How do I know if my baby is feeding well?
The early days ........
For a 1 day old to 14 day old newborn:
How do I know things are going well?
• Your baby nurses 8 or more times in 24 hours and is vigorous for at least 20 minutes of each feeding.
• Your baby’s urine and stool output increases daily, and by 1 week of age he/she is urinating 6 or more times and has yellow stools 4 or more times in 24 hours.
• Your breasts start to feel full 3-5 days after your baby was born.
• Your baby settles after most feedings.
• Your breasts may be tender, but it is not painful to breastfeed.
• Your baby regains his/her birth weight by 10-14 days old.
How do I know that I need to meet with a lactation consultant?
• Your baby nurses less than 8 times a day (during the first few months)
• Your baby seems hungry all of the time, yet consistently eats for a few minutes and then falls asleep at breast.
• Your baby has not regained his/her birth weight by 10-14 days old or has very slow weight gain.
• You have very sore and/or cracked nipples and it is painful to breastfeed.
• You are worried that you do not enough milk.
• Your baby is increasingly getting yellow from jaundice.
References: Counseling the Nursing Mother by Lauwers and Swisher