How to Wake Your Newborn Up While Nursing
"Is he nursing well?" "Don't be afraid to wake your newborn up while nursing!" Everyone knows a baby's gotta eat! No one knows the struggle of trying to wake a newborn to breastfeed better than a new mom! The doorbell rings, the baby wakes! The dog barks, the baby wakes! Remove the Velcro on the swaddle and, you guessed it, the baby startles and is awake!
But, try to wake your newborn up to take a boob and that little booger is lights out faster than an MMA fighter on a bad night! Because weight gain is something both you and your baby's pediatrician will monitor closely in the first several weeks of life these tips will come in handy for moms who are breastfeeding.
Here's are 6 tips on how to wake your newborn up while nursing!
Strip that baby down!
Get down skin-to-skin, just a diaper on your baby and bare chest for you, belly to belly is best! Doing this facilitates bonding, helps to regulate your baby's temperature, and helps to get the love hormone, oxytocin flowing! The presence of oxytocin means the milk ducts are contracting, your body is relaxing, and feelings of love are deepening your connection to one another. For a newborn being naked with air moving around him is foreign, for that reason it's a great way to wake your newborn!
Get your baby excited!
Do some breast compressions using your hand to express a little milk onto your baby's upper lip or into their mouth. Sometimes this is enough to rev up baby's engine and get her suckling again!
Tickle your baby's naked feet.
There's likely no other place on a newborn as sensitive as their feet. Try tickling their feet, sometimes just one stroke can be enough to engage your baby's grasp reflex and get them interested again. This grasp reflex in the toes lasts only until about 9 to 12 months.
Stroke your baby's head, cheek, and back.
Your baby's adorable naked body is nearly irresistible and it's a good thing because you have all the kisses and cuddles to bestow upon them! While you're soaking up the smell of your sweet newborn gently stimulate their scalp, back, and their cheek with gentle strokes. Try gently stroking your newborn in different areas to see what she responds best to!
Try for a lap burp!
Move your baby away from your warm familiar body and place them in a seated position on your lap and try for a burp! You don't have to actually get the burp, sometimes your don't even need to pat his back. This position puts the baby in a upright, alert position and encourages wakeful moments.
Wipe your newborn down with a wet wipe.
Now we're pulling out the big guns. I know it sounds a little--mean, but I promise it's not! A temporarily fussy, but well-fed baby is better than a quiet baby not making gains at weight checks. A cool (not cold or hot) cloth or wet wipe used to wipe down your newborn's body works wonders. On the plus side, you can use this as an opportunity to give your baby a bird bath and now your multi-tasking.
Tried all the things?
Not sure you'll never wake your newborn up while nursing? Convincedyour baby is competing for a World Record in sleep? Sometimes you can do all the things and nothing works. Exclusively pumping is the next best thing, ya know, if you want that option! If not, thank goodness for infant formula!
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Happy Birth & Parenting!
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