How much nursing is necessary in the first 24hr?

My sister just had her second baby, and all is well with both of them. Baby nursed well right after birth, and then again a few hours later, and then she slept for about 8 hours or so. The nurses on the maternity floor were concerned and got my sister to try to nurse her frequently, but the baby was just not interested. She nursed well again later on in the evening, and then slept for a number of hours. At 1 AM, the nurse came and woke my sister up to get her to try to nurse the baby again. Baby was not interested, but the nurse persisted for an hour, unwrapping the baby, rubbing formula on her lips, etc. :eek: My sister was exhausted, having laboured through the night the night before, and finally the nurse gave up. Half an hour later, the baby woke up, and did want to nurse, for the next 5 hours (and the nurses suggested formula and sugar water.:eek: ). Not a good night.
My question is, is all that fuss necessary? It seems to me that it isn't. The baby knew how to nurse, but the nurses were concerned that she hadn't eaten every four hours. My sister had a baby before, and knew how to nurse her, and what to watch for, to make sure she was getting enough. Besides, there isn't any milk there for a the first couple of days anyway! Colostrum is important of course, but isn't demand feeding sufficient for the first while, at least? Is there any research on this?

I don't think that all that fuss is necessary. The baby is obviously feeding well. I think its pretty normal for them to be sleepy for the first 24hours anyway. When I had my baby, she slept for ages, and didn't feed too much, but the nurses weren't worried. Just said to keep an eye on her colour to make sure she wasn't going jaundice and an eye on her nappies.
Congratulations to your sister, I think she is doing a wonderful job! Tell her to tell the nurses to bugger off lol

I don't see what the problem is, i thought after labour the baby can sleep for hours at a time, After i had Charlotte she wanted to feed all the time, and feed for 2 hours at a time, babies know what to do, just let them do it.

Hamish and I were woken to feed in hossy. He wasn't attaching well, and was losing temp, plus he was really, really little, so I just went with it. I expressed and fed for the first 30hrs or so - He got about 6 feeds I spose?? It was nice to get home anjd let him sleep :)

I don't think all that was necessary either....mum and bub obviously know what they're doing.
When I was in hospital having DS they hung a little chart on the end of his cot that I had to fill in every time he fed and for how long (as well as wees and poos LOL). DS fed really well from birth and had alot of colostrum in his first couple of feeds, but there were times where he slept through feeds and like h*ll I was going to wake him....so I lied and told them he'd fed when he hadn't.
He's my baby and I'm the one that has to deal with him at home when the nurses have screwed up his sleep cycles (we were in there for a week after a c/section). Of course I was confident he was getting enough to eat or I obviously would have allowed them to wake him. But I think waking them to feed every 4 hours is stupid. I don't want to eat by the clock and neither do babies I presume.

Wow - that seems ridiculous. Obviously both mum and bub knew what they were doing in the nursing department and surely if bub was sleeping for long periods it's because bub had had it's fill. I'd be absolutely furious if someone started rubbing formula and sugar water on my baby's lips if i was b/f!!! If the nurses were in fact concerned about stimulating the breasts to encourage the milk to come in they could have suggested expressing every 3-4 hrs rather than disrupt bub and distress mum.

Mama of 2: can I ask what hospital this happened in?

Jovie slept for 10 hours post birth and didn't want to feed at all. My midwives came in every 4 hours to encourage trying & if Jovie didn't take it they didn't push it. After that run she fed for a few hours on & then an hour off for the next day, catching up ;)

Thanks ladies. That is pretty much what I thought too. If she was a first time mum, or if she didn't seem to have a clue about feeding her baby, that MIGHT be different, but everything was fine. The baby is also exhausted after birth, I think, so why push a schedule in those first hours?
BTW, the hospital is here in Ontario, lilprecious. No worries for you. ;)
Anyways, I spent the afternoon with her yesterday, and they seem to be doing well.

Gad to hear they are doing well depite that initial hiccup!

OOh - I should add that Hamish was woken to feed cause they were having to do obs on his temp, so I fed at the same time.
At one point his temp was down around 35.8 so we had to put extra clothes on him and put him in bed with me - so that was the main reason for waking, and better than him being taken away from me or put under a heat lamp!