TIPS for NURSING Sleepy Babies
Newborns, especially those born preterm or early term (around 35 to 37 weeks), often exhibit sleepiness while nursing at the breast. I like to call them "pokey" babies. Baby pokiness can lead to breastfeeding session that take a LONG time, or a feeding may end with a sleeping baby who did not eat much, so they wake up again to eat shortly after putting them down. After a while, this can lead to an especially tiring breastfeeding experience and may make you seek out the help of a lactation consultation. Find out some tips and tricks to keep a sleepy baby eating at the breast in this week’s blog post.
investigating the tongue and breastfeeding
Lifting the Tongue: Arguably the most important skill is lifting the tongue. Not only does a baby need to learn how to lift the tongue, but the tongue needs to have the mobility necessary to do this. If there is a restriction of some sort, it may prevent your baby from lifting the tongue adequately no matter how hard they try. This restriction could be from a variation of anatomy (an "oral tie" would fall into this category). But it also could be a functional inability due to strength, tightness of the neck or jaw, or something else that is keeping that tongue from moving up as needed.