How can I keep my 1 mo old awake while I nurse him? I've tried changing his diaper in between breasts, taking his pj's off, rubbing his head. I know he can eat about 3.5oz and he isn't getting that out of one breast (because I pump as well).
PS: He doesn't sleep very much. One day he stayed awake for a 12 hour stretch! he probably only sleeps about 12 hours a day total...which is very different from what I have observed in other children and different from what I read would be the case.
try rubbing his neck around his throat so it will arouse him to swallow. maybe change positions every 5-10 minutes. just remember babies will sleep 16-20 hours for awhile! hope it gets easier!
Remember that his stomach is the size of his fist- really little.
Before I sat down to nurse, I would get a wet baby washcloth and put in in a bowl on the table next to my chair. If I couldn't get my son to stay awake and nurse, I would gently sponge him with the cloth and blow on him. I know you will fell kinda mean, but he won't remember. It's funny because he will wake up with a little jerk and start furiously suckling.
My son has never been a big sleeper...at 6 wks he was still sleeping 20 minutes every 2 hours, with one 2-4 hour stretch per day. I know it is exhausting, but you are doing a great job!
Hi Wes, I don't know exactly what you are asking since you first mention you want your child to stay awake but then you are complaining that they don't sleep very much.
I would ask, why do you want your child to stay awake while nursing? Let them close their eyes and enjoy the sensations of being close to you and getting food and stuff. It is a lot for a newborn to concentrate on. I often would be quite glad to be able to use my boob as an almost fail safe way to get the child sleepy. By the way, I actually think there is something in the breast milk that encourages sleep afterward.
With regards to not sleeping welll ---- There may be a couple of things at play here - 1) what is in your diet? Are you drinking any caffeine at all? This could be affecting their ability to sleep. 2) If you are constantly trying to keep the baby awake when he/she wants to sleep (ie. when they nurse) you may be interrupting their natural sleep cycle and from what I have heard, when a baby is not well rested, they actually sleep LESS, since they get overstimulated and stuff.
Something else you might try to increase sleepiness --- warm bath/shower and massage oil all over the baby after, soothing repetitive music or "white noise", swaddling them, or rocking and swaying.
hope this helps and good luck!
I run an 80 member breastfeeding club on Cape Cod and Brianne F. nailed it - babies are much better at drawing out milk than a pump. Your body knows the difference. Many moms cannot pump much, but have an abundance of milk (I knew a mom that had the chubbiest twins you ever saw and they were exclusively breastfed but their mom couldn't pump at all - nothing would come out!)
The body knows when their is a baby snuffling at the breast and when it is an AC powered machine.
I think, honestly, he is fine and you are doing perfect. My guess is he is in fact taking in plenty. And at 1 month old, he has a very tiny tummy.
Well, I'll share the advice I received from my La Leche support worker; first relax...babies are WAY more efficient and getting breast milk out of your breast than you are so he is probably eating fine and second, if he's sleeping he's obviously content so he probably eating fine! Your doing great mom!
The baby will just eat what they need. So don't worry he is fine.
Some babies are really sleepy. My daughter was like this. I had to nurse her naked and keep a cold cloth nearby to gently rub her face to wake her up. The good news is that this phase doesn't last long, and pretty soon he'll be eating until he's full and passing out for a decent stretch of sleep. Good luck. I know that this phase can be really overwhelming.
I would agree with people who have said that babies get out more than the pump. My son went from nursing for 20 mins at a time when he was first born to only 3-5 minutes at 4 months! I started thinking something was wrong, but he was gaining weight just fine and seemed satisfied after nursing. Our pediatrician just said that babies are very efficient! If he's falling asleep, I bet he's getting enough. If he was starving, he would stay awake. Also, you mentioned that he's not sleeping much - maybe it's because you don't let him sleep when he's nursing? Often babies nurse for comfort and to help them fall asleep, not just because they're hungry. Of course, I don't know the full story, but what would happen if you just let him fall asleep and then put him down? Maybe he would sleep more and then you could feed him more when he's awake.
