It's common for newborns to sleep in short bursts of 2-3 hours between feeds, both night and day. Also, newborns need to feed every 2-4 hours. And they need your attention during the day and night. Newborn play might just be a quiet cuddle or some time stretching out and kicking on a blanket.
What makes a baby sleepy? Recovering from birth: In the first few days, some babies are sleepy or uninterested in feeding. It's especially true for small babies, after a difficult labour or birth, or if you received drugs for pain relief during labour. Jaundice or an infection may make a baby sleepy.
Breastfed babies feed often, about every 2–3 hours. Bottle-fed babies tend to feed less often, about every 3–4 hours. Newborns who sleep for longer stretches should be awakened to feed. Wake your baby every 3–4 hours to eat until he or she shows good weight gain, which usually happens within the first couple of weeks.
Newborns should not go more than about 4–5 hours without feeding. Signs that babies are hungry include: moving their heads from side to side.
If you are at home and baby still will not wake up to feed and has missed 2 feedings, pump your breasts and feed baby your pumped milk or formula with a slow flow nipple. (at home give ½ to 1.5 oz range = 15-45ml). Call your baby's doctor & report this if it continues for 2 or more feedings.
Wake to Feed, But Don't Schedule
You should still be feeding your baby on demand and when they show hunger cues! La Leche League writes, “Scheduling feedings for a baby who is exclusively nursing frequently throughout the day and night, especially during the first six weeks has been correlated with slow weight gain.”
Chronic sleepiness, though, can sometimes be a cause for concern. If your newborn is regularly sleeping for more than 17 hours a day and it's interfering with her ability to eat at least eight times per day, you should let your pediatrician know.
How Long Can My Baby Go Without a Feed? Newborns can generally go about two and a half hours between feeds. This time slowly extends until about six months when babies can go about four hours between daytime feeds and sleep all night without a feed. But, some smaller babies may need an extra night feed for longer.
Isn't gaining weight or growing as expected. Arches back or stiffens when feeding. Cries or fusses when feeding. Regularly takes a long time to eat (more than 30 minutes)
Your newborn baby's belly is tiny. He or she does not need a lot of milk with each feeding to be full. Your baby may want to eat as often as every 1 to 3 hours. Frequent feeding helps increase your milk supply and gives your baby practice at sucking and swallowing.
Pick your baby up, talk to them, move their arms and legs around, even tickle the bottom of their feet or rub their cheek—whatever works to rouse them.
Once your baby is 2 weeks old and weighs more than when she was born, you will no longer need to worry about waking for feeds. You can then relax and feed in response to your baby's cues.
In the first few weeks of life, breastfeeding should be "on demand" (when your baby is hungry), which is about every 1-1/2 to 3 hours. As newborns get older, they'll nurse less often, and may have a more predictable schedule. Some might feed every 90 minutes, whereas others might go 2–3 hours between feedings.
A baby occasionally sleeping for longer than usual is not a cause for concern unless there are other symptoms. In general, it is uncommon for a newborn to consistently sleep through feedings or to sleep for longer than 19 hours per day unless they are ill or are having feeding difficulties.
Let them get their sleep so they can continue having enough energy to feed well. Don't push them past their awake window just because you want to show them off. Some babies have easy enough temperaments that they will still be able to get to sleep even though they're getting overtired.
Don't worry, baby will ask to be fed as usual as soon as his stomach feels empty again. Your baby may be constipated and appear less hungry than usual, however once this passes everything will go back to normal. Or it may just be that your baby was enjoying the sleep and took longer to wake up.
Lethargy. Your young child is lethargic if she stares into space or won't smile. She won't play at all or hardly responds to you. Your child is too weak to cry or hard to wake up.
If your baby is older than 6 months, and/or weighs more than 15 pounds, then barring any medical issues, they are absolutely capable of sleeping through the night (11-12 hours) without needing a feed. But this is only true if they are able to take in their entire caloric needs during the daytime hours.
The amount of sleep an infant gets at any one stretch of time is mostly ruled by hunger. Newborns will wake up and want to be fed about every three to four hours at first. Do not let your newborn sleep longer than five hours at a time in the first five to six weeks.
Sit your baby on your lap supporting the chin and chest with one hand. Rub or pat the back with your other hand. Tip: Use repeated, gentle pats on your baby's back. Rest your baby faced down on your lap and gently rub or pat the back.
Hiccups are normal and usually don't hurt your baby. In younger babies, hiccups are usually a sign that they need to be seated upright during or after feeding, that feeding needs to be slower for them, or that they need more time before or after feeding to relax.
A newborn should be put to the breast at least every 2 to 3 hours and nurse for 10 to 15 minutes on each side. But rather than worry about duration, it's important to know that the best way to ensure that the baby is getting enough breast milk is by feeding frequency, wet and dirty diapers, and weight gain.
Most newborns spend most of their time asleep – they sleep 14-17 hours in every 24 hours. It's common for newborns to sleep in short bursts of 2-3 hours between feeds, both night and day. Also, newborns need to feed every 2-4 hours. And they need your attention during the day and night.
If your baby isn't hungry anymore, it's possible they'll try to tell you by: Closing their mouth. Turning their head away from your breast or their bottle. Ignoring the bottle or your breast.