tips on getting a new born to stay awake for feeding

[CaipirinhasAllRound]

My baby is 5 days old and today has just slept and slept so has hardly fed. I've tried loads of times and he might latch on but after a couple of sucks is fast asleep again. I've stripped him, changed his nappy, blown on him, winded him and just can't get him to stay awake. Am hoping someone has a great suggestion! I know I'm in for a bad night but really hope I can avoid the same thing happening tomorrow (this is the first day like this)
Thanks

i was taught to nudge the back of his neck, like a little tickle just at the very top of his neck. seemed to help a little

We did feet tickling, face blowing and chatting.

oh caip!! congratulations!!
wet flannel on head as well as the others. it sounds like he thinks day is night which is vv normal. try taking him out in the light twice a day to try and set his clock, as well as keep daytimes noisy etc and night feeds quiet and dark. good luck x

I used to blow in their faces!

I used to blow in their faces!

Ds was a horribly lazy feeder- lost so much weight that he was re admitted on day 5 and we spent 4 days in hospital trying to get him to bf- whilst he was fed by a tube every 3 hours. He basically slept as soon as on boob
Tips from out nurses

• tickle feet
• strip off

-change his nappy

• loud music (during day) lots of light on room and outside if possible
• set an alarm to feed a nice loud one on phone
• if your worried try a spoon or something ( ideally not a bottle if wanting to bf) with a little bit if formulae (just buy a few little screw top bottle they last in fridge)
• I had a slow let down so ds fell asleep as he got so tired sucking for it so massage boob to help him get it quickly when you feed
• setting the alarm really helped as it kept us on a mini schedule ( if I am lucky enough to have another dc I would just do this to ensure feeding)

Ps congratulations

It might be to do with his latch or milk flow. Babies can be a bit lazy, and if it's not coming out easily they won't bother. At 5 days your milk supply may not even be in yet. It could be worth trying to get to a breastfeeding group for some ideas.

Something I used to do was manually express a tiny bit on to the end of my nipple and put it on dd's nose, this use to make her suddenly interested.

Congratulations! DS was like this for the first few days and it was tough! In addition to the good advice above, you could try flicking his ears (worked for me!), pumping his legs in a bicycle motion, rubbing a wet cotton wool ball on his face and body and blowing on the wet patches! The breastfeeding counsellor also showed us how to hold him up and swing his legs which worked a treat but not sure I can explain well enough on here!

Is he feeding well at night? Turns out our ds had posterior tongue tie so was hard for him to suck - if I were you I'd be asking everyone to check, he was given the all-clear by gp, 2 midwives and breastfeeding counsellor before a very experienced health visitor spotted it so don't assume a no from one person means he doesn't have it at all! Good luck!

MW told me to lift one of their wee arms, which worked a treat accompanied by a wee whisper of "the tigers are coming...." Don't think it's had any long term adverse effects!

I was told to hold up an arm too and to sort of massage baby's palm also stroke/tickle lower cheek to encourage sucking even if they are asleep.

Don't worry, first and foremost. Like andcake my baby lost a lot of weight for the same reason?we stripped her right down to her nappy and cooled her with a damp flannel with varying success. TBH things improved once my milk really started coming in.

Just persevere trying to feed every 2-3 hrs and he will get the hang of it.

Most important thing is not to stress and to trust your instincts as a mum! Xx

congratulations

We did the whole undressing thing to keep him cool and my midwife said twiddling his little toe wad a good idea

Didn't matter what we did the adorable little ratbag still slept!

Wash your hands in cold water and put your cold hands on their tummy? And I used to blow gently in my daughters' face when she started snoozing.

Thanks everyone, some good tips to try. He does feed fine at other times and today has been more awake so I'm less anxious.

That's good and keep track of wet nappies as if you are getting those things are good!

Gently pinching the ear lobe/ stroking the ear.

Cold hands on tummy sounds horrible (though effective!). I would hate someone doing that to me.

Just to let you know my baby's been weighed today and has gained 6oz in 2 days so something's working!

Rather than fiddle with baby, a good technique is to use a breast compression. This squeezes milk into baby which they will then swallow (in the first phase of sleep). Then often they will restart active feeding or you can do another compression. For the technique, google 'breast compressions' and 'Jack Newman'.

Well done

That'll be the gold top coming through!!!

(Have I just shown my age??? )