One of the best pieces of advice we got was that we had to "put" our son, who was a bad sleeper, to sleep. Some babies just go to sleep, but not ours! We had to rock, sway, sing, etc. for awhile. Oh and white noise (we used a "static" channel on the tv) worked like magic, as did the old swaddle.
He always fell asleep while nursing too, b/c he was so tired. A friend advised me to only allow about 1.5 to 2 hrs between him waking and putting him back to sleep (wake, diaper, eat, diaper, "play" and then sleep). Putting him on this little cycle helped tremendously. The more babies sleep, the more they sleep (if that makes sense). Good luck!!
What baby wants/needs to eat and what you pump are two very different things. If baby is satisfied, has plenty of wet diapers and poos and is gaining weight he is doing fine. All that said, if you feel he is falling asleep before he gets the job done (as my 2nd did in the beginning) you can rub his cheek when he slows down along with the other tricks.
But bear in mind that right now he is working to build and regulate your supply so there will be times that he won't eat as much because he is working to get your body to make just what he needs for the next few months. He may be full after one breast and other times he'll eat from both. That's really the beauty of breastfeeding-baby eats till he's full not till the bottle is empty!
fyi, bc babies are more effective then pumps, your baby may actually be getting more then you pump.
Both of my babies would fall asleep when I nursed them. I was told if you gently run your finger over the bottoms of their bare feet that stimulation triggers a sucking reflex. It worked with my children. They wouldn't necessarily be awake with eyes open, but they would continue to nurse.
It is difficult to gage how much a baby eats while breastfeeding. I have a friend who was able to pump as much as 8 oz from each breast and still feed her child. I, on the other hand, would have to keep one breast from suckling all night and pump a very full breast in the morning and only get 3 to 4 oz. Then, my baby could attach to that same breast and get his fill.
It is odd that he does not sleep more. Try some cuddling and skin to skin time without nursing to see if that helps him to fall asleep. Just guessing here, but if the closeness of breastfeeding is helping him sleep, then just the cuddling may be something he needs to fall asleep right now. If he gets enough cuddling and sleep away from nursing, then hopefully he will nurse better. Also, my two usually fell asleep nursing when they were full, and would still nurse a bit while sleeping.
Don't be too concerned as long as he has wet and dirty diapers and is growing. Good luck.
3.5oz seems like ALOT for a 1 month old. Perhaps your expectations are too high (for example, maybe he ate that once, but it may not be what he eats all the time). It might make for a rough month or so, but he will get better at it. Keep up the breast feeding. If you pump in the beginning, you ALWAYS make more than they eat, but it is great to save for later!! Since I had to go back to work, I intentionally pumped about every other day just to stockpile milk. Now that I am back to work and have a 3 month old, I pump more milk at work than she eats, but once they get older (over 6 months), you ususally have more difficultly pumping enough to cover what they eat.
I would imagine your two issues are tied together. When babies get overly tired, then they often fight sleep, so put him to sleep when you first start seeing the cues that he is tired. Swaddle him up, rock for a few minutes, then lay him down, even if he is awake. I am pretty sure he will go to sleep and only cry for a minute or two. (This is a good habit to start easy -- trust me!!!)
Another great trick if you have a crier or an overly tired child, is to create a noise distraction. I used the vaccuum and the hairdryer. Put him in his bed, then run the vaccuum cleaner for a minute or two. (I'd also loop the hairdryer around the doorknob-make sure it is away from anything flammable). The noise would knock both my kids out in seconds. This trick will work until their nervous systems develop better - around 6 months or so.
PS- My sister's daughter had that "sleepy baby syndrome". Sounds like you are doing what they recommend. If there is any consolation, it will pass. For now, you just might have to feed more frequently. He will be older VERY soon and this will not be an issue.
