Okay Gurus...sleepy preemie question!

[ava'smom]

hi ladies!! 

Quick question about my little Nate. He was born about a month early, but still a good size--probably 6 pounds and a few ounces right now. He is nursing well, about every 3 hours round the clock, though I can get him to do one 4 hour cycle at night.

here's the question. I saw in one of Lori's posts that Stacy recommended feeding every 2-2.5 hours in the day to get them to go longer at night. Makes sense. However, little Nate is still soooo sleepy that it's all I can do to wake him every 3 hours. (don't have to wake him at night, strangely enough) Is this a preemie thing? Do you think I should try to wake him sooner and see what he does? Or will he become more alert in the weeks to come and then I can try feeding more often?

He seems content, has plenty of wet and dirty diapers, so I think he's getting enough. Ava lapsed into a longer night stretch pretty quickly (before things went to he** at 4 months!  ), but I'm not sure what to expect from Nate.

What do y'all think? Should I just go with the flow and do every 3 hours for now, or try to work it in sooner?  Thanks, my gurus!!  :wink:

[Katet]

Amy Congratulations.

i don't know much about premie's but I remember my girlfriend who had one (7 years ago) used to always wake him up every 2.5 hours in the day as he had night & day a bit confused
I'm catching up with my girlfriend who is a special care nursery nurse tomorrow, so I will aske her advice too

[Erin (redstarfalling)]

I don't know much about premies, specifically. But I would say that if he's gaining weight well and has some alert times during the day and has enough wet and dirty diapers, then what you're doing sounds great.  He must be only a few weeks old, right? If he's doing well with all that, then I'd go with the flow.  Only change it if weight gain or intake is a concern.  And every 3 hrs overnight is great for the first little while - I wouldn't want him to go longer than that overnight for the first month. But like I said - I don't know much about premies!

[annamum]

Amy,

What I am thinking is that I wouldn't disturb his sleep at the moment, even though he is a premie. As long as he is gaining, go with a flow. First of all, he may be still drowsy after a birth and as a premie, he still can't be too alert, it will change however, soon. In a few weeks he may be more active and also asking for more frequent feedings. I would leave it as it is, also because waking to feed teaches them not to trust their own body/needs for sleep. I had this with Anna, she was sleepy and I woke her so often that I am thinking I sc****d her natural biorythm.

If there was a problem with a weight gain, I would wake him up. Wait till he is a little older, perhaps 3 weeks and see how he does on that routine. I am generally advising to feed more often than 3 hours, especially in early weeks to establish a good milk supply but it seems he just may need to sleep right now. Just observe his output, if anything changes for worse, start feeding more often.

Cheers  ,

[ava'smom]

Thanks, ladies! Keep it coming!  :wink:

That's kind of what I was thinking too--that he needs the sleep. And he does seem content. He's not even 2 weeks yet, so we'll just go with the flow. And I'm totally fine with the night feedings--he really is doing great. i just wanted to make sure that I shouldn't be waking him to eat more, though I'm not sure that's even possible right now! He is a sleepy little man! (Not that I'm complaining--with a 2 year old!)

Kate, I'm interested to hear if your friend had any thoughts.

Thanks!

[Katet]

Amy, asked my friend yesterday... she said as he is a good weight even though premie, you could wake him & offer more feeds say 2.5 hourly for some feeds & 3 for others, but given he is giving you a 4hour stretch at night he may well stretch it out himself.
Her advice as a mother, was if it suited you to wake him earlier (say to go out) do that, but otherwise let him sleep & enjoy the time you get with your toddler, before he stops being so sleepy & that will help Ava's adjustment if you have more time for her in the early days