In modern society, a “perfect picture” of a nursing mother has developed. The main attribute in it is a tight, milk-poured breast, from which at any time of the day you can pump out the required amount of nutrient fluid. The child at the same time, well-fed and contented, sleeps in his crib and wakes up only occasionally, only to eat milk and fall asleep again.
It is because of such false stereotypes that a young mother begins to doubt whether she is capable of breastfeeding if her breasts are not particularly poured, and the baby still continues to be capricious after applying. In this article, we will dispel all myths and tell how to understand that the child is not enough milk and what to do about it. Useful advice from breastfeeding specialists will help prevent erroneous transition to artificial mixtures and preserve what nature has given to mother.
How many times a day does a baby eat?
With the birth of a baby, every mother, without exception, begins to wonder how often she needs to feed her baby so that he fully develops and grows healthy. To begin with, it should be noted that the first day after birth, the baby needs quite a bit of food to get enough. At this time, mom produces colostrum. It is not enough, but at the same time it is much more satisfying than mature milk. Contrary to popular belief, feeding a baby with a mixture at this time is not necessary.
Approximately on the third day milk begins to arrive and its quantity increases every day. The baby begins to eat more and more often. This is where most mothers begin to think about how to understand whether the baby has enough breast milk. Pediatricians are advised to apply a newborn baby every 2-3 hours. Thus, he can eat up to 12 times a day. The duration of one feeding is 15-40 minutes. But all these frameworks are conditional, since each child is an individual with his own character and needs.
How to establish a baby’s feeding system?
The beliefs of our mothers and grandmothers that the baby should be applied to the breast every 3 hours and not a minute earlier are long outdated. Today, breast-feeding consultants and modern pediatricians recommend adhering to the “on demand” feeding methodology. Its essence is that any mother is able to provide her baby with milk. And it does not depend on the size of the breast or the age of the woman.
The amount of milk produced by the mammary glands depends on two main factors:
- Frequency of application. According to breastfeeding consultants, the amount of milk required for feeding is determined at the stage of lactation. And the child directly affirms it. The more often the baby will be applied to the breast, the more milk will arrive at the next feeding. If you adhere to the regime and offer the child a breast only every 3 hours, then initially there will be less milk than the crumbs need. With this regimen, usually after 2-4 months, lactation ends.
- The duration of feeding. At first glance, it may seem that the baby just sleeps and uses the chest as a dummy. In fact, prolonged sucking stimulates lactation. Therefore, application of both 50 minutes and 2 hours is the norm with breastfeeding.
Moms who adhere to the “on demand” methodology do not suffer from how to understand whether the baby has enough milk. It will always be present in the chest to the extent that is necessary for him and which he approved independently.
How to understand that the baby has enough breast milk?
Breastfeeding counselors recommend that mothers do not seek to determine the amount of nutrient fluid they have in their breasts, but to monitor the condition and development of their baby. And to understand whether there is enough milk for a newborn child by the following signs:
- frequency of application;
- duration of feedings;
- normal weight gain;
- healthy appearance and sleep;
- swallowing reflex.
A newborn baby can ask for breasts up to 25 times a day. This regimen can last up to three months of age. But the baby should not just lie near the chest and suck it, but take a sip. At the beginning of feeding, they will be more frequent, since the baby receives the front milk first. Then the throats become less frequent, but the child begins to suck with zeal, as he produces a thicker and more nutritious back milk.
Wet diaper test
Not every mother has scales on hand to determine how much weight a baby is gaining while breastfeeding. Of course, this can be done in the children's clinic, but once again visiting the hospital with a newborn baby in her arms is not necessary. To understand that the baby is not enough milk, both in the first days of his life, and in 1 month, the wet diaper test will help. What does it consist of?
The essence of the test is that for 24 hours, mom needs to completely abandon disposable diapers, and use only ordinary cotton diapers. At the end of the day, it is necessary to calculate how many times the child peed. He must do this at least 12 times within 24 hours. This result suggests that the baby has enough breast milk.
If the number of wet diapers is less than 10, it is recommended that a woman consult consultants who will help increase the amount of breast milk a baby needs.
Counting the amount of soiled diapers
The following method will make it possible to understand that the baby is not enough milk in 1 month. As a method for determining a sufficient amount of nutrition at an older age, it is not suitable.
The method is based on the fact that a newborn on breastfeeding should defecate at least 2-3 times a day. At 5-6 weeks of a child’s life, his stool does not become so frequent. At this time, the baby can defecate both 1 time per day, and 1 time in 5 days, which is the norm when breastfeeding.
Erroneous signs of insufficient lactation
When breastfeeding, there are situations when a young lactating mother begins to think that the baby is not enough milk. How to understand whether lactation is really insufficient, she still does not know. In addition, the following false signs can configure a woman to complete breastfeeding :
- Lack of sensation of filling the chest. By about the 6th week of the baby's life, the mother ceases to feel the tides. It may seem to her that her chest is empty. In fact, by this time, breastfeeding was being established “on demand”, when the milk arrives exactly as much as the child needs to get enough.
