Gentle Waking for Sleepy Newborns
“Never wake a sleeping baby” is good advice for a baby who is breastfeeding, already back to birth weight, and growing
very well. However, occasionally parents are faced with a baby who seems too good to be true – these babies seem to
want to sleep virtually all the time. Whatever the reason, these little ones would rather sleep than eat. And that’s NOT
good! Babies need to breastfeed 8-12 times a day, with 8 good feeds at minimum.
If it has been 3 hours since the start of the last feeding and baby is still sound asleep, check off the following as you try
to wake her up:
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Unswaddle/unwrap her from any blankets
Tickle her feet and call her name
Lay her down and gently roll her from all the way on one side, to all the way her other side
Hold her along your forearms, head in your hands, feet at your elbows, and lift her from nearly horizontal to
nearly vertical and back, several times
Undress her down to her diaper
Change her diaper (even if she doesn’t need it!)
Use a cool wet washcloth on her body
Sometimes she wakes up and feeds well – no problem!
…Or maybe she finally responds, crying, and you put her to the breast, only to have her fall asleep as soon as she
touches the breast. What an exercise in frustration!
Sleepy babies who are not rooting for the breast, even after stimulation, simply will not breastfeed. Because of the
nature of bottles, any caregiver can force a sleepy baby to take a bottle and drink something. But even the best lactation
consultant can’t make a baby breastfeed if the baby is just not interested.
So, what do we do with these kiddos? Try gentle waking – if they aren’t eating frequently enough, we need to begin long
before three or four hours have passed.
1. About 1 ½ to 2 hours after the beginning of the last feed, try to wake the baby up. Unwrap and undress her a bit;
bring her close to your face and talk to her. Sit her up and rub her back. Work with her for 3-4 minutes. If she
doesn’t respond, put her down, away from you (in her bassinet), on her back, NOT snugly wrapped in a blanket.
2. Do the same thing 10-15 minutes later, and then again in another 10-15 minutes. Keep each attempt short for
now, to avoid tiring her out even more.
3. If she still isn’t rooting to nurse by the time you have tried the gentle waking technique 3-4 times, then strip her
down to her diaper, take your shirt/bra off, and put her on your chest, skin-to-skin, between your breasts. Put a
light blanket over the two of you. Usually she will wake and begin to root within 20-30 minutes.
The sleep/wake cycle of a baby goes in about 20 to 30 minute cycles. 3-4 hours after a feeding seems to be the deepest
sleep period, so by starting a bit earlier, you may be able to gently wake her more effectively.
This sleepiness won’t last forever! Within a couple of weeks you’ll find that she’s waking up on her own and telling you
when she’s ready to eat. But until she has regained her birth weight and is gaining well, she needs to be woken to eat at
least every third hour. Call the birth center if you are not able to wake your baby often enough for her to nurse well at
least 8 times in 24 hours. We can help!
Adapted from Jan Barger, RN, MA, IBCLC/Lactation Education Consultants