Baby falls asleep on the breast

[munchkin80]

Any advice please!!! my 8wk old baby keeps falling asleep on the breast as soon as the flow slows down and she has to suck.
She is always topped up with formula as I don't think she's getting enough of the breast, and I don't have the patience to keep waking her and trying to make her suck, and even when she does wake up, it seems she's only playing with my nipple like a dummy... ultimately I would like to cancell out the formula but while this is happening I can't... are there any sure fire ways of making her eat her full on the breast efficently without sleeping and mucking around?? :australia-flag-06:

[LilMissnBoo]

Sounds like she is getting lazy :) It is much easier for a baby to suck from a bottle than it is from a breast.

I would cut down on the top ups for a start. Start by reducing the mls you give and maybe look at cutting out the bottle after a couple of feeds. The more you breastfeed, the more milk you make. Also demand feed, whenever she is hungry just put her to your breast. Let her feed for as long as she likes, whenever she likes.

HTH :)

[Fuchsia!]

I would get rid of the bottles to begin with. They will mess with your supply and confuse bub.

Is she putting on weight still and having wet nappies? If so then i wouldn't be worried. Babies drink what they need and thats it. Both my boys used to feed for about 5mins and go to sleep and they were fine.

[lucysummers]

Can I ask why you are topping up? Is it just becuase of the falling asleep? DD always fell asleep on the breast for the first couple of months...constant stroking of chin, feet, hands to get her to start sucking again!! It meant slightly more regular feeds to start with but if you top up the stimulation of the breast won't be there and so your supply won't adjust to what she needs.

Try to cut out the bottles if you can and just offer more breast feeds if you can.

[oleander]

I would cut out the bottle top ups. She would belazy because the milk flows from the breast during letdown and then she knows she dosent have to work for it because she will get some free-flowing milk (the bottle).

Also your supply will decrease with the bottle feeding and unless you want to wean her to the bottle, Id stop using them.

[munchkin80]

[QUOTE=lucysummers;4433712]Can I ask why you are topping up? Is it just becuase of the falling asleep?

I didn't get into breastfeeding until 2 weeks ago, and had been expressing and bottle feeding right from the start, I decided to try from the breast again and it worked so here we are, she's on 4hrly feeds and sleeping through the night so I don't want to jeppardise that by going back to demand feeding, but do want to get her on 100% breastfeeding cos it's best for her and easier for me, something tells me there is no easy fix with the falling asleep, but thought I's ask anyway...