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lovebeingamom
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 12:46pm | IP Logged
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Ladies -
I have a very sleepy new baby (8 days old) on my hands. How do I get him to stay awake long enough to nurse a good session? Is 10 minutes even a good session if he has frequent wet/dirty diapers and seems content (i.e. sleepy), not to mention breasts feel lighter/empty?
I just want to keep my supply up and my baby growing healthy!!! Am I just being paranoid?
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 1:23pm | IP Logged
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skin to skin contact.. a cool washcloth on his feet..
It is possible that he's an efficient nurser that he won't need to nurse for really long periods of time but 10 min seems pretty short. I know I've had one that nursed on one side 15-20 minutes and was done (she never would switch).
Is the 10 minutes on one side? If it's both sides he may get too much foremilk without a longer session.
And how often is he nursing?
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 1:29pm | IP Logged
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You are right to be concerned. My third child was what is known as a "sleepy baby". It's an actual medical term. I had no idea such a thing existed! He didn't wake and nurse frequently enough to keep my milk production up and he started to lose weight... an ounce a day! I had to:
1). Wake him every 2-3 hours around the clock and try to keep him awake and nursing.
2). Keep a very careful eye on his diapers to be sure he was not getting dehydrated.
3). I had to supplement with a bottle for a few days.
It didn't seem to do any long-lasting harm, though. He's 6 ft plus at 21 and looks like a Viking warrior! Very strong! Be do keep tabs on the hydration and weight.
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Caroline
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Flowing Streams
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lovebeingamom
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 1:35pm | IP Logged
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JodieLyn wrote:
skin to skin contact.. a cool washcloth on his feet..
It is possible that he's an efficient nurser that he won't need to nurse for really long periods of time but 10 min seems pretty short. I know I've had one that nursed on one side 15-20 minutes and was done (she never would switch).
Is the 10 minutes on one side? If it's both sides he may get too much foremilk without a longer session.
And how often is he nursing? |
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The 10 minutes is on one side only!!! He was nursing 12x/day. He just started yesterday 8 or 9x/day and that is with me waking him to nurse!!! Like I said before, his diapers are very wet with BM that are yellow and seedy - so I feel confidient in the diaper department that he is getting plenty of milk. I am just nervous with my supply and his weight!
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stellamaris
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 2:00pm | IP Logged
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It sounds from your last post that he's doing fine and you have plenty of milk. My "sleepy baby" would go 4-6 between nursings and not wake up ( around the clock, not just once in a 24-hr period). As long as his diaper " output" is good, your milk is sufficient. Enjoy your sweet babe!
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Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 3:03pm | IP Logged
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All of my babes are "sleepy babies"....for the first month or so, I wake them up every 2-3 hours. The hard part is keeping them awake to drain each side....it's do-able, just a hassle. Undressing them, tickling certain parts, turning the temp down, cold washclothes, etc. I go to the coldest room in the house, undress them, do the tricks and nurse. It's really fun 
I have a good milk supply and it's FAST, so it must be that they ARE actually getting enough milk...just quicker. Someone told me once that it's exhausting to drink all that milk so quickly!  ...so they fall asleep. Kind of like us after Thanksgiving Dinner! Is your milk flow really fast?
I nurse on my back sometimes, so gravity is working against the milk flow to slow it down a bit. Sometimes I'm lucky to get 3 minutes on a side from them!
I keep an eye on....
:: wet/poopy diapers...which has never been a problem.
:: jaundice
:: if jaundice, then if they are lethargic or alert when awake.
Also if you and your dh are "blood incompatible"....then the babies have more of a chance of being jaundice/sleepy.
As long as they are gaining weight, then we don't worry about it. I have a infant-scale at home, b/c it IS a problem with us....and it's easy to be reassured by the scale with those sleepy babies. If they are gaining weight and only nursing for 3 minutes, I guess it's miraculously enough!
Before I had the baby scale (the sling kind), I would go in occasionally and weigh at a doctor's office....they just let me randomly use the scale, no office visit or anything.
