Answers To How Long and How Often Should I Feed My Baby

Guidelines to live by:

1. Breastfeed every 2-3 hours.

2. Breastfeed until your breast is soft and infant looks satisfied.

3. Count his wet and dirty diapers, at least 6-8 a day.

4. See the Pediatrician 4-5 days after he is born.

Picture yourself at a dinner party. Some will come early to enjoy the appetizers others will always be running a little late and just enjoy the dinner. Now as you sit down to dinner, observe the others and how they eat. Some will take their time and savor every morsel, others will "chow down" and will done in a much shorter time. Some will not be hungary and will enjoy the company more than the meal, others will have come for the meal. In any case, you and your baby are a unique couple. Some feedings, especially in the beginning, could be short and sweet others may be long and tiresome. Every feeding is going to be different. Remember the dinner party. Guidelines to live by:

1. Every feeding will be different.

2. Do Not watch the clock, Do not time the feedings.

3. Babies will fall asleep after about 5 minutes of breastfeeding. THEY ARE NOT DONE! Babies next to their mothers are warm and will get just enough to be satisfied but not full.

4. Keep them stimulated just a little to keep them awake and nursing. Do not wrap them in a blanket. And take their clothes off. Place a blanket on top of them while breastfeeding and take it off when they drift off to sleep.

5. Rub their backs and chest, move their arms, play with their feet. Keep them breastfeeding.

6. Breastfeed on the first side until your breast is soft and mostly empty (your breast is never really empty). Some babies will finish in 10 minutes others it might take 20-30 minutes on the first side. Feel your breast and look at your baby.

7. Does your baby look satisfied? Is it now almost impossible to stimulate your baby to wake up?

8. Burp him, change his diaper, move him around and try to offer him the other side. If he breastfeeds a few minutes, 20 minutes or he doesn't take the other side at all he is normal and you are doing great.

9. The next feeding you will start on the side he finished or didn't take at all.

10. IF, usually in the very beginning, you are uncomfortable with too much milk hand express or pump a small amount from the side the baby didn't breastfeed on. Just enough to be comfortable. *If you pump completely after feeding your baby you might begin to overproduce and supply milk enough for twins.

11.Remember the dinner party, some are quick eaters, some are slow, some are in-between. But no one is ever done at exactly the same time.

The basis for breastfeeding well and emptying on one side is for the baby to obtain the milk with the most fat content. At the beginning of the feeding the milk is mostly "foremilk" or milk that quenches the babys' thirst and supplies him with adequate fluids but does have the many needed nutrients. As the feeding progesses the baby will obtain the "hind" milk or milk that is less fluid but with a higher amount of much needed fat. This "fat" keeps the baby satisfied longer, puts weight on the baby and makes him have those lovely yellow seedy diapers.

You will not be lopsided or underproduce milk. Your body will produce just the amount needed for your baby.

How often should your baby breastfeed?

Typically babies will need to breastfeed every 2-3 hours, or 8-12 times a day. If your baby is not awake at 3 hours from beginning to beginning, during the day, wake him. If he wakes up before then and starts to stir, root (opening his mouth when it is touched), or chew on his fist he is telling you he is hungary. Breastfeed him! During the night let him wake you. Bless him if he sleeps 4-5 hours during the middle of the night. If he breastfeeds well during the day he just might sleep a little more at night.

How do I know my baby is getting enough?

What goes in must come out. Count his wet and dirty diapers. At least 6-8 diapers a day, usually it is more. 4 of those diapers should be a dirty diaper. It should be slightly runny, bright yellow with specks of white or "seedy". Also, is the baby gaining weight and looks satisfied. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the baby should be seen by the Pediatrician for a weight check by day 4 or 5 after delivery. Observe and get to know your baby and your breasts. Every mother has a different Breast Milk Capacity. One mom may nurse every 4 hours and does great, another mom may need to breasfeed every 2 hours.

You and your baby are a unique couple! Relax and enjoy getting to know each other.