Your 2wk old - what to expect from their feeding and Sleeping

By Sr Teresa Hayward (RN, RM, Lactation Consultant, Infant & Paediatric Nutritionist, Baby Sleep Consultant)

Two weeks is a very significant milestone in the world of having a newborn, whether it is your 1st or not. It doesn’t sound like a long time, but two weeks with a newborn is a huge deal. As baby reaches 2wk old, you should be starting to get into a bit of a routine. You're starting to figure out what is normal for your baby and what works for both of you.

What can you expect when it comes to feeding and sleeping when it coms to your 2wk old?

Feeding your 2wk old baby

By 2wks old, a healthy full term baby should be back to their birth weight. Remember, it is normal for babies to lose weight in the 1st 5 days after birth, but by 5 days they should be starting to gain weight.

Once your baby is gaining weight and is above birth, as long as they are above 3kg, it is usually ok to let them sleep. Babies around 2wks old can usually sleep for longer stretches in 24hrs, but not longer than 6hrs. I usually recommend waking your baby at 4hrs during the day to feed, and then at night you can let them stretch up to 6hrs before waking them. This helps to teach them day-night routine as well.

Your baby still has a tiny tummy, that can’t hold large volumes of milk, so they will still need to feed often, and this is often anything from 6-12 times a day. Breastfed babies will feed about 6-12 times a day, about every 2-4hrs. Bottle fed babies will feed 6 times a day and every 4hrs.

About Breastfeeding

If you are breastfeeding, its important to note that breastfeeding is a supply and demand process. This means the more your baby feeds, the more milk your body will make. Your Baby feeding and emptying your breasts is what stimulates your brain to produce more milk through a hormone called PROLACTIN. So, the more your baby feeds, the more prolactin is made, and the more milk you will produce. Pumping also act as extra stimulation as well, but it does not stimulate as well as baby feeding on you, as your baby’s saliva has a special enzyme in it that stimulates the nerve endings in your nipples. It is therefore not recommended to start introducing bottles at this stage, as this will affect milk production.

When breastfeeding is going well, your breasts should feel full before a feed, but not hard, and then softer afterwards. You baby may still be learning to get the latch correct at this stage, however if the latch does not feel right or there is pain, don’t suffer through it. Contact a Lactation consultant to assist you.

When should you contact a Lactation consultant?

If you want to breastfeed, but have concerns about how its going, you should seek help from a Lactation consultant sooner rather than later. Here are some common reasons you should get a lactation consult:

· Any maternal nipple pain with nursing

· Poor weight gain (if baby is not back to birth weight gain) or excessive weight gain (if baby is more than 200g over birth weight at 2wks)

· Baby is not satisfied after nursing or is wanting to feed more often than 2hrly

· Baby is fussy at breast, has difficulty or refuses to latch

· Feeding multiples or special needs

· Maternal health issues

· Question or concerns

Sleep and your 2wk old baby

For the 1st 2wks, newborns are very sleepy, and you usually spend your time waking them up for feeds. But around 2wks old, babies tend to wake up. They become more alert. But they still need about 16hrs of sleep in 24hrs. The problem is that they usually don’t sleep for more than a few hours at a time.

This is for several reasons, like their tummies are tiny and they need to feed often, and because they haven’t established their circadian rhythm, which is your own internal clock. In utero, babies follow their mom’s circadian rhythm, but once they are born they need to establish their own. Some people say their days and nights are mixed up for at least 6wks. Often baby falls asleep easily during the day, but are difficult to settle at night.

Safe sleep practices

Since your sleeping patterns inevitably mimic those of your baby, it is often tempting to fall asleep holding your baby. However it is always crucial to practice safe sleep practices for your baby. Here are my recommendations for safe sleep:

· Allow them to sleep in a co-sleeper, bassinet, or crib next to your bed so you can reach out and touch them. Not between you.

· Always on a firm mattress, not a pillow or cushion or soft mattress

· Always put your baby on their back, never on their tummy or side

· Make sure there is nothing else around, such as pillows, loose blankets, soft toys, or bumpers

· Swaddle your baby

· Don’t overheat your baby – never put baby to sleep at night in a fleecy baby grow, hooded outfits, no beanies, do not swaddle in a fleecy blanket. Your room should be around 18 degrees Celsius. Use your baby’s chest or neck as an indicator of whether they are hot or cold, not their hands or feet

· Dummies are ok – they have been proven to prevent cot death

· No smoking in the house at all, not just around baby

· Don’t leave your baby sleeping on a couch or chair, as it is unsafe, and they can fall off.

· Don’t let your baby fall asleep on nursing pillows

· Do not let them sleep longer than 20min in their car seats.

During the day, while you are busy around the house or you want to go for a walk, its great to put baby in a stroller or baby carrier while they sleep. If baby doesn’t like them to start with, keep trying, because if there’s one thing that is true about newborns, no stage lasts for long.

Enjoy each moment of your newborn as everyday you will notice something new and see how your baby is growing before your eyes.