3 week old - feeds for 5 mins then sleeps..every hour or so!

[tina_k]

my 3 week old fed like an angel for the first 2 weeks...every 3 hours on the dot...
now, she only feeds for a few mins at a time, and then falls asleep, nothing that i can do will wake her up...so i put her down and then shes up again within the hour coz shes still hungry, and has the other side...still for only a few mins!!
this mainly happens overnight, and its killing me!!

[Kmn]

That is what tiny babies do - after a couple of weeks they "wake up", and it can be very tiring.
Start trying to teach her about daytime - take her out in the noises and the light and don't let her sleep for more than 3-4 hours during the day. See if you can encourage her to feed more in the early evening as well - deliberately set out to feed her each hour if you can.
And make sure when she does sleep in the day that you have a nap too.

This will get better - but you just have to go into survival mode for the next few weeks.

[HotI]

Exactly what Kmn said!

If she is only taking a small feed you can feed her from the same breast the next time.

[chody47]

Hi!

I'm no expert as my bubs is only a week old, but she kept falling asleep during feeds in the hospital so the midwives suggested I strip her down to her nappy to feed her so she doesn't get too warm and comfy and fall asleep while feeding.....sometimes we even had to get a wet (cold) cloth out to rub her back occasionally to keep her awake! It seems to be working fairly well so far......

[HotI]

Tickling bubs ear and talking to them can keep the awake abit longer too or doing a nappy change and then putting them back to the breast to finish.

[krystals]

i had this problem as well, i found like HotI that just a little tickle (on the feet or hands, or even the ribs) kept DS feeding, even if he was asleep. That helped him sleep a bit longer, and then be awake for a bit longer next time.

Congrats on your bubba!!!