When/will a sleepy feeder ever "wake up"?

[gabriels mum]

Hi

My LO is now 7 weeks old, and is still very sleepy on feeds (normally falls asleep within a few minutes of sucking!)

This is not absolutely every feed, but most of them.   He was diagnosed with prolonged jaundice a couple of weeks ago, which seems to have almost completely gone.  At the time we were told to feed approx 3 hourly in the day and not to wake at night.

He now seems to only wake once in the night, and seems very content, but I am still concerned that he is still so sleepy on feeds.

Will he suddendly "wake up" and become an alert feeder or may he always be like this?  The trouble is, it takes a long time to feed him (up to an hour), as I keep taking him off, and re-trying a few minutes later.  I'm never sure if I am "force-feeding" him, or if he has had enough much sooner than I think? Consequently I never know if he has taken enough! (although his weight gain was good at last weeks weigh in!)

He is also very windy, and sometimes very difficult to burp, so I have just bought some infacol to see if this will help?!

Just wanted to see how long others had sleepy feeders for really?

Thanks in advance - this is such a great support site!

Gabe and Theo's mum

[lidiayy]

  Hi,

  My LO used to be very sleepy during nursing and sometimes she still does!
  How do you hold Theo when he is nursing? I used to sit her in my thigh. This helped keeping her, at least, sucking. The cradle position was too sleep stimulating for her LOL! 
  Baby's face will be right in front of the breast and latching shouldn't be a problem.
  Right now, she has grown up so that we had to change things a little bit, her legs can't be separated by my thigh anymore, but I still let her partially sit, otherwise she tends to sleep.
  Hope this helps. Good luck!
 
   Lidia
   

[gabriels mum]

Hi Lidia

Thanks for your reply - I haven't tried this, or even thought of it, so will definitely give it a go!  Might help with the wind situation as well!!

Can't wait for him to "wake up", as at least I'd feel I could trust that he was taking enough at each feed, rather than "forcing it" until I can't get anymore sucks!!  Looking at him, I think he still has a slight jaundice tinge, so maybe it will improve when it finally goes?!

Thanks again

[lidiayy]

  Oh, you're right! This position might help in the wind situation as well.

  In my case, some wind issues has begun since we had to change her position. It's been 2 weeks now since she had her first episode of spitting up some milk (DD is now 14 wks old). If I could raise my breasts in my chest, I would never change this feeding position LOL. 

  Now re "force-feeding", if neither your LO is spitting up milk after feeding, nor having weight gain issues, I wouldn't be worried about it! You must be doing a great job as a mum!

  Keep me posted!

  Lidia 

 
 

[angelamk1]

Hi,
I have the same problem.  Very sleepy baby and it takes me at least an hour to feed him.  I feed him until i can hear he is no longer swallowing and then lay him next to me on couch, that often gets him riled enough to get another feed, then change nappy half way and burp throughout to try and wake up.  I do all the things ie nappy change and rub hands and stimulate ear etc.  He just sleeps.  Also like yours sleeps well at night and most naps. 

I've just been telling myself that i guess this is what he needs and am trying not to worry too much about it (not that successfully i admit).  It's hard because you are supposed to not let them sleep too much during day so they sleep well at night, but it's not that easy when they just sleep and sleep.  Forget about A time!  He's sitting next to me now completely out to it and has been for whole awake time, now due for nap! 

I'll try that new position and I hope you get some more replies because i'd love also to know how long this might go on for. 

[gabriels mum]

Hi Angelamk1

Sorry you too are having this issue!  I've just posted a new post, as my problem seems to be about poor attachment, with DS not opening his mouth wide enough. 

It may be worth you you having an appointment with an LC to check.  But what I did find reassuring and contrary to what I thought - it is possible for a baby to take a full feed in a few minutes - I think the key is they spit out the nipple when they've had enough!

How old is your LO?

