Falling asleep while BF

[HopefulDad]

Hi all,

We've got a 2wk old in the house. This is our second child, however the first there were major issues with BFing so we didn't have much of a go at it back then. This time around things seem to be going better ...

However, the little critter loves to fall asleep during feeding. Its not like he is full/content - the minute I remove him he wakes and gets cranky. Eventually we repeat the process enough times until he is full/content (i.e. doesn't get cranky or stays asleep) but it is a long, drawn out process ...

Just pondering what may be causing this and whether we can reduce it happening so often? Interestingly he doesn't do it when bottle fed (from expressed milk or from formula top-ups - still having a few milk issues) so we wonder if its because its a nice cozy spot near mum when he's feeding ...

[austmum]

I would say yes it's because He is warm comfortable and can feel and smell his mother. Very normal. When this happened to me with one of my bubs in hospital they took his clothes off so he wasn't so warm.

[bet3]

Cud be because it's harder to get milk out of ur boobies rather than a bottle so it's tiring and he falls asleep, or yes, because it is so comfy in ur arms... Have u tried stripping him off a bit b4 u feed? Or tickling his feet?

[bellieellie]

When I first read the topic I thought it meant you were falling asleep bf.. Lol I thought I'm not alone


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[SassyMummy]

Lol Bellie... I used to at night (a very light sleep though, not a proper nice sleep).

OP, all mined wanted to do was sleep too. One thing I found that helped was wetting my finger and wiping it just across her brow. It usually woke her and she'd continue to suckle.

If your baby is happy to just fall asleep, then it's probably not starving... it probably enjoys the closeless to your partner and just wants to chill. I mean, imagine if you'd found a nice cosy spot then everyone kept waking you. You'd be annoyed too, right?

[wobbleyhorse]

My son used to do that - I found rubbing his feet or head usually got him sucking again. It also turned out he was tongue tied so was getting really worn out from the effort he was putting in - may be worth checking out.

Or like others have said it could just be he loves the cuddles with mum :-)

[share a book]

My nephew was the same, my brother would flick his feet while he was having a feed. They were told to do that and it worked.

[Rose&Aurelia]

at that age i used to do a nappy change mid feed. the undressing usually woke dd up enough to get her to feed more strongly and then when she fell asleep back on the boob I could either put her in the carrier/pram to sleep.

The recommendation is feed/play/sleep but I did feed/change/play/feed/sleep.

[katiekat]

My DD did the same thing, we basically had to strip her to nothing but a nappy for every feed until she got better. The midwives recommended tickling the ears and blowing on her face. Babies have a reaction when they are crying where if you puff air in their face they will swallow, it shocks them a bit. I have heard though that babie's feet are full of nerve endings and very sensitive, so I would more often run a finger up the middle of her foot than flick it.

[missie_mack]

When in doubt swap sides. It is pretty normal and sometimes they just want the comfort.