DD2 is 10 days old today, born at. 3.5kg, day 3 3.2kg , day 5 3.3kg, day 10 3.4kg. Bub slightly jaundiced, but not treated under blue light (DH is rather olive so dr thinks she is less jaundiced than appears), eyes now white (no longer yellowy).
Dr recommended we change my feeding style (which is feed on one side til empty or bub pulls off, burp, change nappy & offer other side til content). We were feeding every 3 or so hours, I would wake her if it got to 4 hours, but let her wake herself over night.
Dr's new plan is feed one side 10 mins, burp, feed other side 10mins, burp, feed first side again, burp, feed second side again.
I've read the article on BB about "beware the sleepy baby" which describes our very situation. My real question is what do I do after she's had four lots of ten mins? Do I leave her on the last side til she pulls off? Do I encourage her to keep going by burping and changing sides again? Not really sure. Am happy about the whole changing sides thing (after reading a few diff ABA articles), but just not sure how long to keep going lol.
Any LC's with honest advice? Bub has a great attachment, no pain, she's my 4th baby and I've never had an issue with supply or the other babies gaining weight, but DD2 doesn't pull off with that "drunk on milk baby" look.
What is the actual concern?
The weight seems fine, they should be back to birth weight by 2weeks so seems on track. what's the output like?
Not sure what the problem is, you say she is sleepy- do you need to keep prompting at the breast? can you hear or see swallowing, you should hear a swallow every couple of sucks.
Sorry just read the title which answered my question ( bit sleep deprived here lol)
I think the weight is slow but still on track.
I would be interested in the output and do you always have to wake for a feed.
Any jaundice levels been done?
I think the switching sides is worth trying, some babies take a few weeks to wake up, how many weeks gestation was your baby?
The dr recommendation will certainly boost your supply, but is that the issue?
My bub was jaundiced and he would feed for five mins or so and fall asleep and them wake after twenty mins and finish that side. Then I would wake him after 3 hours and do the other side.
Personally, I would just start waking her two hourly and offering one side a feed, including a nappy change and back on that same side. But that's because I find swapping sides causes colic for my babies.
Sounds like my baby. Was slightly jaundiced, and weight gain was similar (though never a concern).
Ds2 still feeds 1 boob at a time, I do that as he was getting too much watery milk and not the good stuff which was giving him tummy ache. He would at times feed 3 hourly, sometimes 2 sometimes 4, and be zonked out between times, but I figure the hind milk takes more energy to digest.
I think go with what you feel is right for you and your baby. By all means try what the doc says but also trust yourself. My DS2 is now 6 weeks old and weighs 5kgs already! He was born 3.5kg as well.
If baby is sleepy and not waking to feed regularly, then it's generally recommended to wake and feed at least 3 hourly. The average number of feeds in 24 hours is 8-12. They don't have to be evenly spaced - and healthy babies fed on demand will rarely feed at regular intervals.
If you can get your baby to wake up and take more milk, after a few days you'll probably find that her behaviour changes quite markedly and she will start to become more 'demanding' on her own, which will be great.
you're an old hand at this, so you probably already know enough to know whether your baby is going alright or not - just watch those signs of adequate intake. How many poo nappies in 24/hours? Any awake/alert time? (this will improve as she gets more milk) Weight gains/growth? Filling her skin, looking 'right'?
Swapping sides like this can be a good way to keep baby interested in the breast. Once she's waking herself and demanding milk, then you can simply follow her lead on how often and how long and how many sides, but in the mean time encouraging maximum intake is probably a good idea. For each feed, it may not be necessary to time each side, as such, but rather watch for signs of active feeding - big swallows, with rests, and then more swallowing - as opposed to fluttery, comfort sucking, which is when you might want to wake her again and either pop her back on the same side or switch her, depending on how it's working (you can figure out as you go which is working better).
There's no harm at all in comfort sucking - in fact it's really good for babies, so not discouraging it, but when baby is sleepy and perhaps not getting enough milk it is something to look out for when trying to encourage more intake.
Need advice - sleepy baby & slow weight gain!
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