[JediRach]

Ok,
So I am having a heck of a time getting Harper awake enough to eat. She just sleeps all day. The doctor said its normal but I can't get her to stay awake for more than 5 minutes at a time. Heck not even burping her gets her to wake up some times. How do I get her to stay awake? I know I she can eat way more than that because she has on a few rare occasions when we could actually keep her awake. When she is awake we try and make good use of it. I'm scared she is going to lose more weight.

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

The first week or so it was like IMPOSSIBLE to wake Lily too. Everyone would tell me to enjoy it b/c it doesn't last long... but I insisted on BFing every 2 hours to make sure I had a good supply (and boy did/do I! haha) We have video of me holding Lily and singing the Miley song and doing her hands and stuff to the "I got my hands up they're playin' my song... buterflies fly away... I'm noddin' my head like yeahhhh movin' my hips like yeahhh" We could do ANYTHING with her and she didn't want to wake up ... we would undress her and rub her lips with breastmilk, etc. and she still could sleep through it. But I just kept persisting b/c I wanted to get her to feed every 2 hours for the first couple of weeks. I wasn't worried about losing weight... I just wanted to make sure my supply was established.

Lily was born at 7 pounds 8.1 ounces... we left the hospital at 7 pounds 4 ounces... and by her pedi appointment at 6 days old she was back up to her birth weight. So even though she was sleeping all the time she still managed to gain that weight back. Try not to sweat it, and just keep waking her up as much as you can and offering the breast.

[Oriyan]

Some people don't like doing this but when all else fails, i remember being told to strip J.J down to his diaper so that he wakes up and feeds. When they are all snug and warm they will just sleep.

[JediRach]

She was 7lbs 6oz at birth , went down to 6lbs 8oz by the time we left and was up to 7lbs 1.5 oz but today she's really not eating very much especially today for some reason. We try every 2 hours and she gets make 6-7 minutes in if at all.

[Miracle]

I wouldn't be too concerned about the length of time spent on the breast..Cambria was also only nursing for short amounts of time in the beginning weeks but she still gained weight really well.

I have a baby scale that I bought on clearance at Target last year so that helps bring me a lot of comfort when I'm worried about it.

[Frozendesire]

I would strip her down to her diaper and try but don't worry too much! Just keep offering. She's most likely just sleepy from all the action in the past while in her life!!

[Mod-LadyCoconut]

The diaper stripping didn't work for us, and that was in the middle of winter too... but definitely worth trying.

Also, Lily has NEVER been a long nurser... 5-10 minutes tops... she may just be efficient and not need as long. We also only BF on one side at a time and have never had any problems with that, even though you always hear to offer both breasts.

[*krista*]

A diaper change minus the wipe warmer always woke Charlotte right up. Then maybe you could stay in the diaper only until she is fed?

[szczepanski]

We are also one side nursers and Nolan is doing just fine.

He was a sleepy eater too, and even though they are asleep if they are still latched on and sucking, even if every 2 minutes, they are still getting something to eat a lot of the time. I was like Shannon, very adamant about making sure to nurse every 2-3 hours and sometimes he would nurse for like an hour and a half.

I stripped him down to his diaper and did skin to skin, also would nurse him on one side, when he fell asleep I would do a diaper change and then offer the 2nd side and he would nurse for.ev.er. on that side.

The beginning sucks but then they get super efficient and now if Nolan means business he is done in 8-10 minutes!

[freesiangel]

This happened with us and it is what screwed my supply and started Xander's low weight issues. I've had a hell of a time with breastfeeding because all he wanted to do was sleep. NOTHING I did would wake him and he lost a lot of weight, so that sucked. Then when he did stay awake my supply wasn't so great and he was a lazy nurser, so he never gained much. He just NOW got the hang of it and he's over 9 months old!

I wish so badly I would've pumped in the beginning to establish my supply. I know that for 99% of people that isn't recommended, so I didn't and my supply has always been horrible. I barely make enough to feed him... If you don't think the baby is taking much out of you you might want to pump after you nurse just to make sure you have enough. Then in a week or two when the baby is awake more you'll have plenty of milk.

[Mjp121212]

Brayden did this too! I did skin to skin with him, rubbed him vigorously to get him awake, and washed him off with a cool luke warm cloth....that was what our lc advised and it worked! hth!

[*kyle*]

I just wanted to shoot some encouragement your way, and tell you to stick with it, keep trying and don't give up! The first week or two is so difficult but will be worth it. Harper has already gained back a lot of her weight. So obviously she's getting nourishment. She is not going to starve!!! It took a few days for my milk to come in and I remember it was like over a week before Dominic gained his birth weight back. But he did and then he just kept on gaining. If you really feel your supply is in jeopardy then you should definitely pump some bottles to get it back up again. Just throw them in the freezer for a rainy day (or a night where you want some real sleep).

[Mars]

I too want to offer encouragement as well. Hopefully the stripping down to the diaper will work.

Amara slept almost constantly in the early weeks and months but she did get up to feed. She was a quick feeder too, never longer than usually 5 - 10 minutes and rarely longer than 15 minutes.