- Reducing the amount of soiled diapers. If a newborn baby defecates up to 6 times a day, then as they grow older, the number of bowel movements decreases. This is due to physiological processes in the body and, if the child feels normal, there should not be cause for concern.
- Increase the appetite of the baby. Suddenly, the baby begins to demand the breast more often and does not let it go longer. This behavior is explained by jumps in growth. Subject to the principles of the “on demand” feeding technique, within a few days, the volume of milk produced will increase and cover the needs of a growing organism.
Control weighing
Many mothers are interested in how to understand that a 5-month-old baby is not enough milk when tests for wet diapers and the amount of soiled diapers are no longer informative. At this age, the pediatrician may recommend follow-up weighing. It is carried out, as a rule, in a children's clinic, but if desired, it can be done at home.
The essence of the method is that the baby is weighed before feeding and immediately after it to determine the amount of milk eaten. If for some reason the child eats less than expected, then the pediatrician will certainly make a disappointing conclusion and recommend feeding the crumbs with the mixture.
In fact, control weighing during breastfeeding is useless. With each application, the baby can suck out a different amount of milk, but in the end, in a day it turns out that he ate more than the norm.
Modern norms of weight gain
Control weighing is not an objective way of determining that the baby is not enough milk while breastfeeding. To understand how to feed the baby further, the norms of weight gain and height will help.
According to the World Health Organization, a breast-fed child can gain 125-500 g per week or 0.5-2 kg per month. However, it is not recommended to weigh it more often than 1 time in 7 days. Weight gain in young children occurs irregularly. Today, the baby may not gain anything, and tomorrow it will recover by a third of the established norm. Weighing the baby is recommended at the same time, for example, in the morning, and preferably in approximately the same clothes.
Can I calculate the amount of milk in my chest?
Almost every mother is discharged from the hospital home with tight breasts. During this period, lactation is so strong that she does not even have to think about whether the baby has enough breast milk. How to understand how much nutrient fluid arrives before each feeding?
The older generation of women in the family may advise to express the milk in a bottle in order to calculate its volume and check the norms, which, by the way, are designed for children on artificial feeding. In fact, doing this is completely unnecessary. Breastfeeding milk is produced in accordance with the needs of the baby. Its volume at different hours of the day can be different. The main thing is not the amount of nutrition produced by the mammary gland, but its quality and good weight gain.
How to understand that the baby is not enough breast milk?
The first thing that should worry mom when suspected of insufficient lactation is the baby's anxiety and poor weight gain. But there are other obvious signs of how to understand that the baby is not enough milk at 3 months, as well as at an earlier and later age. They are as follows:
- severe underweight - less than 500 g per month for newborns and 300 g for three-month-old babies and older;
- nervousness of the child after applying to the chest - the baby does not have enough milk and he begins to cry;
- wet diaper test - informative only for children who are not yet 5 weeks old;
- deterioration of the baby's well-being, lethargy, pale skin color - indicate dehydration.
If one of the above symptoms is found, the mother should immediately consult a breastfeeding consultant and try to increase lactation. It is worth warning that the last symptom is especially dangerous, since it may indicate more serious health problems of the crumbs.
Actions for low lactation in women
If the mother finds that the baby is not enough breast milk (how to understand that this is true, was described above), breastfeeding consultants can recommend the following:
- feed more often - to minimize the intervals between feedings so that the baby is almost constantly at the chest;
- offer both breasts in one feeding;
- do not finish feeding until the baby stops sucking;
- make sure that the attachments to the chest are correct - the child should wrap his lips around the areola, and not just the nipple;
- good rest in every free minute;
- balanced and high-calorie, protein-rich diet;
- sufficient fluid intake;
- a complete rejection of pacifiers and bottles - they are contraindicated in children with insufficient weight gain.
Following these recommendations, mom will be able to quickly restore lactation.
What is useful to know for a nursing mother?
Even adhering to the “on demand” feeding methodology, a woman may run into a shortage of milk. With breastfeeding, such periods do indeed occur systematically. These are lactational crises. They arise as a result of sharp jumps in the growth of the baby. In the lactation crisis, it is possible to understand that the child is not enough milk, as in the cases described above, by the restless behavior of the crumbs and insufficient weight gain. Their duration is approximately a week. During this time, mother's breast has time to rebuild and all signs of the crisis disappear.
How to keep breastfeeding?
The main obstacle to normal lactation is the constant fears and doubts of the expectant mother about the quantity and quality of breast milk. You should not offer a baby a bottle with a mixture every time he is capricious after feeding, if he is gaining weight normally. You need to understand when there is a real problem and how to cope with the situation in time.
And finally, it should be recalled that no artificial mixture will be more nutritious and valuable for the baby than breast milk.