7 Week Old Not Staying Awake Long Enough

This is a very common problem with newborns but you're right to want to keep him up for a full "meal" instead of letting him "snack" all the time like he wants. I suggest you unswaddle him, don't let him feel warm and snuggly because that makes him sleepy. Keep a light on in the room, tickle him, rub a cool wet wash cloth on him, talk to him, etc. Nothing will work great at this point but every little bit helps. As he gets a little older he'll get better at staying awake.
I second the Babywise book. Yes, old-fashioned people will bash it but it works!! My oldest slept thru the night consistently at 8 weeks and my youngest at 6 weeks. They are both very healthy, happy, well adjusted little girls and they have GREAT sleep habits. You can't argue with results. =)

If/when he wakes... is he crying/screaming and totally "awake"? Or just stirring but still sort of sleeping?
If he is not totally fully awake and just stirring/rustling/making sleep noises... then just try and let him be... he may fall back asleep. Lots of babies just stir at during sleep. Moving around, does not necessarily mean they 'woke up.'

Next, my kids were big when born.... 8.5 pounds and 21" long.
I nursed both my kids. With my firstborn, I was like you.... so tired, nursing, falling asleep nursing, baby falling asleep nursing etc.
I fed ON-demand.... for the 1st year of life...which is what my Pediatrician recommends.

I do not really agree, that a "big" baby does not need to be fed a night.
Both my kids were big... AND they had ENORMOUS appetites... and even "cluster-fed" which means feeding every.single.hour. Day or night.
And, because they were big they had big appetites... and nursed for a long time drinking me dry each time, both breasts, and they grew like weeds.
Breastmilk... also metabolizes quickly in the baby's body... thus, they get hungry, more often. And a baby's tummy is small. It can only hold so much.

AND, your baby is a newborn... only 7 weeks old. If he needs a feeding, then he should be fed, not denied. Also, in newborns, they go through "growth-spurts" every 3 weeks. Then at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months and so forth, every 3 months.
And, as a baby hits growth-spurts or just develops and grows... they need increased intake... and if you do feed on-demand... this then triggers your body to then produce enough breastmilk, for YOUR baby... to keep pace with your baby. Otherwise, you may not produce enough milk.
There is a reason for wakings... especially in newborns.

all the best,
Susan

My friend always kept a glass of ice water by her bed that she'd hold against her son's feet when he'd start to fall asleep while nursing. She'd drink it too of course, it wasn't just for torturing the baby, but it did work well. I usually forgot the ice water and I'd just kind of bug my son if he started to nod off. Tap the bottoms of his feet, shift him around a little, tap my fingers on his forehead gently but enough to pester him a little... Your son is a big baby so he should be able to sleep for longer stretches without being hungry so try to keep him awake for one really good feeding and then do as some of the other posters suggested and get him to learn other ways of comforting himself.
I remember how terrible it is to not get enough sleep, hang in there. See if you can get someone to come for the night and take care of the night wake ups, it makes a really big difference in your outlook on life.

My mom said that I would fall asleep while she was trying to nurse me. She said it got so bad that she ended up getting an infection in one breast because I did not feed from it.
She started gently rubbing my head with a damp washcloth. This kept me awake without upsetting me and she was able to nurse me from both sides.
I did the same thing with my son who was not so good at nursing and it was very helpful.
The cloth should not be cold, it should be room temp at least and just rung out so it's not dripping.

Best of luck to you, you will both get the hang of it!

I would do a modified schedule if I were you. What I did for our daughter was after she woke up, was to feed her. If she fell asleep nursing, then I would try everything to keep her awake. Take her outside, tickle her feet (nurses in hospital suggested that), unwrap her a bit (enough that she isn't cold, but gets some fresh air), talk to her, pick her up and walk around the house to show her the different rooms (so it's a little weird, but hey she needs to know what the house looks like). 7 weeks old still needs a little time awake so he isn't cat napping.

So remember that right after he wakes up, change him and feed him. Then try to keep him awake. Do cycles like this (or what I call a modified schedule) and he should not cat nap or snack (babies start snacking too).

Hope this helps :)

Maybe he's not wanting to eat. My daughters both slept through the night, one starting at three weeks, and the other starting at six weeks old (they were bigger babies too, close to 9 lbs at birth). They would go to bed at 8pm and sleep until 7 or 8 in the morning. When they first started doing this, any time they woke up and cried I would assume that they were hungry- after all, they were only a few weeks old. But they would fall asleep after eating only an ounce or two, and I would put them back in bed. At some point I realized they weren't hungry, they just wanted to be soothed upon waking- so I let them cry a few minutes and they did go back to sleep. Maybe you got lucky! Maybe he's not hungry. Try letting him cry for a few minutes (nothing drastically long of course, he's too little for that) to see if he soothes himself back to sleep.

I know I will probably get blasted for this, but, have you ever read On Becoming Babywise ?
There are some very good suggestions in it about how to keep your baby awake so he/she can finish a complete feeding. If your baby only sips and then falls asleep, he misses out on the hind milk, which is the heavier fatty milk that they also need. During a complete feeding, the milk you produce changes from a thinner more watery substance to a thicker heavier more fatty milk. Baby needs both kinds. If you also choose to follow the recommendations about the ORDER of your child's feeding habits, it will help him sleep better at night as well. You should encourage them to eat, have awake time, then sleep. Then eat, have awake time, then sleep, except when it is bedtime.. then it is eat, put them in bed drowsy but awake, sleep. The older they are, the more milk they take in at a feeding, and they gradually go longer in between feedings. By 6 weeks, my daughter was sleeping 6-7 hours straight at night. My son was doing this by 12 weeks.
You can tickle their feet. Strip them of all their clothes. Put a damp cloth on their face/forehead. Lots of little things... I found that sometimes if I changed the diaper when they dozed off, they would wake back up and finish the feeding. (sometimes this also meant that I had to change it again before putting them back to bed, lol).
Good luck. You are on the right track with working on getting him to space out his feedings a little bit.

I totally agree with Susan. I always felt that when my daughter was hungry it was time to feed her (I still do that and she is normal weight).

When taking advice about nursing your children from a pediatrician please remember they get one semester of nutrition. It would be better to seek advice from a lactation consultant, many work through hospitals and WIC offices.

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This is totally common at 7 weeks and don't worry, it will not last forever. I would not begin a schedule with a child this young. Most experts will recommend to wait until at least 4 months and suggest you feed on demand at this point. With my daughters I used to tickle their feet or under their chin to keep them awake for longer. During the day, you can try to stretch the time in between feedings (though every evening, I cluster fed--like every hour--so that they were really full before bed). Good luck!

you are on track with the idea of keeping him awake to eat more. my 3rd baby was sleeping a lot and i didn't realize on my own that it was because she was so hungry. i nursed her twice on each side and increased my milk supply with herbs. it made a big difference. sometimes i still fell asleep nursing her, but overall, we got better sleep at night and saw her pretty eyes more in the daytime. good luck!

We had this problem with my #1 son. . . you need to keep that kiddo awake! Tickle the bottom of his feet while nursing, drop a few drops of cold water on his forehead, etc. It's ok and necessary to keep him awake!