Feeding help PLEASE!

Hi ladies...

I need advice, my Noah is a limp noodle when it comes to eating. He is sleepy and lethargic and sucks a little and falls asleep. He hasn't gained weight at the rate we would like to see. Two weeks out he is just shy of his birthweight and his sister Sophie has surpassed him by leaps and bounds (she was the small one).

We undress him, change his diaper, have tried the breast and the bottle with EBM... no difference. I am worried.

I know others have sleepy babies too.. any advice, should I be worried?

Our pedi wasn't too concerned at this point but wants to see him for f/u in a week and has cleared Sophie for 2 weeks.

Please help!

Thanks so much,
Anna

 

JT was our sleepy eater and we undressed him and blew on his face ALOT!! It seemed so mean but it was the only way to get him back to sucking...usually in his sleep! Good luck, it can be quite frustrating!

 

We had that too. With my last singleton in the NICU they had a wet cloth that you were to gently rub along their cheekbone worked like a charm for that baby but for my twins not so much. Just keep at it, I hope it all works out and he starts to "wake up" soon.

 

I used a cold wet washcloth & I think I may have driven the nurses in the hospital crazy b/c they were NEVER in their little shirts or swaddled to eat. If they couldn't stay awake after all of that, I'd also:

-squeeze my breast a little bit to get milk in their mouth as it would usually startle them into eating
-jiggle my breast a little to startle them
-semi-vigorously rub their shoulders/head (not like a massage- massage is relaxing!)
-turn off the lights- babies are used to dark & too much light makes them sleepy initially
-change their diapers midway through the feeding
-burp them midway through the feeding

WOW- I guess I was kinda 'mean'! Ah, well. :laughing:

Good luck. I do hope they wake up soon for you. I also hope they don't get their days & nights mixed up for you!

 

I had sleepy eaters too and did as the pp mentioned. I would undress them and blow on their faces. I would also do the cold washcloth just to get them to finish the feed. I would also, what seemed like, continuously move them (shift them around or adjust my position) around while on the breast just to keep them awake!! Whatever worked at the point!! :laughing: He'll get there soon! gl

 

Don't be too worried, just keep monitoring, that's all doc is doing by setting sooner followups-just tryin to make sure noah keeps goin in the right direction. My husband would tickle our little girl, who lost 10 ounces w/in days after birth. We were going to doc every other day for about a week they were so worried. He would really rough her up-tickle, rub back of neck, legs, etc. She would get mad and cry and then he'd give bottle-worked almost every time! Hed also squeeze nipple and squirt milk in her mouth to get calories in her(she would swallow, just didn't have energy to suck) Dr told us no breastfeeding because she'd have to work too hard for it. Seriously, she is so chunky now(15lbs13oz!) At 6 mnths! This too will pass-he just needs more training and xtra pushing-he'll come around Anna!

 

I would strip mine down to a diaper. Massage their jaws. Did your Ped give you any ideas?