The one worry that’s always on mums minds is if they’re over or underfeeding baby. For newborns, you can feed them as much as they’d like – there’s no need to set up a breastfeeding routine for them during their first few weeks.
On their first few days, they’ll probably feed around 3 to 4 times before dozing off. After that though, they’ll be feeding a lot more, often turning to gaze at you for breastmilk when they’re hungry (and they get hungry a lot)!
By the end of their first week, they should settle for at least 8 feeds per day, though they could feed more than that. There’s no hard and fast rule to breastfeeding – the more you feed baby, the more breastmilk you’ll produce, and it’s normal for newborns to feed very frequently.
Weight Loss After Birth
Baby will usually lose some weight (around 10% of their weight when they were born) a few days after they were born. This doesn’t mean that they’re not getting enough milk, as they’re quite possibly losing fluid, or “water weight”. This weight loss is completely normal, as long as it’s around the 10% range of their birth weight.
After a few days of breastfeeding, baby will be gaining weight, and after 2 weeks, they should be at or even above their birth weight! They literally grow up so fast.
Is It Possible To Overfeed Baby?
Thankfully, babies come self-equipped with a regulation system when it comes to eating! They eat when they’re hungry, and stop when they’re full (something that we’ve lost as we grew older). When they turn away from the bottle or the breast, they’re full; but if they keep coming back for more, they’re still hungry!
So if baby is gaining weight and your paediatrician isn’t worried about that weight gain, neither should you worry. All babies are different, and they grow at different rates!
However, with bottle-fed babies, overfeeding is a lot more common. It’s easier for babies to drink from a bottle, so the little ones who love to suck may get more than what they wanted! One easy way to tell if they’re overfed is they’re spitting up the milk that they’ve just drank.
Before that, they should’ve been turning away from the bottle or refusing to feed from it. They might just be annoyed at having the bottle shoved in their faces, so they’ll just drink it to please you and then spit up later as an “I told you so!” moment.
Jokes aside, do try to read their body language when it comes to feeding – no usually means no. Don’t focus too much on how much baby drinks during a feed, as long as they’re healthy and happy, they’re good.
General Guidelines To Seeing If Baby Is Or Isn’t Getting Enough Milk
Baby is getting enough milk if:
Baby isn’t getting enough milk if:
If you’re concerned about these signs, do check with baby’s paediatrician.
Pregnancy To Parenthood Seminar Series
If you wish to know more about your journey through pregnancy, as well as detailed explanations of what to expect during labour and delivery, this seminar is for you!
Date: Saturday, 14th April, 2018
Time: 2:00 pm - 6:00pm
Venue: Singapore Expo Max Atria
Room: Peridot 201-203
Find out more about this helpful seminar for mums- and dads-to-be right here:
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