The baby should be breastfed in the interval of 2-3 hours in the first week of birth and after that in the interval of 3-4 hours till the age of 6 months. If the baby is sleeping for a long time, then he/she should be woken up and fed. If the baby falls asleep again without eating, you need to tap at his/her feet. As a result, the baby will open his/her mouth for crying and the nipple can be inserted inside the baby’s mouth immediately. The baby will then start feeding. Once the baby starts feeding, you may hum and sing or talk to your baby and he/she will continue to drink milk for sometime more. Even though the baby is small, he/she can understand the mother’s care very well.
During feeding the baby may fall asleep again. In that case, you should try to pull out the nipple very gently from the baby’s mouth. As a result, the baby will start sucking again, because the mother’s nipple creates a sweet feeling in the baby’s mouth. As soon as the nipple starts to come out, the baby will press the nipple again with his/her lips in fear of losing the sweet feelings. Therefore, the baby will start eating again.