Reading the recent post about sleepy Gabriel reminded me of an experience we
had last year.

A young couple (primary language French) called our urgent care center to ask
about problems they were having rousing their 3-day-old infant. The HCP who
took the call was alarmed when the increasingly panicked young father
answered "We tried that...it didn't work!" to every question on her "How to
Wake a Sleepy Baby" list. She was also concerned about her inability to
communicate, given the language barrier. An ambulance was sent to the home.
The EMTs reported an "unconscious baby"; they rushed to the nearest EW. Two
EW docs tried to rouse the baby--including pin pricks and noxious odors! :-(
After an *hour* of this EW treatment our Pediatrician happened on the scene.
He examined the baby and reported the diagnosis to us as we sat nervously by
the phone waiting for news:

"This kid is sleeping."

Sure enough, all the excitement had merely sent this baby deeper into shut
down state. Once the Peds moved the young couple and infant to a quiet room,
started skin-to-skin and peace-and-quiet baby woke up (about 5 hours after
his previous feeding) and nursed. The family came to see me later in the
week, a little sheepish about their new-parent panic but I assured them we
were all *very* relieved everything was ok.

BTW: baby gained wt. well, nursed well, from day 5 forward.

One mother told me her 3-day-old went through a similar sleep jag which she
termed a "sleep spurt" :-)

Margery Wilson, IBCLC
Cambridge, Massachusetts