6 day old DD falling asleep on breast Help!!!

[SunnySideUp2020]

I am sure this has been asked over and over again... sorry 😐

Had my first baby on Monday.
Had some complications and so my milk supply was a bit shy despite baby latching and sucking well so hospital started top ups of formula.
Now home and milk has properly come in but she is now very lazy and will go crazy looking for boob and sucking her fists but as soon as she comes to the breast she sucks 5 or 6 times and drifts to sleep. After that it's literally me trying every single thing i have read or been told to wake up or encourage sucking but nothing works. She sucks very slow, the session last 45min and she only gets half of what she needs (we weigh her before and after). And an hour later she asks again.
At night after 45min i now give her top up of my expressed milk or formula depending on what i have.
And she eats very quickly.

Any advice? Or anyone had this experience?
Does it get better?

Congratulations on your DD!

It’s v early days.

Wouldn’t weigh her before and after feeding, would just continue feeding on demand and latch her off when she snoozes.

Strip her to her nappy to feed so she’s a little less cosy, tickle toes, blow on her. It’s exhausting being little - congratulations x

Would also stop ‘topping up’ unless your feeding plan is to mix feed or switch to bottle relatively soon.

Also agree not to top up unless midwife advises due to weight loss

Lots of skin to skin even when not feeding. Strip her to a nappy, tickle feet if she falls asleep. Stop weighing before and after feeds, they feed different amounts at different times of day and you’ll become obsessed with weight. Look that she’s having 6+ heavy wet nappies, 2+ poos and is waking and asking for a feed and alert when awake.

Just to add I’d look for wet nappies but lots of breastfed babies don’t poo twice a day so I wouldn’t get stressed about that

Unless you’re planning to combi feed long term, I would stop the top ups. It will mess with your supply and she’s less likely to nurse because she will grow accustomed to getting the milk more easily from a bottle.

Keep trying all the tricks to keep her awake - tickle her feet, take off her clothes, blow gently on her face, unlatch and burp her. She will get the hang of it! She’s just really little at the moment, but I promise it keeps getting easier.

I would also stop weighing her before and after feeds. You can measure the input of a breastfed baby by their weight gain and by the number of wet nappies. As long as she’s gaining fine and having plenty of wet nappies in a day, you can be reassured that she’s taking on enough.

And wanting a feed after 45 mins is also normal - she has a tiny stomach at the moment so needs little and often, and she will also be building up your supply. You just have to go with her demands until she can take on more in one feed. Make sure you look after yourself, because it is exhausting! Plenty of good food, stay hydrated, tuck up on the sofa with good things to watch or read. This is a hard stage but you will get through it 💪🏻

Stop weighing her!! I doubt that’s an accurate way to tell how much milk she’s had. It just sounds like another way to drive yourself mad.
This all sounds normal.
She will be sleepy for a a few weeks- being born is exhausting!
Keep letting her feed as she wants.
I think mixed feeding is fine if that’s what you want ( I did) but if not maybe no more top ups.
Breast fed babies don’t always poo every day so don’t worry about that.

Thank you so much everyone for your replies ☺

We only rented the scale for a week as in hospital the weight was a bit of a drama.
But hopefully next week we will stop...

I just received an electric breast pump so hopefully will now have enough breast milk pumped in case and stop completely formula top ups.

It's good to hear it gets better. I would love to just be relying on her breastfeeding instead of bottle of expressed milk but also not against if i get a bit of sleep at night !

I already strip her off and tickle and all 😅
When she is asleep she is gone!!!
The heel prick test didn't even wake her 🙄

This could be a shallow latch - have a read of this: www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2018/02/when-breastfeeding-baby-falls-asleep.html

If she gets a big enough mouthful, she’ll be getting more milk which will encourage more sucking and swallowing - just as she is doing on the bottle

Try one of the breastfeeding helplines and see if you can get a local counsellor to watch in person or on FaceTime - a small adjustment to the latch and some breast compressions could make a massive difference

I think the number of wet nappies is the best indicator at this stage. Can be normal for bf babies to lose more than 10% weight (as long as other signs good), mine did. Also normal to be feeding often to build up your supply.

so long as she has wet nappies don't worry. Just let HV/midwife weigh her or you will drive your self crazy.

My baby is 5 weeks old and still does this. I spend most of the day wit her on the sofa swapping from boob to boob with little 20-30 min naps inbetween.

Pretty normal from what I've been told

Be careful you don’t fall into the top up trap. It’s really normal to feed that frequently in the early days. I think it would really benefit you to get some qualified breastfeeding support. Try the breastfeeding national helpline (number should be on the front of your notes) or see if your hospital has an IBCLC in the infant feeding team.

When she falls asleep don’t sit and cuddle her put her down in her Moses basket and she will hopefully soon wake up. Agree with not giving the top ups, she needs to feed this frequently to build your supply.

Be careful with the top up feeds regardless if they are formula or expressed. Look into pace feeding or even using a syringe to provide top up feeds if the midwife/other health professionals are asking you to do top ups.

Bfeeding is more work for them and they can get a lot more milk from a bottle so why not wait until its easier

The midwife in hospital rubbed an ice cube on DS when he was conking out mid-feed on me.

He fully hulked out with rage but stayed awake!

So a bf consultant came visit last night as i really didn't want to fall into bad habits or be doing some i shouldn't.
And her advice was it's normal i should feed on demand for now. And if i need sleep than one expressed bottle at night with DH is ok.
But for now no need to torture the poor baby to stay awake just feed stop when she s asleep and feed when she asks for more.
She also said to take the scale back and no formjla 😁
That baby is good and my supply is more than enough!
And honestly i just feel so much more relaxed about it now. 😌

I did ask about the latch as a pp mentioned before and apparently no issue with latch at all. Just a normal newborn 😅

Thanks everyone for the support x

That’s great that you’ve had advice, hope it goes well!

Brilliant:)

Sounds good! If you do find you still have a problem wit I was advised to keep swapping sides repeatedly which did help a bit. (Nothing could wake dd in the early days when she fell asleep on the boob. I used to put her in her crib in full sunlight sometimes and she couldn't care less.)