sleepy newborn/lazy eater
My son was born at 36 weeks and had some respiratory issues and hypoglycemia after birth that delayed us from nursing for over 24 hrs. When we did start he wouldn't latch on w/o a nipple shield (we've overcome that thankfully). He was quite jaundiced initially requiring phototherapy and got dehydrated and lost >10% of his birth weight. As a result we have been supplementing with bottles (almost all were pumped colostrum, only about 3 formula bottles). Now his bili is down and I am aggressively trying to get him to the breast (every 2-3 hrs around the clock), but he is such a sleepy baby! He will nurse 7-10 min on one side and then is OUT no matter what I do to stimulate him (undress, change diaper, wet rag on his face, etc). Sometimes I can wake him up but then he's still uninterested in nursing more. I have never been able to get him to take the second breast. I can't say he's getting "enough" from one breast, b/c as of yesterday he still wasn't gaining weight back (we go back Thurs), but I'm keeping a close eye on his output and he had 8 wet diapers yesterday. We supplemented with about 4 oz breastmilk from a bottle total yesterday. I am pumping after he nurses, but then sometimes about an hour after feeding he acts starving again, so I end up giving him pumped milk from a bottle.
I guess I just need some advice/encouragement. Anybody else's kid have similar issues? what did you do to overcome it? Should I just continue what I"m doing and assume as he grows and gets stronger he'll stay awake for longer? Should I keep pumping after he eats (trying to get my supply up) even though sometimes an hour later he's acting hungry? If I pump I won't be able to offer him the breast at that time.
Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Maybe I need to call the LC?
thanks ya'll
Re: sleepy newborn/lazy eater
My DD was born at 37 weeks and had resp issues. She was in the NICU for 9 days and was given a bottle of breastmilk for 2 weeks. I had the hardest time getting her to breastfeed but now have been doing it for 2 weeks. We started with the shield initially but have weaned off of that. I stopped giving her any bottles until she was more efficiant at nursing. She nurses anywhere from 5-40 minutes and when she falls asleep or is done there is no getting her back on. She never takes a second breast but I have some oversupply issues. She also will fall asleep while nursing and then be starving 20 minutes later.
It was really hard after measuring a bottle to let that go because now we don't know how much she is getting but wet diapers and weight gain have been good. It is so challenging but I think in time you will get to know what to do exactly. I keep telling myself it's only been two weeks when I have issues! If he doesn't have problems switching back and forth I would keep pumping I think in time he will get it and wake up a bit more.