Worried sick - 14day old slept for 8 hrs without feed

[Trillian42]

Last night my baby girl slept for 8 hrs without waking for a feed, and at that, I had to wake her when I realised how long it had been. I feel horribly guilty as well because my husband and I slept through the night and didn't notice the time passing.

She seems ok this morning, and has fed twice but not for very long - 20 mins & 9 mins. She's breast fed only - no formula top ups for the last week. She was crying a lot yesterday though (those inconsolable, heartbreaking shrieking cries where you want to cry yourself because you can't help her), which was unusual for her. Normally she only cries a little when hungry/windy and stops when you feed her or burp her. She doesn't have a temperature or anything.

Her weight gain has been fine - she was weighed yesterday by MW.

Should I be this worried? Should I take her to GP in case?

I wonder if she just tired herself out yesterday?

My LO slept through a grand total of twice when she was really little, and I only realised when I'd woken up with BLOODY GREAT MELONS on my front (caps for emphasis ). It did no harm

try not to worry. Sometimes you can think you've got it all worked out and then they do something like this to throw you and keep you on your toes.

If she was crying a lot yesterday then she just maybe tired herself out and needed the sleep.

And some babies do sleep longer than others - I never woke up for a night feed, ever, for instance.

My DS slept for 7 hours the evening after he was circumcised (no flames please) so it's not the end of the world. BUT i'd want to make sure that I offered milk regularly for the next few days/nights. Maybe worth setting an alarm clock at night?

FWIW the duration of your feeds isn't relevant... she might have just worked out a super-efficient way of getting your milk out. DS used to be a 5 minutes feeder boy when he was little - I had fast milk!!

Only other thought is have you REALLY winded her? Like spending half an hour with her over your shoulder and patting her back, lower back and bottom? She might have a difficult burp stuck there which is decreasing the size of her tummy - would also explain the crying....

I had an acquaintance from the antenatal/postenatal group when DS1 was born who had a teeny little baby girl. Exclusively breastfed, she started sleeping through like that very very early as well - and stayed like that.

She had mixed comments as to whether to wake and feed/dream feed or not. In the end she decided not to and her DD was absolutely fine.

At only 14 days old you could call your community midwife office and discuss it. Is she still very sleepy now? Is she responsive, can she be woken up? If she's content and awake and feeding now and without symptoms I imagine your GP won't be particularly helpful.
My baby is only 11 weeks so I am not the most experienced Mum, but for the first 3 weeks following some breast feeding issues I was told to wake him every 4 hours for feeding, he usually woke himself for this but I did set my mobile phone alarm just in case. I don't know though, maybe some babies start sleeping through the night at such a young age. I'm sure some more experienced Mums will reply soon.
Pebble

If she is awake and feeding through the day then I wouldn't worry. I never woke them at night/early mornings for feeds. Sometimes they are tired.

Thanks for reassurance all. She's since fed for 30 mins, and is sleeping again. I spoke to MW too, and she said not to worry, that if they've fed well during the day they will sometimes sleep for a long stretch, and she probably won't do it again even when I'm so sleep deprived I'd welcome it!

The odd thing is that I had set an alarm - I set it for 5 hours after she fed (I do this every night, in case), but I had a dream that I had fed her and turned it off in my semi-sleep. I do get weird dreams sometimes and when I wake up, my husband has to reassure me that it was a dream and all is ok. Now my dreams are centred on the baby - sometimes I dream that she is asleep in the bed under the duvet and I'll literally be frantic when I wake trying to find her, before my husband points out that she's asleep in the crib. But I didn't feed her during the time last night - it was a dream - obvious because of the other stuff that was in the dream as well.

jemjabella - that's what woke me too! It was so uncomfortable.

I still feel a little uneasy but better than this morning.

My DD did this from a very early age. The minute we bought her home from hospital. 7 hrs straight every night. Some people told me to wake her, some not. She was bf and ended up feeding A LOT during the day to make up for it though. I paid for all this amazing sleep with the arrival of DS who woke 2 hourly a night until he was 11 months. Perhaps talk to your mw if you're worried and if she's not, ENJOY IT!