How to Tell if your Baby is Getting Enough Breast Milk
I’m officially at that stage in life where everyone is having babies! My social media feeds are filled with monthly milestone pictures and pretty pregnancy announcements. What’s even better is that some of my closest friends are having babies, which means that we all get to experience the ups and downs of motherhood together. My best friend just recently had her second child and we were talking about breastfeeding, how it was going, and how she hated not knowing how much breastmilk her tiny newborn was getting. A few months ago, I got a text from a different friend who had just had a baby and she was constantly worried that she was starving her child by breastfeeding. The same conversation came up when I was having a play date with one of my friends and her new baby a few months after Weston was born. (Are you starting to see a trend here?) She wanted to breastfeed, but she was always concerned her son wasn’t getting enough milk, so she would constantly pump and feed from a bottle so that she always knew how many ounces he was getting. I’m no expert, but I honestly believe this is a reason why so many moms quit breastfeeding (or end up having supply issues). How do you know if baby is getting enough breastmilk?
Wet and Dirty Diapers
Wet and dirty diapers are the easiest indicator when it comes to knowing if your baby is getting enough breastmilk. Once you’re home from the hospital and your milk has come in, your baby should be wetting at least 6 diapers a day and dirtying at least 3 a day. Once your baby gets to be about a month old, they may only poo once every couple days (we were never so lucky, but I’ve heard many people tell me this is true). For some peace of mind, we used the Glow Baby app to track wet and dirty diapers for the first few weeks. I trusted the amount of diapers we were flying through and just kept boobin’.
This is what our tracking looked like on the Glow Baby app for the first few days of Weston’s life. Note, the brown diapers were likely wet and dirty. The gold bands were feeding sessions.
Weight Gain
The biggest relief for me came when I saw actual weight gain. Babies typically have two doctor’s appointments in their first week home from the hospital. One is a day or two after you get home, and the other is about 5 – 7 days after that. At Weston’s initial doctor’s appointment, he was down nearly a pound from his birthweight (luckily he was an extra-large baby and that pound still fell within the 7% – 10% weight loss range that doctors consider safe in the first week). A week later, he had regained the pound he lost, plus a couple extra ounces. I think I jumped for joy a little when I saw those numbers pop up on the scale. Once those initial doctor’s visits were over, we started weighing Weston at home every few weeks. My husband would stand on the scale holding him, then stand on the scale alone, and we’d do the math (well… my husband would do the math. I’m a writer, not a mathematician). Of course it wasn’t as accurate as the pediatrician’s office, but it always let us know that he was still gaining. If you want something more accurate (I mean, waaaay more accurate), check out this Smart Changing Pad and Scale from Hatch Baby. This thing connects to an app and allows you to see exactly how much baby is eating (in ounces) in a session (similar to what they do at a lactation appointment).
Baby is Eating 6 – 12 Times a Day
Breastfed babies eat every 2 – 3 hours for the first few months of their lives. If your baby is eating 6 -12 times a day, it’s a good indication that they are getting enough milk. When your first get home from the hospital, it can feel like your baby is eating about 20 times a day… better yet, they just don’t stop eating at all. This is called cluster feeding. It doesn’t mean you’re not making enough milk, or they’re not satisfied. It’s just nature’s way of helping baby gain weight and helping mommy gain a healthy milk supply. Cluster feeding typically happens during growth spurts (surprise… babies go through a growth spurt right around the time they get home from the hospital). Don’t let this breastfeeding phenomenon surprise you or cause you to second guess yourself. If all the other criteria from this list are being met, your baby is getting enough milk.
Your Breasts Feel Empty at the End of a Feeding
This is tricky when you’re milk is first coming in and you’ve never really experienced the feelings of a “full” or “empty” breast. Engorgement is real, and even when baby has just finished eating, your breasts can still feel like they are milk filled (because they are… our breasts are never really empty. They’re always workin’ hard to make more milk). However, you should be able to feel a difference (even if it’s slight) between your breast before you fed, and your breast after. It should feel lighter and less full. If you’ve only fed from one side, you can also compare it to the other side and see a slight difference in size and fullness.
I think it’s hard for us moms to believe that we actually have the power to do something so amazing as nourish the tiny human that our bodies just grew. After almost two years of growing a baby, birthing a baby, and nourishing a baby, I’m finally starting to realize just how incredible the female body really is… and how strong moms actually are. If breastfeeding is something that you want to do, and the idea that your baby isn’t getting enough breastmilk is the only thing that’s stopping you, I hope this post helped. Don’t forget, you can always meet with a lactation consultant in your area to discuss any concerns or get additional help. Good luck, momma.
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