3 Ways To Know If Your Baby Is Getting Enough Breast Milk
Every breastfeeding mother has had the question, “is my baby getting enough milk?” Mothers who are exclusively breastfeeding - not pumping or bottle-feeding at all - have no way of knowing exactly how much milk their baby is taking in during a feed. Mothers who are preparing to go back to work may feel discouraged if they attempt to pump and yield less milk than they expected. This fear can even creep up mere hours after the baby is born, leading to some mothers introducing formula because they assume their baby “isn’t getting anything” during their first few suckles at the breast. While a small percentage of women may have an underlying medical reason for not producing enough breast milk, many women WILL go on to produce exactly the type and volume of milk that their baby requires, from the moment their baby is born, to the time they eventually wean. But the question for many still stands - “is my baby getting enough milk?” Thankfully there are three simple ways that can help you determine whether your baby is getting the milk they need.
#1: Your baby is having at least 6 to 8 wet diapers a day.
Your baby’s waste output is almost always a reliable indication that they are taking in enough breast milk during the day or night. Your newborn will have their first pee (and poo) sometime within the first 24 hours of their life, and a slowly increasing amount of wet diapers over the course of the first week, until you start producing mature milk. This means, if you are breastfeeding in the hospital and your baby is nursing on-demand, they are taking in highly beneficial colostrum, which is thicker and lower in volume than mature milk, and it is normal to see one wet diaper on day one, two on day two, and onward. Once your mature milk is in, your baby should be having at least 6 to 8 wet diapers a day. Their urine should be pale yellow and not unusually smelly - dark or abnormally smelling urine may warrant concern. Breastfed baby poo also goes through a transformation, from being black, sticky meconium after (or sometimes during) birth, to shades of green, and eventually a seedy-looking mustard yellow. The colostrum your baby gets during their first few feedings also acts a laxative to help baby pass their first few poops and get their digestive system up and running, all while lining their intestinal tract with beneficial antibodies that help protect them in their new environment.
#2: Your baby is gaining weight at a normal pace for their age.
Did you know that it is normal for a healthy newborn to lose weight in the first few days of life? As described by one study in the International Breastfeeding Journal, this physiological weight loss is “mainly due to fluid reduction. Late cord clamping is [also] related to a higher birth weight, which results in a greater weight change.” If your newborn has lost some weight during their first few days after birth, it does not necessarily mean they are not getting enough to eat. After this initial weight loss, a healthy baby baby should continue to gain weight steadily throughout the first few months. This weight gain will be tracked by their pediatrician or family doctor to ensure that they are gaining weight appropriately as needed for proper development. If at any point you are concerned about your baby’s weight gain, there may be some organizations in your area that let you borrow an infant scale so you can check their weight at home, or you could request a weight check appointment at the pediatricians office. A breastfed baby’s weight may fluctuate, and they may gain more or less at different times during the first year, but this is because different developmental stages may prompt them to be nursing more or less frequently. Combined with having adequate wet and poopy diapers, weight gain is a good indication that your baby is getting enough breast milk.
#3: Your baby seems satisfied and content after feeding.
I’m sure you’ve seen a friend or two (or maybe even a stranger online!) post a picture of their sleepy baby right after a feeding, milk dribbling down their chin, with the caption “milk drunk!” One way to tell if your baby has gotten enough during a feeding is to observe their demeanor after the feeding - are they still rooting around giving hunger cues, or do they seem content and calm? Occasionally babies will be grumpy after a feed if they’re struggling with gas, but generally a baby who is satisfied after a feed has taken in plenty of milk to fill his or her belly for the time being. If you give birth in a hospital, a doctor, nurse, or other member of your care team may give you a chart to keep track of feedings: how long the feeding was, which breast the baby nursed from, and how much time between feedings. These type of charts may be helpful for some, but can also cause undue anxiety for others. If you find that your baby seems content after a feed, but then seems hungry again 30 minutes or an hour later, it might not be that your milk supply is inadequate, it may be due to a growth spurt, or “cluster-feeding” which is especially normal in the early days. If breastfeeding is painful or you expect another latch issue, your baby may need to nurse more frequently if they are not removing milk efficiently due to a poor latch, in this situation help from a certified lactation consultant might be beneficial.
When baby is a newborn, remember: frequent feeds do not necessarily mean baby is “not getting enough”.
There are so many ebbs and flows when it comes to breastfeeding a newborn. When baby is only a few hours or days old - and this holds true for the entirety of your breastfeeding journey - nursing is so much more than simply feeding and nourishment. It is a time of closeness and intimacy with each other, a time of bonding, the warmth and comfort of being with mom. It’s completely normal for newborns to “cluster-feed” during the day or evening, which means their feeds become closer together and more frequent, even if they were spaced out earlier in the day. Be reassured that cluster-feeding is developmentally normal and is not necessarily a signal that your milk supply is low or that your baby isn’t getting the milk they need. If you do have concerns about your baby’s latch or other feeding behaviors, and/or if they are not satisfied after most feedings, not having good diaper output, or seem to be losing weight, it may be time to meet with a lactation consultant who can assess the situation and help you move forward.