Sleepy Baby - suggestions please

Hi everyone

My DS is almost 3 weeks old and going really well. He's a fairly settled bub (as long as you don't wake him!) and the BFing journey is going great guns except for one thing...........he goes to sleep! During the day he feeds every 3-5 hours pretty much but last night, it was every 2 hours and I really believe it's because he's only on the breast for 5 - 10 minutes MAX (more like 5) before he falls asleep. This is during the night. It's really frustrating me because he's waking starving, gulping milk down and promptly going back to sleep. We've tried changing his nappy, stripping him off, not swaddling until the very last minute, tickling his feet and nothing works. Once he's asleep - he's asleep!

This morning at 6am he woke (after feeding at 4am) and DH and I let him cry for a little bit which was very hard but DH suggested that we aren't letting him wake up enough before trying to feed him. It actually worked and he had a good 20 minute feed but he was due for his awake time anway. So while I think DH is onto something as far as letting him wake up more before we feed him, I don't want to leave him crying (there has to be a gentler method) and there is also my DD to consider.....I don't want her being woken up by a screaming baby.

He has about 4 - 5 hours awake during the day which is 1 - 2 hours first thing in the morning, 2-2.5 hours in the early evening before bathtime and then a bit of awake time for each feed but otherwise he's a pretty sleep little man. I've done some research and it seems that this is okayish for a baby his age.

I know little babies have little tummy's but it doesn't make sense to me that he can go 3 - 5 hours during the day but yet 2 hourly overnight.

Any suggestions how to get him more wakeful at nighttimes or any other thoughts/ideas??

Ta in advance :)

Have you tried just giving him a cuddle when he wakes? Instead of just popping him straight on the boob, pick him up, talk to him, cuddle him, soothe him if he gets anxious. Us mothers have a wonderful way of being able to soothe baby just using our voices, our touch. In a newborn it is especially powerful.

If you are in bed at night, he could lie between you and DH, kick his legs up a bit, look up at you? Alternatively have you got a soft nightlight or toy that glows that you wave in front of him?

Just a few idea... hope it helps...

My DS was very sleepy in those first couple of weeks due to a CS and jaundice. He was also a little slow to gain weight so to stop him drifting off LC advised us to:
• strip him down to singlet and nappy for feeds
• tickle his feet
• use a cool facewasher on his forehead or parts of his body (this felt really mean when you were doing it)
• mess up his hair (not stroke it) but twist and turn it
• when he fell asleep, take him off and change his nappy.
• not let him go more than 3 hours without a feed, day or night - this meant waking him.

It was really hard, but we only had to do it for a few weeks until he got bigger and stronger and wasn't so sleepy.

It sounds like he's making up for the long stretches between feeds during the day by waking more frequently overnight. Maybe try waking him for 3 hourly feeds during the day and he may just do the longer stretches at night.

We had feeding issues, DD wasn't gaining much weight and she was a sleepy newborn - also doing 5 hour stretches during the day. I had to wake her every 3 hours for day feeds (plus give her top ups of EBM but that's a whole other story ;) ) and she quickly switched to sleeping longer at night. At around 5 weeks she'd put herself into a routine of asleep at 7pm, feed at midnight, feed at 4am then up at 7am. She quickly adjust to demanding more frequent feeds during the day too. It worked so well which was just a bonus really as we only did it to help with her weight gain and my supply issues, lol!

HTH

PS and a nappy change between breasts really helped us too as DD fell asleep frequently at the breast. I often had to strip her off for feeds too.

Thanks ladies, that is all so helpful! I'm definately going to try and feed him more regularly during the day.

There are some tips in this blog. Beware the Super Sleeper | KORA Organics Blog

I would try more feeds during the day, and also try breast compressions to keep bub interested.

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My DS was very sleepy in those first couple of weeks due to a CS and jaundice. He was also a little slow to gain weight so to stop him drifting off LC advised us to:
• strip him down to singlet and nappy for feeds
• tickle his feet
• use a cool facewasher on his forehead or parts of his body (this felt really mean when you were doing it)
• mess up his hair (not stroke it) but twist and turn it
• when he fell asleep, take him off and change his nappy.
• not let him go more than 3 hours without a feed, day or night - this meant waking him.

It was really hard, but we only had to do it for a few weeks until he got bigger and stronger and wasn't so sleepy.

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This is what we did with DD2, she was born at 36 weeks and was a super sleepy baby

Thanks so much everyone! He's not espy because he's little, he was 4.2kg so a big of a shopper and at 12 days was 300gms over birth weight....he's just sleepy at night when feeding. I did the breast compressions last night Nd it worked fabulously! He did 4 hour stretches and I was thrilled. He also fed 2 hourly from 12pm.

That's great news!