I looked in the archives but found only one post on this from 1996. Our 
hospital just switched from Nubain to IV Fentanyl for pain control and 
lately I have have seen more babies that are sleepy. Currently, I have one 
mother with a sleepy 10 day old baby that is very difficult to wake, feeds 
about 6 times a day and it's hit or miss if the baby will actually wake up 
enough to nurse (She nurse last Friday after sleeping 6 hours, and mom got 
her to breast twice yesterday morning). The baby is gaining fine and well 
hydrated as the mother has been pumping and finger feeding. Mom says even 
during the finger feeding this baby will not open her eyes. I'm getting a 
little concerned about the sleepiness and I'm wondering when this baby 
will actually wake up. Yesterday, I tried everything I could think of, and 
a few things I don't approve of (water on the face) to wake this baby. She 
will only open her eyes for a second before she's asleep again. I don't 
think she's shutting down as she never wakes enough to shut down.

Could this be caused by the Fentanyl? Are there any studies about how long 
it stays in the baby's system, or about neurological effects from using 
Fentanyl during labour, eg. delayed or dysfunctional sucking?

Or perhaps, am I just having a co-incidental rush of sleepy babies?

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