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Parenting

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Original poster

New baby asleep all day

15 replies

Waytooslow · 09/01/2010 18:02

My baby is 10 days old. He was born by planned C-section and I was in hospital for 5 days as I struggled to establish breast feeding. Feeding seems to be going ok now.

My question is this - he is asleep virtually the whole day. He stirs to feed sometimes, and often I have to wake him to feed him. He's very sleepy when feeding. This is great in one way as it gives me time to catch up on sleep (he's more wakeful in the late evenings) but I'm worried I'm not getting any interaction time with him when he's awake but not feeding or crying.

Does anyone else have a really sleepy baby?

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2010aQuintessentialOdyssey · 09/01/2010 18:06

Congratulations on your new baby.

I would only really be concerned about a sleepy baby if he was not putting on weight, I would worry he might not get enough food, or be sleepy because he is not getting enough nourishment/hydration.

How often does he feed? How long does he feed for at each feed? Newborns generally should feed every 2/3 hours in the daytime.

mathanxiety · 09/01/2010 18:09

Keep on waking him to feed, maybe even splashing a little cold water on him to keep him awake during feeds. If he's awake but not feeding, then you can engage him in chit chat and smiles; he'll survive fine without a lot of interaction, but he needs to stay hydrated and nourished, so the feeding is essential.

BertieBotts · 09/01/2010 18:10

My DS was very sleepy too. He would wake up for about 20 minutes and then go back to sleep!

Unfortunately he doesn't sleep at all now so first tip is make the most of it

Second tip is that they can feed in their sleep and if you offer the breast a lot, he should take what he needs. I co-slept with DS so he had free access all night which worked well for us.

You need to keep an eye on the number of nappies they are producing if they don't feed much, you are looking for 6-7 nappies a day (count wet and/or dirty) and if less than this then start thinking about how to get more milk into him (doesn't necessarily have to be formula or bottles if you don't want it to be - there are ways of encouraging a breastfed baby to take more milk direct from the breast)

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partystress · 09/01/2010 18:10

Congraulations - and a great time just to nest at home .
My DC2 was like this and it turned out she was jaundiced. Probably nothing at all for you to worry about, but if his colour is at all orangey or yellow, maybe check it out. I got very anxious about not bonding with her because it felt like she was never awake to get to know, but twas fine very quickly.

BertieBotts · 09/01/2010 18:13

Sorry I meant keep an eye on weight gain AND nappies - together they can give you a good idea about how much milk they are getting.

GlastonburyGoddess · 09/01/2010 18:18

If hes sleeping long periods and very sleepy when feeding I would recommend stripping him down to either vest or just his nappy whilst you are feeding him. If hes too comfortable, he will invariably go back to sleep.

Original poster

Waytooslow · 09/01/2010 18:26

He is feeding OK and putting on weight. He's feeding about every 2.5 to 3.5 hours but the midwife has said this is fine for him. I do strip him off and change his nappy half way through feeding to perk him up! He is pooing (only small amounts each change) and weeing.

I'm just worried that he's not getting any awake/cuddle/bonding time. When he's feeding he's often almost asleep but I do keep chatting to him during daytime feeds to try to interact.

I do skin to skin with him but he's asleep during that too.

OP posts:

mcoys · 09/01/2010 18:52

my ds2 was very sleepy as a newborn, i should have caught up on sleep when he was sleeping but spent many hours just looking at him and checking on him...i was told not to wake him as he needed the sleep rather than feed as when i did try to wake him to feed he didn't want to latch on and just got upset...

anyway the long 10 hours a night sleeps didn't last long and i have more than enough awake/cuddle/bonding time now whilst i cope with severe sleep deprivation!!

all the best x

BertieBotts · 09/01/2010 19:02

Don't worry too much about bonding at this stage - he already knows you, he has been snuggled inside you for 9 months - it is you who needs to get to know him, so spend as long as you want just gazing, sniffing, cuddling and stroking him while he stays still and lets you And taking lots of photos, that's what I did!

mathanxiety · 09/01/2010 22:07

You sound as if you love him to bits -- don't worry about 'bonding'.

MumNWLondon · 09/01/2010 23:07

My DD was very sleepy as a baby, slept day and night as newborn, had to fed her wearing nappy only (november!) as she would fall asleep on breast - my dads a GP and my parents kept on saying they were worried about her.

At 3 months couldn't manage to stay awake for more than 1.5 hours.

Even when she started at a nursery aged 6 months she's still sleep for 5 out of the 10 hours she was there!

Stopped all daytime sleeps aged 2.5 (normal) Anyway she's 6 now, sleep 11 hours at night, and doesn't want to get up for school (normal).

Enjoy it while you can, gradually he'll wake up a bit more for cuddling time!

Original poster

Waytooslow · 10/01/2010 13:14

Hi all

Thanks for your replies. He's actually been much more awake this morning! Typical. I'm definately leaving him to sleep rather than try to wake and bond with him as I am using the time to catch up on my sleep.

OP posts:

mathanxiety · 11/01/2010 01:18

Well, don't let him go too long between feeds, forget the interacting -- three hours max really.

newkiwi · 11/01/2010 01:43

I had a planned C section too and took quite a lot of painkillers. My DD was sleepy for about the first two weeks. Then she seemed to wake up. So you may notice a big change in a few days.

I'm in NZ and here they recommend babies don't stay awake for more than 1 1/4 hrs till they are past three months. When DD was about 6 weeks I started following this and it really worked for us. She is a happy wee thing. My parents always say how little she cries, but them complain I put her to sleep too much....

PurpleCrazyHorse · 12/01/2010 21:31

DD was very sleepy for the first few weeks (vaginal birth but she was jaundiced) and I would have to wake her for feeding and attempt to keep her awake during feeds too. I would mention it to your midwife or HV just to check, but if your DC is feeding, weeing & pooing then I suspect everything is okay.

I worried a little about not interacting with DD in the early days but to be honest she just wasn't interested. That all changed when she started looking around and was more awake during the day.

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