After the first 5-8 weeks....it's not so much of a problem, except at night, which I do set the alarm for....but that's more of a return-to-fertility-concern. At that point they are usually above 10 lbs. and obviously growing and thriving.
If your baby is....
:: gaining weight
:: is pooping/peeing
:: isn't jaundice
:: is alert when awake
....then you're FINE!
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Suzanne in ID
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 3:32pm | IP Logged
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WIC offices will also weigh babies for you.. but stick with one scale so that you don't have differences between scales causing worries (or missing problems)
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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CatholicMommy
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| Posted: Jan 25 2011 at 6:06pm | IP Logged
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My son was borderline sleepy baby. I think they called him that because of how things set up at the hospital, less about our actual nursing
(they fed him a bottle when they weren't supposed to (I'd said NO bottles) then he didn't feed with me because he was full and suddenly he was a "sleepy baby").
ANYWAY, he truly did have a slightly sleepy issue and he did have jaundice - so we had to be sure to get enough in him.
Using a clicking noise with my tongue to let him know to stay awake as well as tapping his feet gently would usually keep him going enough to get a full 15 minutes on each side.
Funny story: at 8 days old, he pulled off during a feeding, looked up at me, and clicked his tongue just like I did! And went back to nursing! I couldn't believe it, it was SO funny! (he was obviously awake at that moment!)
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hylabrook1
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My 2nd dd slept a lot, from birth, but gained weight and definitely wet and dirtied enough diapers. But, from the first time she nursed, she would empty one side in 10 minutes and wait until the next time (3-4 hours later) to empty the other side. She never liked to nurse herself to sleep, so when she had finished the one side she was completely awake, just too full to accept the 2nd breast.
I agree with everything that has been said about sleepy babies. Just sayin' it is possible that this is just your little one's way of nursing.
Peace,
Nancy
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jillian
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| Posted: Jan 26 2011 at 10:34am | IP Logged
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This is how my little one was too. She would nurse very efficiently and only need to nurse on one side, except she would sleep deeply after finishing. She never took a pacifier/binky so she nursed for a good while after she was full in that lazy I'm going to sleep way lol
hylabrook1 wrote:
My 2nd dd slept a lot, from birth, but gained weight and definitely wet and dirtied enough diapers. But, from the first time she nursed, she would empty one side in 10 minutes and wait until the next time (3-4 hours later) to empty the other side. She never liked to nurse herself to sleep, so when she had finished the one side she was completely awake, just too full to accept the 2nd breast.
I agree with everything that has been said about sleepy babies. Just sayin' it is possible that this is just your little one's way of nursing.
Peace,
Nancy |
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lovebeingamom
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| Posted: Jan 26 2011 at 1:49pm | IP Logged
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Thanks ladies for all the positive feedback!
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lovebeingamom
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| Posted: Jan 27 2011 at 12:21pm | IP Logged
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When DS returns to birth weight or greater .... can't I let him sleep and move on to the demand schedule instead of waking him every two hours during the day to nurse????
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Jan 27 2011 at 12:48pm | IP Logged
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it really is rather individual.. I know some who's babies would grow in length but not put on weight when they did that.. and others that do fine.. so it really depends on you and your baby. You might want to see how the weight gain is going and how long that takes and see if it'll make sense to let the baby drop some feedings or not.. you know.. if he's taking longer to gain the weight and is getting the lower end of the weight gain.. then it might take a lot less for him to start to have problems than one that is quickly regaining and is gaining at the top end of the scale, you know.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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SuzanneG
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| Posted: Jan 27 2011 at 1:11pm | IP Logged
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ditto what Jodie said. It depends. I like to get to 10 lbs...and then stop waking. That's just my comfort level....b/c of our situation, past history, etc....
You could go lengthen to 3 hours until a certain weight. Just not be as diligent about "every time."
There are ways of "easing into" the demand-schedule, rather than just leavning it up to baby.
But, just keep an eye on weight gain and see how it's going.
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Suzanne in ID
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Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: Sleepy new baby (8 days old)
