Waking sleepy baby?

[ladybug15]

Hi ladies! I've never posted on this board before, but I'm brand new to this breastfeeding thing and could use some of your excellent advice! I have a wonderful 2 week old, and we're doing fairly well with establishing our BFing relationship. However, she is a very sleepy baby (which is something I never thought I'd complain about!). So far, my supply hasn't been overly affected by her sleepiness, but I'm worried that it will eventually. So, my questions to you are: At this stage, what is the maximum time you would suggest letting her sleep before waking her (both during the day and night)? Do you have any other ways of waking a sleeping baby? I've tried all of the usual techniques like undressing her, rubbing her feet, pestering her, changing her diaper, changing positions, using a cold washcloth, etc. and there are times when she still sleeps right through all that!!

Sorry for the book! Thanks in advance for any advice you can give!

[peach]

I don't have a lot of advice because it sounds like you're doing all that I did for my sleepy baby. I was feeding LO every 3 hours at two weeks, but I'm no expert in that department. How cold is the washcloth you're using? I had to go for really cold, like sometimes using an ice cube on her feet... I felt terrible because it would make her cry a bit, but I couldn't deal with the idea of her not eating for long periods of time. Also, she was super sleepy up until about 2 weeks and then she started to come out of her baby coma and wakes herself up when she's hungry.

[Shoe Crazy Me]

If her weight gain is good I wouldn't worry about waking her at night at this point. Agree with PP, I would wake every few hours during the day. My super sleppy LO had jaundice which made him even sleepier. He wasn't gaining weight so I had to pump after each feeding and give him a bottle. He could stay awake for the bottle, go figure!

[flcl]

DS was a really sleepy baby in the beginning too. Actually, I totally take that back... he was only super sleepy whenever I was BFing him. Falling asleep while nursing is really common. We would always start with undressing him to his diaper, change him to a fresh diaper, do skin on skin, lots of tickling, etc... Most of the time, none of that worked. Fortunately, he grew out of that stage after a week or so. DS was a BIG baby so I never woke him at night (but he woke on his own every 3-4 hours anyways) and I would feed him every 2-2.5 hours during the day (again, he usually woke on his own). GL... the beginning can be pretty tough and it sounds like you guys are off to a great start!

[nursefrizz]

I would rub under DDs chin when she was nursing to get her to keep going. She's usually keep nursing while she was sleeping this way. I'm pretty sure she wasn't awake for a full feeding until She was probably a month old.

[casey]

Welcome and congratulations!

If she is back to birthweight...
Start being louder and making things brighter every 2-3 hours during day. Wake by 3.
Let her sleep as long as she wants at night.

If not back to birthweight, up every 3 at night.

She won't be so sleepy long.

[lindzoid]

I agree wit pp, but wanted to add enjoy the sleep while you can!!

[ladybug15]

Thanks so much for all the advice ladies! It's great to hear that this is just a stage and won't last forever!!