My last 2 babies were NNU inhabitants and fed 3-4 hourly once they were allowed feeds. My first baby slept all night at 9 weeks exclusively breastfed so all babies are not the same.

sounds as though wees and poos are looking good rb. Good plan.

Well he's conked out on his dad now after a good feed. He seems to be feeding every 4 hours today which is a bit better, and he's taking in a decent amount. Thanks for all the advice.