My baby is sleeping so hard it is almost impossible to wake her to eat!! I am breastfeeding. She is 3 days old

Question

I need help pls!!! My 3 day old daughter is almost impossible to wake to feed! My wife is breastfeeding and her breast are extremely sore and full of milk. We have tried everything to wake her sometimes. It shouldnt be that hard to wake her. She practically sleeps all day and feeds maybe twice a day. I need some help!!!!

Answer 1

You need to be trying to wake her about every 2 hours at this age. If she doesn't wake up and feed and sleeps all day, she may not have the energy to wake up and feed.

Try undressing her and then wiping her face with a cool, wet cloth.

Lay her in your lap and move her limbs around. Gently bicycle her legs.

Keep the lights in the room dim. Babies don't like bright lights and will close their eyes to shut it out, which makes it easier for them to go to sleep.

Tickle her feet.

Rub her forehead, right between her eyes, in clockwise circles.

Change her diaper.

Walk your fingers up her spine while holding her in the nursing position.

Some of those things may help to wake her up. You can try hand expressing or pumping just a little bit of milk and then feeding that to her with a spoon, a medicine syringe or a dropper. The calories from a couple of swallows of milk may give her the energy to wake up and feed.

Call a Lactation Consultant or a La Leche League Leader. A LLL Leader will almost certainly come to your home to help with such a young baby who isn't feeding.

Answer 2

First of all, calm down! I know you are new to this and understand. The baby is only three days old. She is still in an unfamiliar place and her body needs time to adjust to the new things around her. When she begins to feel hungry she will cry! Try to nurse her as much as possible but don't disturb her too much if she is sleeping deeply. I was terrified those first few days as I also didn't understand why my baby slept so much. But everything is perfectly fine. Don't listen to the nonsense that she is dehydrated etc etc. The pediatrician will advise you if consulted. Use a breastpump or express the milk regularly to keep it fresh and to avoid infection. When starting to feed remember to switch breasts every fifteen minutes and also if the baby begins to sleep again while nursing (this is VERY common) don't get alarmed or upset ! Gently rub her little feet to wake her up. She will be fine. Dont worry.

Answer 3

This is not uncommon. Try using a cold wet washcloth to wake her until she wakes and then try to feed her. She will be easier to keep awake after about a week or so. Have your wife get a breast pump and she can pump her breasts now and save the milk so that you can help with the feeding too.

Below is a link with storage times for breastmilk.

Congratulations on your baby!

Answer 4

You do need help! Sometimes babies sleep through one or two feedings not twelve. Stimulation is the key here, a baby massage, usually on the back and feet, stimulates the child so much that he/she wakes. When this does not work, try a nice bath, and wash the hair/ top of head, this also stimulates the child. Sometimes just opening her mouth or rubbing the nipple on her lips will have her latch on without even waking.

Answer 5

my daughter was hard to wake up in the hospital the doctor told me cause birth is as exhausting for them as it is the mother. The nurse had me rub her face with a damp wash cloth to wake her up worked half the time. But if she is really not waking call your Doctor and take her in. And have your wife pump even if she has to do by hand only way to help the pain and to keep her producing milk for when little one does wanna eat.

Answer 6

I would definitely pump some of it because that pain in horrible. Have you tried giving her a bath or rubbing her face with a cold wet towel? Maybe playing with her feet. Make sure she's not dehydrated by seeing if her soft spot is sunken in or she's having at least 6 wet diapers a day. I would only recommened you go to the hospital if you think she is dehydrated. I took my daughter after 8 hours of not eating. They took her through literally 15 or so pricks in her heel to take blood. They did a spinal tap and had to start and remove an IV twice and that's before she was admitted. You don't want them to go through that. It was really painful for us to watch. They kept her there for 3 or 4 days just to say she didn't want to eat.

Answer 7

Newborns sleep alot, this is not really a big deal. Use a breast pump and freeze the milk. Babies normally let you know when they are hungry! I'm about ready to have my 4th and i've never went by the "wake them ever 2-4 hours" theory. Good Luck.

Best suggestion is if your really worrie about it, go call the doctor. There is always one on call. You can even call the ER and express your concerns, there are nurses there that can help you.

Answer 8

My daughter sleep through the night right away, so her doctor had has undress her to try & feed her, that to did not work, than they told us to flick her foot that also did not work. The first doctor my daughter saw was very old fashion as far as feeding schedule. We took her to a new doctor to see if there was a problem we were tols as long as she was gainng weight (not losing) to let her sleep, babies know when they are hungery & will let you know when they need to eat, we took their advise she continued to gain weight and today is a extremmly healthy 4 year old. Moral of the story she will wake when she is hungrey,if she looks as if dhe is losing weight (remember babies lose weight the first week that is normal) than have her see her doctor

Answer 9

Feed when hungry and use a breast pump- is she gaining wt?? Is wife taking drugs that would make her drowsy?? that woud effect the baby- babies usually eat at least every 4-6 hours- ask the baby md-to be on the safe side-D

Answer 10

I really think you should consult a physician. Babies should not only feed twice a day especially when breast feeding. You wife should pump her breast in the mean time as to not dry her breasts. That is why she is in so much pain. Your baby should be seen by a doctor!!!!!!