Baby falling asleep on breast

F

FutureHKmom

Registered User
My 11 week old baby seems to really like to fall asleep on the breast while eating. He doesn't sleep a lot during the day - so that is part of the reason why I think he so easily falls asleep on the breast. So this makes each feeding session really long (45 minutes or more). Somebody suggested that I should limit the feeding session to 30 minutes and that then the baby will learn eventually that he needs to concentrate on eating for those 30 minutes while he is on the breast instead of sleeping. Do people think that is a good idea? Any other ideas on how I can get the baby to concentrate on eating? Thanks.
 
Hi FutureHKmom,

You don?t say what your baby?s weight gain is like ? so I?m going to assume he is doing Ok. (If not then sleeping at the breast needs to be addressed differently.)

Just about all feeds end with the baby sleeping for the first three months of the baby?s life. This is normal and to be expected. So long as the baby is graining weight and doing well it isn?t necessary to keep waking the baby up and get him to have long feeds. Let him sleep. It may be that he wakes up earlier for the next feed but generally this is easier to live with than constantly waking a sleepy baby.

Sometime around four months the baby gets more wakeful and then some of the feeds will end in sleep but others will end in playing ? usually with the mother?s face.

I would encourage you to attend a LLL meeting if you can make it. The Hong Kong schedule is available at LLL-HK Meetings Here you will meet other mothers who are breastfeeding and see the wide range of normal for young babies. There is a nice article by Diane Wiessinger called Why La Leche League at LLL-HK Why LLL which explains what to expect at a LLL meeting.

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
I was given the advice to walk my fingers up and down my baby's spine when he falls asleep. It really wakes them up, even if it's just for a moment. Kind of like jumpstarting a car.
Other ways to keep the baby awake: make sure the baby is not all dressed and maybe sit in an airconditioned room, tickling, cold coth to wipe the baby's face, foot or other body parts, blowing in its face, switching breasts often.
I don't know if limiting the feeds to a certain time will help you because your baby might just get hungrier sooner and do the same thing again.
 
my baby does that too, but in the 45 - 60 mins he might be in the half asleep mode and still suckling so I let him be. It doesn't happen every time but like you, usually in the day. I figured he'll grow out of it eventually (as he's starting to be more and more alert)
 
I hold my baby's hand or foot and gently apply pressure through their palm or under the foot if I know they haven't finished their feed yet.
 
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