My 7 day old newborn doesn’t wake for feeds

[Wakeywakeybaby]

Is this normal? I thought he would be waking for feeds but instead i’ve been setting alarms every 2-3 hours to wake him

He can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 40 minutes to finish a bottle too (mixed feeding with bottle only). Does that round right?

first time mum and I haven’t a clue! Thank you x

No, please inform your midwife/health visitor. My children were 'sleepy/drowsy' the first 2/3 days post birth due to jaundice and I had to wake them to feed but they were monitored and checked closely to ensure jaundice levels were improving. Please get your baby checked.

My DD was like that, we had to wake her up, she's now almost 3 and is completely fine. I'd still mention it to your health visitor/midwife just to be on the safe side

I'd get their weight checked. My oldest was sleepy but seemed happy and alert when awake but turned out to be a baby that doesn't act distressed when hungry and it turned out she wasn't feeding well and lost too much weight after 10 days. Probably less of a risk when bottle feeding but get it checked out

Agree that it’s a good idea to mention it to your HV or GP, but it’s not necessarily a cause for concern. My second DC often had to be woken to feed. He was breastfed and always took a really good feed. There were no issues with his weight gain and he was a chunky lad. He just loved his sleep.

I would keep waking them to feed. I also though jaundice as a previous poster has suggested. Take them to get weighed and mention it at the clinic.

Yes keep waking them and mention to your midwife/heath visitor

Try taking off everything except his nappy for feeds. Sometimes being a bit cooler helps to wake them up.

We had to strip my daughter down to her nappy every feed for the first 7-10 days then she started to wake up for feeds. It was under midwives instructions that we stripped her down to her nappy for feeds so do mention it to them. She had no signs of jaundice, poos had turned yellow and seedy by day3 when we were still in the hospital. Lost 5% at day 5 - regained half by day 10 and the rest by day 15. We woke every 3h through the night until she was back at birth weight and then every 4h for another 3 days.
It all went to hell at 3 weeks when she started with reflux and allergies symptoms kicked in - we were very glad of those first few weeks where we got some semi decent sleep!

If he's a good weight and not jaundiced and didn't lose too much at the 5 day weigh in I would suggest you give him a little longer between feeds - up to 4 hours is fine for a normal weight healthy baby. If he has none of the concerns mentioned above it could be he's just not ready for another feed in 3 hours.

Definitely worth a mention to HV, but this isn't necessarily cause for concern. My son was extra sleepy for 2 weeks after birth, VERY difficult to wake and not always interested in feeding. Feeds lasted 5-45 minutes. If he was fast asleep I was lucky to get that 5 min feed in, but afterwards I stopped pushing it and let him sleep - 5 minutes of nutrition is definitely better than nothing!

How are his nappies and weight gain? If those are fine, and HV is happy then I wouldn't worry

OP has your DC had the heel prick test results back yet? I ask because my DS1 was always asleep. He'd sleep for 5 hours if I let him. He slept through the night from day 1. I had to keep waking him up. It turned out he had an under active thyroid and it showed up on the heel prick blood test. He was on Thyroxine medication from about 10-12 days old.

Ask your Health Visitor for advice- or your GP
Check for tongue-tie

My daughter was like thar. I couldn't wake her for a feed. I learnt to relax and feed her when she woke. She took ages to finish a bottle too. She's 28 now and perfectly healthy.

Both my kids had to be woken up to feed for the first 4 weeks I think it was? They are 6 and 2 now…Although i would leave 4 hours between night feeds if they are gaining weight well and babies take about an hour to finish a tiny bottle so totally normal!

Woahhhhhh. Never wake a sleeping baby. Rule one.
there is a caveat - if they are healthy and gaining weight properly.

try not walking them. They will wake when hungry, and eat hopefully faster. just enjoy your sleep and watch babies weight.

And check your bottles and feeding position. Lotta babies don’t like being half drowned on their backs with milk. You can feed upright or low flow.

My DS was like that I had to settle alarms to wake up and fed him he was always fussy eater and did have slight jaundice for a few days after birth.

I would not leave a baby that long for 4 hours between feeds.

As long as he is putting on weight and healthy in all other ways I wouldn't worry to much. My 1st slept through (11pm-5am) by 8 weeks and she was fine. I just fed on demand and didn't stress about her feeds. But got her weighed regularly and she was fine.

But then my other 2 (twins) were premature and struggled with weight gain so we had to wake and feed these on a schedule but not as often as 2-3 hourly. Even in hospital (special care) they were fed every 2 hours initially (born at 33 weeks) then reduced to every 3 hours when 2 weeks old (35 weeks gestation). Then once discharged home every 4 hours.

Also they all took forever to feed.

How are you both today @Wakeywakeybaby?

Feed every four hours

2/3 hourly is a bit often. I would definitely wait for 4 hours

My newborn dd1 was very sleepy and didn't really wake to feed, so she had lost more than 10% of her birth weight in the first week. After that I fed her at least every three hours during the day and woke her every four hours during the night. But she was bf so obviously I didn't really know how much she was getting.

It sounds like your DS is finishing his bottle when you wake him, so that's not worrying, but if you are waking him every three hours he may well not have been hungry because of the last bottle. Certainly not hungry enough to wake up. Drinking fast and slow are both normal btw!

How much does he weigh and how many weeks when born?

Both me and my daughter had a sleepy baby and they were both seriously unwell.

I'd get some advice just to be on the safe side...

I would definitely get some advice from HV / GP just to put your mind at rest. My daughter was BF and she would eat constantly during the day - the first night home from hospital she screamed all night, but after that she settled to routine where she’d have feed at midnight then wake around 5am for next one (I appreciate I was probably the luckiest mother on earth getting sleep but there were days where I didn’t have time for a cuppa between feeds bcos she was on me constantly!) bcos she was BF she lost weight but stayed in acceptable range and gained it back again quickly. I’d say all babies are different but listen to your gut - if you want it checked out, do it! I was told by HV she should poo once every 24hours and to get it checked if she didn’t. She went nearly 48 hours and I had her down at the doctors - she was fine - but it was the right thing to get it checked. She then had the most horrific poonami on the way home. On the bus 😩 babies do like to keep you on your toes! Good luck I’m sure your baby is fine but check it out if you’re worried x