So I have another question! My almost 2 week old son really sleeps a lot. We have to wake him up to nurse him almost 99% of the time. In the middle of the night it is a fight to get him to nurse. We spend like 20 minutes trying to wake him up enough to nurse and then another almost hour of nursing.
Should we just be letting him sleep if he is that uninterested in nursing at the time and wait until he asks for it? I just worry that he'll get dehydrated.
Thanks.

My DS is still really sleepy too. At about 2 weeks, they go through a growth spurt and are extra sleepy. I wake him up to eat during the day and he'll wake himself up a couple times at night to eat. I don't know how it works with nursing, though, since your milk supply is affected when they sleep through a feeding.

I keep waking him until you have a doctor's visit and have him weighed. If he's gained enough weight, your doctor might say it's okay to let him sleep at night as long as he's getting enough during the day. I breastfed mine and was told that a minimum of 8 feedings is needed at that age. You're to make sure he eats every 2-3 hours during the day and I allowed for one 5 hour stretch if they were sleeping at night.

My second daughter was a huge sleeper. I had to wake her for feedings as well. Since I was told I could let her go for one 5 hours stretch, I nursed her at 10 p.m. and then woke her at 3 a.m., then let her go back until 6. During the day I fed her every 3 hours. I remember taking her to her 2 or 4 week visit (don't remember, but I'm thinking it was the 2 week) and her weight gain was good, so her doctor said to let her go as long as she wanted to at night. But check with your pediatrician.

Well he already had his 1 week visit on Monday. He's already gained back his birth weight plus 3oz. He has another visit this coming monday so we'll see what the dr says then.
I am not too concerned about my milk supply, I am producing crazy amounts of milk.

0-3 months babies sleep 16-20 hours a day on average. Average liquid intake is 3-6 oz BM (breast milk) every three hours. So as long as your child is at least consuming 24 - 48 oz of milk a day you are good. I had to pump because I was extremely ill after my sons birth. However, this allowed me to follow my son's milk intake and I was able to keep track of fluid intake.

Dehydration becomes a concern when the child stops wetting diapers on a regular basis. Early signs are dark strong smelling urine. Some babies sleep longer at night (for all those lucky parents) and eat like piggies during the day. Maybe your child will eat every 2-3 hours during the day while sleeping longer at night.

Best of luck.
MG

My daughter slept like 22 hours a day when she was 2 weeks old. I wouldn't worry. I remember the doctor saying to only expect her awake 2 -4 hours a day.

Just a little update. Last night we feed Tanner at 9pm and around 10pm he was in a very deep sleep. So we went up and put him to bed and went to bed ourselves. We set out alarm for 2am as the cut off for him being fed. Well he woke up himself a little after 1am. Let me just say how much easier it is to feed a baby that woke up themselves rather than trying to force a sleeping baby to nurse. We finished up around 2:30am and set the alarm again for 6:30 am and sure enough he again woke up just a little before the alarm. He nursed really well again since he decided he wanted to eat himself. Back to sleep around 7:30 and he slept until 10am when he woke up again to eat. Still lots of wet diapers during the night and so far this morning.
It was so wonderful how well he slept when I wasn't forcing him to wake up. I guess he no longer needs to eat ever 2-3 hours. We are setting 5-6 hours as the cut of point but he seems to let us know just a little before then.
Thanks so much for all the help, from a nicely rested Mom!!!

It was so wonderful how well he slept when I wasn't forcing him to wake up. I guess he no longer needs to eat ever 2-3 hours. We are setting 5-6 hours as the cut of point but he seems to let us know just a little before then.
Thanks so much for all the help, from a nicely rested Mom!!!

Check with your doctor when you go on Monday. I think 5-6 hours all day is a long time, mostly for your milk supply. You may have lots now, but you will diminish quickly. The goal is 8 feedings per day. At 5-6 hour stretches, that's only 5 feedings a day. Even formula-fed babies are 4 hours stretches. I think a 5-6 stretch is fine at night, but for your milk supply and his nurishment, I think you need to get him to the breast more frequently during the day.

I'm not, by any means a breastfeeding expert, but I nursed three babies for a year and my best friend is a labor and delivery nurse and she teaches bf to new moms...and me. But I would check that with your babies doctor when you go.

We only let it go that long at night. We do 3 hr streches during the day. I have been keeping count the last couple of days and we are hitting 8 per day sometimes with a short 9th feeding in there.

We only let it go that long at night. We do 3 hr streches during the day. I have been keeping count the last couple of days and we are hitting 8 per day sometimes with a short 9th feeding in there.

That's sounds good. That's exactly what I did.