Low temp/sleepiness in newborn

[flyingcloud]

Hi there,
Firstly I am abroad so slightly different circumstances.
DD2 born last Wednesday, long labour, heavy total block epidural, ventouse delivery. She was very alert for the first couple of hours and then became very sleepy. We spent until yesterday in hospital (only one extra day than normal here in France). She was very sleepy in hospital and I had to wake her a lot to feed, although she does have one large cluster feed a day.

She lost 8% of her body weight up to Saturday which is why they kept us in an extra day, I repeatedly pointed out her sleepiness (very short wakeful periods) but she fed well overnight on Saturday night and started regaining weight, no-one was bothered by her sleepiness.

We came home yesterday - our house is warm but still not quite as tropical as the hospital, where they also insisted that she stay well-dressed - at least 3 layers including a wool cardigan and a hat at all times. Since coming home her temperature has dropped - last night it went to 38.5 and I panicked and rang the hospital who said not to worry, just to do lots of skin to skin and warm her up gently.

She warmed up and was at 37 this morning and back down to 36.6 this afternoon.

She is still very sleepy although she wakes up every hour for a feed, feeds for a short time before falling asleep again (she did a 1.5 hour session of this from around 12.30 today, sleeping, eating, sleeping and eating in short bursts. She fed for a long time last night during the night too

She is pooing and peeing normally.

She doesn't spend that much time awake, I would day in total a max of 4 hours a day in 5-10 min stretches.

I can't help worry about all this. DD1 was awake ALL the time from birth. Can someone please reassure me?

Gosh I am sleep deprived, not sure any of this makes sense, but I still feel that she is excessively sleepy and am worried about her cold temp, especially given that she is wearning so many layers (I would normally worry about over-heating given the amount she is wearning!)

Firstly, if in any doubt with a baby under 1 month, get them seen by a paediatrician. I don't think anyone can second guess a mother's instinct and, at that age, they are very vulnerable.

Having said that, what you are describing are very tiny temperature variations and not in themselves any cause for concern. What is your home's temperature. Warm for you may be 20 degrees but remember your daughter needs to maintain 37 degrees without much body insulation, so it may be a bit chilly for her. I think that after a traumatic birth, babies are often sleepier than normal for a while. Then, when they wake up, you may remember that first week quite nostalgically. And it sounds as if she is eating, peeing and poohing normally. So, what you have said in itself is not alarming at all, but, if you are concerned, never be afraid to get a baby looked at.

Oh thank you. It's reassuring to have someone read this.

She was seen by the paed before leaving the hospital and given the all-clear.

I did make a mistake above - her temperature went to 35.8, not the other way round yesterday and the hospital, when called, were not at all concerned. She is at 36.5 now.

If I need further reassurance I will call someone, I'm just a bit tired and losing track of her awake/asleep hours now.

Yes get her checked if you're worried.

Is she jaundiced at all? If so that could account for the sleepiness.

That said, ds never slept as a newborn. Dd pretty much slept the first 4 months of her life away, literally, I remember taking her to a christening at 6 weeks - she fed before we went, slept through the service, fed before the meal, slept until we got home, fed and then went to bed. All the relatives were annoyed because no-one got to see her awake. She is 17 months now and a total livewire!

I'm not sure re temp of 35.8, I know my daughters can be that sometimes but tbh I never took their temps as newborns. Is that with an ear therm? If its an under arm one they sometimes say to add a degree - have a google.

If she's waking to feed, peeing, pooing and 'with it' when she does wake then I wouldn't be overly worried BUT instinct is everything so get her checked if you want to.

Ps: congratulations