How can you tell if your newborn is getting enough breast milk?

[blondebabe]

Hi girls i was wondering if any1 knows how you know if your newborn is getting enough milk.... i feed my baby (5 days old) for about 20 mins (10 mins, falls asleep, nappy change then another 10 mins) and sometimes he doesnt settle and rubs his fist across his mouth and is really grizzly.
Sometimes i think i've given him a good 20 min feed and he will wake 40 mins later....is this normal?
During the night he can go a good 3-4 hours (once a night) normaly it is every 2 hours
xxxxx

 

[Samantha675]

Newborns nurse a lot. Best indication is diapers. You want 8-12 wet diapers and 3 poopy diapers. A poop is about the size of a US quarter. The newborn tummy is tiny. So it doesn't take long to fill it up and it doesn't take long to empty. If you baby is showing signs of hungry just 40 minutes later, he is more than likely hungry. Nursing as the first time I always tried the first weeks.

Hang in love. You are doing great!

 

[mrs_park]

Beat indication of what goes in, is what comes out. If you are seeing lots of wet and dirty nappies then rest assured LO is getting enough. At first feeding seems erratic and almost constant but it will settle down. I know it's hard at first and you will doubt yourself and wonder if LO is getting enough, it's a big learning curve to trust that your baby will let you know when it's feed time and trust your body that it knows what it's doing and will create enough milk. Good luck Hun xx

 

[CeriB]

^^ Agreed!

Stick with it - it is tough but very, very worth it!

 

[lynnikins]

id be happy feeding more often in the day if your getting 3-4 hours between feeds at night thats fantastic for a newborn hun sounds like all is going well