[ericapt]

Gabiel's mum-
I just replied to your other post, but as I said in that one I could write your posts for you when LO was Gabriel's age.  He also had prolonged jaundice which was discovered to be from a virus.  (This really bothered me because I was sooooo careful!  He didn't even leave the house until 8 weeks except MD appointments!)  Once the jaundice was better (about 8-10 weeks old) LO became more alert for longer periods of time.  He was still sleepy with feeds until about 3 months old though.  We still have issues with awake time.  LO is almost 6 months old and still only tolerates 1.5-1.75 hours awake time at once.  He also is growing well and learning.  It just took him a little longer to really be alert to the world!  Eventually Gabriel will do the same.  You'll be surprised how much he will change.  Then it will switch to the opposite problem and he won't want to sleep! (lol)  I wish you the best of luck and will continue to check this post for you updates!  Happy baby whispering!
Erica~~

[dsokos]

Hello,

My lo had the same sleepy problem ...she is now 4.5 mo and much more alert.  Sometimes I can hardly keep her focused to eat!  She is looking all over the place.    When she is tired though, (today for example b/c routine way off due to EW) it's still a battle to keep her awake.  She even sleeps when I set her up sometimes!  Just do the best you can and try to separate food from sleep at least a little (I wish I had much sooner!).  It will be fine.

So long as he is gaining weight appropriately, don't worry about force feeding him..he will stop when he's done.
Best wishes!

[gabriels mum]

Thanks ladies!  Good to hear it can take a bit longer for some to wake up.  Wish DS1 would hop off to bed so readily!!!

[angelamk1]

Hi gabs mum,
Sorry for delay in reply i'm still getting the hang of this forum thing.  My son is 6 weeks old and they have just said that he still looks a bit jaundiced so that might be why he's still sleepy.  I have been trying to reduce the length of his feeds because he is definitely getting enough as he's gaining heaps of weight.  I was told he would pop off when full, well i just don't think that is the case with him!  He could sit there till kingdom come.  I have got most feeds down to 40-45 mins now (actual sucking time) and want to get him used to this for a few weeks and monitor his weight before cutting down to 35-40.  He is happy with a dummy most times so obviously not starving to death like he pretends. 

I hope you are having more luck with yours and it was good to hear from other mums of sleepy babies.  At least it means they sleep well!  Mine only wakes once in the night and has done since 4 days old.  I can't complain about that. 

[AlsOne]

hi just hang in there - they definately do wake up, some quicker than others. My lo is 4 months now and a feeds like a little champ - you would not have thought it when he was 2 weeks old and we were trying everything, and I mean everything apart from putting him in a bucket of cold water to wake him up!
I was going out of my mind, worrying that he was not getting enough food, upset when he would wake up 1/2 hour after feed and be crying becuse he was still hungry and I had not tried hard enough to get him to feed. I really can't believe how time has passed and have to really think hard to get back to that time! So much other troubles have come and gone since then!!

Just hang in there, I know it is hard to see now, but it will pass and then 5 months down the track you will be amazed how far they have come!

[gabriels mum]

Hi there

Angelamk1 I'm also trying to reduce times a bit, as LC suggested they are not always on the breast for food (comfort/nurturing etc), and suspects he knows how to get the milk if he needs it, so I'm thinking he is sometimes not that hungry and a few mins is okay for him?  Still experimenting, so will let you know!

AlsOne, thanks for encouragement - I know they won't be asleep in their dinner at 18 (1 hope!), just hope he "wakes up" soon!!

Thanks x

[angelamk1]

Hi gabs mum,
Yes, i think he is just sitting there half the time, because sometimes he feeds really well and pops off now.  I'm being much stricter on pulling him off if i can't hear him swallowing.  We are down to 20/20 each side and sometimes 20/15 if he's feeding well and he's still gaining weight.    He is also more alert for play time this week but still only tolerates short periods.  His father doesn't seem to get the idea though.  He always wants to keep him up a bit longer so he gets more time with him! 

[ericapt]

angelamk1-
I know what you mean about your hubby wanting to keep LO awake to play with them.  My husband was the same way when LO was under 3 months, but then he realized that once LO became OT he just fell apart.  It really wasn't worth it to keep him awake.  Try to explain to his daddy that right now sleep is WAY more important for LO to grow and learn.  He will eventually be staying awake much more and you will have plenty of time to play.  You will probably even be wishing that he would sleep more!  Just wanted to mention this because we had the same issues too!  Best of Luck and happy BW!
Erica~~