Baby asleep at the breast

Little_flower · Jan 22, 2010 1:02PM

Hi ladies,

Need some advice to help with a baby who falls asleep on the breast. Even if I have him awake before I start, as soon as he gets the boob in his mouth he falls asleep! I've tried stripping him to his vest, blowing on him, tickling his feet etc. This keeps him sucking but I can't keep him awake. I don't want him to associate feeding at the breast with sleeping, it also makes it difficult to know if he actually finished feeding or just couldn't stay awake! He's feeding every 2-3 hours during the day so I think/hope he's getting enough.

Do you think this is a problem? Any suggestions on keeping him awake?

Thanks,
Elle and Angus (11 days)

mummyGG · Jan 21, 2010 2:12PM

hey elle - yr bubba is still so young and it is hard work for a bubba to feed - all that sucking.

dont worry about bad habits just yet. my baby at that age wld feed for 45 mins with a 15/30 min break and sleep on me etc etc....i actually wasnt sure when she was feeding/sleeping. make sure you get him weighed once a week to make sure he is gaining.

i wld say let him sleep if he is gaiing weight!!! shame to wake him.

my baby is 4 mths now and feeds every 2 hrs and finishes her feed in 4 mins flat - no time to fall asleep lol.

do you see what i am saying? things change all the time - so dont worry about bad habits as yr baby will change weeky!! xxxxxxxx ggod luck xxxx and i found just going with the flow really helped me not worry xxxxx

pbob · Jan 21, 2010 3:57PM

Sounds like you're doing a fab job! Dont worry about lo falling asleep, as Mrskittyboo says-it's hard work!!

It's far too early to worry about badhabits, just enjoy the snuggles! Something i used to do was slowley draw my nipple away from lo's mouth, if he was flat out asleep, he'd let go, if he was still hungry, he'd latch back on.

Your lo will go through lots of phases. Mine fell asleep until on the boob until he was 3/4 months. It then became a fight to get him to stay on as he was SO busy nosing at the world around him!

MrsKb's dead right, it will change from week to week so just enjoy and go with the flow xx

WoWbabies · Jan 22, 2010 10:10AM

hi, its normal for babies to close their eyes when feeding, it is a tough job. as long as lo is still drawing long hard sucks there isn't anything to worry about (quick short sucks tho, mean that lo is most likely very asleep and just comfort sucking, u'll need to remove baby from the boob if this happens as comfort sucking can cause u to become quite sore). if the sucking starts to fade off then u can gently rub the palm of thier hand, or stroke the back of the head (just above the neck) this will help to stimilate the sucking motion again. enjoy the 'easy' feeding at the mo, once they start becoming more awake during a feed thats when it becomes difficult to keep thier attention on the boob as anything and nothing will distract them. hth xx

Little_flower · Jan 22, 2010 12:02PM

Thanks all for your replies.

I won't worry about it and just enjoy the feeding and cuddles! I felt there was sometimes conflicting advice from different midwifes while I was in hospital about how often he should feed but the one thing they all stressed was not letting him fall asleep on the boob. It can become a little confusing and I just want to get it right! I guess as you say, If my LO is putting on weight then there's probably nothing to worry about!

Thanks again. x

pbob · Jan 22, 2010 1:02PM

Just go with your instincts, if it's very important to you that he doesn't fall asleep then all you can do is try by tickling etc but I really do believe that it's far too early for lo to get into bad habits. You'll get conflicting advice about pretty much every aspect of bringing up your baby (well I have anyway!) just go with what feels right xx

Baby asleep at the breast

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