HOW MUCH SHOULD A NEWBORN EAT? THE TIPS TO CALCULATE IT - PARENTHOOD

How Much Should a Newborn Eat? Tips to stay calm

What a joy to see our children grow up healthy and strong, but there are many moments of indecision about the amount of milk they should take. If you use formula milk you can look at the numbers on the box, but if you are breastfeeding the matter becomes more complicated ... today we reveal how to stay calm! After the first 6 months you can start introducing solid food into his diet: find out in the video what the next evolutionary steps will be!

How much milk should a newborn drink in the first months of life?

Is my baby eating enough? Will he be full after this feed? How do I know if she is getting the right amount of milk to grow well?
Here they are, some of the biggest concerns of new mothers, especially those who are breastfeeding and who have no way of checking how much milk their newborn baby is taking with a measuring cup.

Know that the amount of milk he has to eat daily changes according to his growth, but as soon as his mother seems to have understood what it takes to keep him calm, the famous growth spurts arrive that upset everything. How then?

We will try to give you some general indications to juggle you in the best way during the early days of breastfeeding, specifically in breastfeeding.
Always keep in mind that every baby is unique, even in the way they take their milk. It is true that sucking is a natural instinct, but there are no universal recipes, except for some general guidelines that your trusted midwife or pediatrician can illustrate, to make you feel more calm. Read on and find out with us what they are!

Breastfeeding: how many feedings per day

First rule: there are no rules! We start well, you will tell us ...
With mother's milk, everything is modulated according to the infant's request and the quantity of milk that the mother can produce. There is not an exact amount that must be ingested, precisely because every mother-child relationship is unique and so is breast feeding.

Even the feedings will be distributed throughout the day according to the needs of the baby: therefore observation is fundamental; we will reveal later what signals the baby can send you to make you understand that he is hungry, from the very first moments together!

The advice we can give you is not to focus too much on weight, especially in the first weeks of life. A few decades ago there was double weighing, that is a weight control that the mother had to do before and after feeding, but it soon proved to be a counterproductive practice, because it only caused anxiety to the mother. Better to focus on learning about your child's needs (no small task) and weigh him once a week, perhaps in a clinic.
A newborn normally grows 150/200 grams per week, but even more is fine.If it grows less than these values, a meeting with an expert will be useful to understand if there is any problem with breastfeeding or if the baby suffers from frequent regurgitation.

For the number of feedings, even here the advice is not univocal: depending on the newborn, they can be 8 in a day, but also 12 or more, if the baby is very hungry or is going through a phase of sudden growth, or if we are in the summer and is rightfully very thirsty. Not only that, the number of feedings per day varies according to the baby's sucking preferences, because some infants like to breastfeed more quickly and at short intervals, others feed more spaced but longer.
Play it safe by attacking your child on demand, without giving them schedules; this will also help you increase milk production which will change over time. Milk comes by breastfeeding, so go ahead for feedings!
Haven't we convinced you? To stay calm and to understand if your baby has had enough breast milk during the day, check his diapers: if he wets 5 or 6 in a day and drains regularly, your milk is enough.

Breastfeeding: how long for each breast

If you have been breastfeeding for some time you will have already found your balance, but if you are a beginner this is another "hot" issue for those struggling with breastfeeding.
Are you wondering how long the baby should stay on the breast and if it is really necessary to feed both breasts with each feed? Classic new mom doubts.

Even in this case there are no fixed rules, but in general, emptying both breasts allows you to activate the milk production on both sides and to relieve the discomfort that leads to a breast that is too swollen with milk. Another tip that works is to get the baby used to breastfeeding from both breasts for the first time, at least for 15 minutes each, because the most important thing is that he is able to empty them completely: the milk that falls at the end is fatter and more nutritious and that's what will then help him grow well.

Obviously, if the baby does not ask for the other breast, do not force it to him, he is probably already full. One of the most difficult things for new mothers is to have faith in their babies and in their ability to recognize from the first weeks how to regulate themselves. with power. Once you understand this mechanism, you will see that the tensions on the weight will also ease.

Breastfeeding: how much a baby eats a day month by month

As already mentioned, it is very difficult to give an exact number of grams ingested, for those children who take only their mother's milk. As for us adults, even the days of a small child are not all the same: in some he will be hungrier and in others a little less. So trust, trust, trust.

However, pediatricians use a mathematical formula to know how much a baby should eat per day:
it starts from the weight of the child expressed in grams and then divides it by 10. To the result just add 250 and thus obtain the desired quantity that your child should take within 24 hours. (example, 4 kg child: (4000/10 ) + 250).
Finally, this figure must be divided by the number of daily feedings.
As mentioned in the paragraph above, if the baby grows about 150 / 200g every week or even more, everything is fine!

Consult this standard scheme, and know roughly how much a baby should eat from month to month.

First days of life
In this very first phase, the newborn feeds only on colostrum, a yellow secretion that is produced by the breast before the milk comes. Very few drops come out at first, but they are more than enough to feed the baby: colostrum is extremely nutritious.

1st month
At the end of the first month of life, the newborn should divide the meals into 6 feedings, each of about 110 / 120ml. In fact, a mother who has been breastfeeding exclusively for a month should be able to produce about 650 / 700ml per day.

2nd month
The number of feedings can remain the same as before or drop to 5, but the baby's needs have increased: he should be able to take about 140/150 ml of milk per feed. The two-month-old mom produces about 750ml of milk per day.

3rd month
Breastfeeding is now well underway and the baby settles on about 5 feedings a day, for a quantity of milk of about 160 / 180ml per feed. The nursing mother is an expert and her production is remarkable: 800ml of milk per day!

4th / 5th month
Meals decrease to 4 per day and are more spaced from each other. Although the time of weaning is near, the baby still needs mother's milk, about 200 / 230ml per feed. The mother's production undergoes a slight decline: between 700 and 800 ml of milk per day.

6th month
At this age, the baby can start weaning, but this does not mean that the baby will no longer take milk, but simply that from now on he will be able to taste the first solid foods, experimenting with new flavors and textures. Usually it will be the pediatrician who will advise you on the right path for you: in principle you will first introduce the grated fruit and gradually the other foods in the form of soups and vegetable purees.

The little one is hungry: the signs that tell you

A mother's milk changes according to the needs of her baby, even within the same feed. At first it will be more liquid to satisfy thirst and only later will it become richer and more substantial, which will often send him into the world of blissful dreams. it is clear!

However, there are some signals that the baby can send you, to make you understand that he is ready to eat, here are which:

click your tongue against the palate;
makes the gesture of sucking with his mouth. It is really funny and funny when it does!
he turns his head here and there in search of the breast, often with his mouth open, or he "plays the woodpecker" with his head hoping that where he's hitting is just the right place, but sometimes it's just dad's shoulder .. .;
sucks fingers, hand, wrist, or whatever else is within reach;
she cries intensely and insistently (which however is a late signal and comes when the baby is desperate from hunger).

These "alarm bells" are distinguishable in some children more than others, but in principle you should be able to find at least one in your child. The key to success is observing your baby and the time you will have to spend. together.
By now you will be an expert in breastfeeding and your baby will have no more secrets for you! Always remember that with breastfeeding the important thing is that the baby grows week by week, diapers are wet often, poop regularly and be an active and curious child!