help-falling asleep while feeding

katlizabeth

My baby is 5 days old and for the first two to three days, he really struggled with eating.  Then he evened out yesterday and ate every 2-4 hours.  Today he's eaten every hour and cries when he's not at the breast.  When he latches on, he's almost asleep. What can I do?  We've stripped him down and continually "irritated" him by touching him and poking his feet, etc. He won't sleep unless he's sucking at the breast.  Any advice?

meganet22

have you tried a pacifier? he might be looking to suck not eat. if you don't want to use a pacifier you could use your finger.  this is pretty typical behavior for the first few weeks.