Breastfeeding/Pumping issues with two week old- Help!

[Anonymous]

My two week old latches just fine to the breast but once she gets to the nipple she immediately falls asleep. I have tried everything - removing clothes, wiping her face with a wet cloth, moving her arms and legs, etc. There is absolutely nothing I can do to rouse her no matter how hungry she may appear before going to the breast. I was mortified to find out at her two week check up that she had only gained 1 ounce! I had been nursing for 10 minutes and giving a two ounce supplement of formula and thought she'd be just fine. Now, I've decided to solely feed her from the bottle and have been pumping about 3-4oz in each session but have only found the energy to pump 3 times a day so far. We are alternating between formula and breastmilk. I'm very disappointed that I can't nurse her but have been trying to put the emotional piece aside. I'm worried about her gaining the right amount of weight. I do occassionally put her to the breast to calm her and use a nipple shield and she has no problem latching (but falls asleep) so I don't worry about nipple confusion. My question is, has anyone been in a similar situation and did your baby eventually become alert enough at the breast? Do I need to start increasing pumping sessions now or can I just try to get a second let down in each session and pump longer? It's so tiring to feed her and get her to sleep and then go off and pump when I'm so exhausted myself but I don't want to give up on breastfeeding. I'm so scared that by not having her nurse that my supply will diminish. Some words of wisdom would be much appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Does your baby have a lot of poopy or wet diapers?

Is jaundice an issue?

Has she gained her birth weight back yet? Does she eat every 3 hours or so?

Keep in mind, newborn tummies are very small (the size of a marble) so eating for 10 minutes maybe all she needs...for right now. Plus, if she is super efficient at eating than I wouldn't worry.

[Anonymous]

Try again in 1/2 hour or an hour.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar issue OP and my son eventually become more alert and ate well and I'm still breastfeeding at 7 months. I will say that I pumped after every one of his feedings for about the first month, though, which totally sucked. I would breastfeed and then give him a bottle and then pump every time (this really only worked when I had an extra person to help me so that I could have them feed the bottle while I pumped).

At 1 month, he could finally stay awake longer and take in more and we got it all worked out. If you're talking to your pediatrician about the weight gain and your DC is not in danger, then I think you can rest assured that she will eventually become more alert and be able to stay awake on the breast. I think (unfortunately) that you do need to keep pumping while you get it figured out, though.

[Anonymous]

OP, here - She had plenty of wets and stools and that's what shocked us about the weight gain issue. She was 10 ounces below birthweight when we left the hospital and had only gained one ounce at her check up. She does not have jaundice. We are now feeding her the 3-3.5 ounces every 3 hours and she seems content so I'm hopeful she's gained her weight back by now. I'm meeting with a lactation consultant this week and will hopefully get this sorted out. I suppose I could put her on for 10 minutes and then give her the 3oz supplement just to get the stimulation going at the breast.

[Anonymous]

OP, have you tried squeezing your breast right after she latches on? I don't know if this is true for everyone, but I found that milk would shoot out of my (full) breast if I squeezed it. Having milk come right into her mouth might wake her up, and give her incentive to staying awake for more.

Apologies if you've already tried this--it's just something I wished someone had told me in the days when my DS fell asleep spontaneously at the breast.

[Anonymous]

OP - If you want to continue to BF, I highly encourage you to pump for every feeding to make sure your supply is established. I also dealt with sleepy babies as my twins were born at 37 weeks and very slow to latch on and gain weight. We had to supplement with formula for 3 weeks to ensure they gained weight as it took them that long to get back to their birth weight. I really wanted to give BFing a shot, so I would try to (tandem) nurse them for 10 minutes at the reco of a lactation consultant. Longer than 10 minutes wore them out too much in those first few days. DH or I would then give formula while I pumped. As they got better about nursing and more alert, my milk supply was well established and it got much easier. If you don't have one, get a hands-free pumping bra so you can feed while you pump to save time. Also, it may help to give Pat at the Breastfeeding Center a call http://www.breastfeedingcenter.org/
She is wonderful!

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

This sounds like my son-- we joked that we had a narcoleptic baby. Well, after a visit to the Breastfeeding Center to see Pat (who is as great as everyone says!), we discovered that he had an attached frenulum (tongue-tied). Basically, he wanted to eat, but it was too hard. Pat explained that when breastfeeding is too hard for a baby they will react one of two ways: (1) scream or (2) fall asleep. Anyway, after a quick trip to the pediatric ENT for a frenulum clip (which is not nearly as bad as it sounds), my son was nursing away! Go and see Pat if you can- she was wonderful.

[Anonymous]

I had similar issues with my second who was born at 35.5 weeks due to my placenta previa. She was so small, and I was so large. Anyway, we had some troubles at first. Now, she is 13 months, and we are still bf. I went to see Pat at the Breastfeeding Center as well. I really recommend you get a baby scale so you can see for yourself if your baby is gaining weight. That'll give you more confidence to keep bf - of course I think you should supplement, but I really think you should try getting in more pumping sessions. I tried to pump 6-8 times per day. One lc said that I should try to pump so much that the milk was enough for twins. She said an abundant supply can encourage a baby. Good luck, hang in there. It can be really tough at first, but keep it up, and you'll get through it. My sister visited me for a month after my baby was born, and she was so helpful in getting me fed and napped. Have you got some help? You can always hire extra help if you don't have family. Send us an update when you get a chance. Also, one lc had a great tip. She said to offer the baby the breast during the day and then supplement and pump. But at night when you are all trying to get some sleep, just go straight to the bottle. She said at first, to only offer the breast maybe 3-4 times per day. As they baby gets older, they get less sleepy and able to deal with it.

[Anonymous]

Are you on any meds, such as pain medication from a csection? My doctor and LC suggested to me that this was one reason my newborn was so sleepy. I am not certain but I think even well after I stopped taking the meds it took a while for them to get out of her system and for her to stop being so sleepy. The feeding / pumping / bottle routine is brutal, but it will end one day rest assured, my baby eventually became alert. And in the meantime, the pumping is key to keeping up your supply.

[Anonymous]

I had a really sleepy baby at about 2 weeks, too. And when I discussed it with my doctor, he took me off of the pain medication I was on. It took a couple more days for him to become more alert and start to feed better, but he got there.

[sbergman]

Definitely work with the lactation consultant and see if you can make it work. My daughter did not latch on well and wasn't gaining weight. She had jaundice and needed to gain weight. I also had a c section so I was on pain meds which I stopped. None of it worked for us including pumping and then taping tubes to my breasts so she could nurse that way. So it seemed like I was either pumping or trying to nurse constantly.

Ultimately it didn't work with her, so I made the emotional decision to stop trying so hard to nurse. I still pumped for about 4 months and tried every once in a while, but didn't try to nurse directly very often. Do what you need to for your child and yourself. Sometimes it just doesn't work and you need to be able to not feel guilty about it.

The son I had a few years later who latched on well and we didn't have any problems. I don't know how I made it through that rough time with my daughter.

Good luck, and take care of yourself physically and emotionally.

[Anonymous]

I want to second 14:24's advice regarding pumping at every feeding to protect your supply. It is exhausting but it can be done if you have support at home (meals, housework, moral support, etc) to make it possible. The Breastfeeding Center is worth going to, even if the other LC is helpful. Good luck!