Is it normal for a baby born at 35 weeks to have hardly any awake time?

[inthedarkx]

I had my baby girl on Tuesday 1am. We are still in hospital because of her early birth and also had treatment for jaundice and infection. The blood tests have come back ok since the treatment but baby still spends a lot of time sleeping. Is this normal for a baby born at 35 weeks? And is there anyone else's baby who has been the same way? She weighed 5.14 and dropped her birth weight by 9.8% which i found our today so now they want to weigh her again tomorrow. Im so worried. I've been here since Sunday due to waters breaking early and have other kids at home I'm just so worried ☹

She's poorly and working on getting better. Completely normal. Have a chat with one of the nurses to settle your mind.

I had ds at 35 weeks. Birthweight 5-7, down to 4-12 at a week old /discharge. Very sleepy but was told to wake /offer breast 2 hourly and no longer...
Took weeks and weeks to gain weight..

Yes completely normal. My full term DD was 5lbs15oz and slept lots because she was so small. My DS was born at 31weeks, 3lbs1oz and couldn't stay awake for very long for quite a long time. Congratulations on your DD

My DD2 was born at 36 weeks and spent lots of time asleep in the early days. It was 5 days before DP saw her with her eyes open! She's now a healthy 3yo, and I am currently trying to get her to close her eyes!

However, don't take anything for granted. Go and talk it over with a midwife or doctor.

My 34 weeker was very sleepy. They are not meant to be out in the world yet. It's tough having a premmie so just try to take it Day by day and look after yourself.

I had a 32 weekend abd a 37 weekend and both slept nearly all the time. They say up to 10% weight loss is normal so that will just be them being cautious.

Congratulations. I hope you are both home soon.

If you're worried, please ask the nurses. That is what they're there for! You're in the best place too. Most babies drop weight in the first few days so that is normal but weighibg her again is just to make sure she is maintaining. Is she waking to feed regularly? Newborns do sleep a lot, especially preemies! But just ask the nurses, it will give you peace of mind!

My ds2 was born at 36 weeks, healthy, but much sleepier than my DS1 born at 39 weeks. Friends with 35 week babies said the same. They ended up setting alarms to feed the babies every two hours.

Sorry for the autocorrects!

My LO was 35 weeks on he dot - slept most of his first five weeks away...although any concerns mention to NICU staff/ consult on-call number hey give you on discharge. He was quite a poor feeder in those first weeks too - absolutely STRAPPING 6 year old now! (Size 8-9 clothes). That first period of time can be exhausting and concerning all rolled in to one - use all the support you need xx

My baby born at 37 weeks during heatwave and he slept a lot! Born over 10lbs but lost weight and took three months to get back up there. But he’s a strapping almost six footer (just 16) and after initial couple years he was always an early (5.30-6) riser. Still is but now closer to 8 or 9am even on summer hols.
Conversely my daughter was hard to put to sleep but now could be in the sleep Olympics!

Dd was full term and weighed 8lb 8oz and she only woke for feeds for the first few weeks. It was a shock after ds who hardly slept for the first 6 months! As long as she's waking to feed and having wet and dirty nappies it sounds quite normal for some babies but is more common in smaller babies. Speak to the midwives if you're concerned and they can hopefully reassure you. Congratulations on your baby too

My daughter was born at 40w + 3 days, weighing 9lb, and she slept for 21 out of 24 hours for the first month - I was stunned!

I've had two 35 weekers, both 5lb 8oz and both very sleepy until around their due dates (not twins, just history repeated itself!). We struggled to get milk into DC1 (expressed or directly from me) as he was so sleepy - three hour feeding schedule, two hours of which I spent getting him to have the expressed milk and then expressing for next time. Zombiefied doesn't even begin to cover it. DC2 was a better feeder from the off but was jaundiced so that made him sleepier than usual, according to the MWs.

All anecdotal of course, but hopefully reassuring to you that early babies are often very sleepy. Obviousy if you're worried then speak to a MW, as only they can see exactly what's going on in your particular circumstance.

Congratulations on your baby though! Although 35 weeks doesn't sound like very early, that extra month in your tummy really does make a difference and I remember with both of mine how tiny they were in comparison to more typical birth-weight babies. They're both very robust now though, and although they're never going to be topping the centile charts those early struggles don't seem to have had any long term effects. You'll get through it

Just a note on the comments about whether your baby wakes to feed - it's common for prem babies not to wake themselves up - hence why they are often on 2 hourly or 3 hourly feeding schedules. Certainly for my DC1, it was a real battle to get him to wake up to feed, and he'd often fall asleep part way through his feed. If this is the case for your baby, the MWs can give you some tips on how to keep her a bit more alert.

DS was born at 31+6, spent three weeks in the hospital. Came home at 35 weeks. Didn't really start "waking up" until 4 weeks past his original due date. He literally woke, was fed, back to sleep. I think he was awake maybe a total of 90 minutes a day for 10 minute feeds.

He's a perfectly healthy happy 14 month old now. Doctors said it was normal.

Totally normal. My 33 weeker pretty muck slept until his due date! We woke him for feeds but he’d fall asleep by the end of a feed. It was so worrying for me but he’s now 3 weeks corrected and much more awake and alert.

Just remember they are conserving all of their energy for growing. Good luck. X

My twins were 36w and we actually had to wake them for feeds for the first few weeks.. the jaundice makes them very sleepy I think too. Once my two regained some weight and the jaundice went, they woke up more. Congratulations!!!

Completely normal. Especially where there has been jaundice or a traumatic birth. Mine is nearly 6 months and she still reallllly needs her sleep, she’s still catching up!

Someone told me they sleep until they are due and that helped me normalise it a bit

34 weeker here. Slept solidly for 6 weeks. Now he's 1 and a serious little sleep dodger so enjoy the rest!

I got told that too @KittyKel. Also that you need to wake them up. They won't wake up for feeds. We were tickling feet, blowing (gently!) on him, stripping him off seemed to help as well.

Congratulations on your baby OP and do speak to the nurses for some guidance.

My baby was born at 36 weeks. He's very sleepy even now and it took him 3 weeks to return to his birth weight. However in the last 2 days I've noticed he does have more awake times and wakes up for feeds every 3 to 4 hours (at first we had to wake him every 2 hours). Your baby will get there they just need a little bit more time.

Yes very normal, my daughter was born at 36 weeks 6lb5 dropped to 5lb15, she didnt really wake up until she was about 4 or 5 weeks old and even then not for long. I really would advise sticking to the feeding schedule with these smaller babies. Good luck!