Lactation 103: Knowing your baby is getting enough

Ok! The position is good and Baby is finally latched on. Now, how do you know the baby is ACTUALLY eating? Do you always need to feed on both sides? How long does your baby need to eat? Do you set a timer and stop at a certain limit?

All babies have a similar sucking pattern: fast and light to stimulate milk flow, then slow and strong to get a mouthful of milk before swallowing. Watch for this pattern and listen for the swallows. A swallow sounds like a quite “kuh” or “kah.” Sometimes a swallow can’t be heard, but it’s seen or felt.

My favorite phrase here is “finish the first side first.” That means to let your baby stay on one side as long as they are doing the sucking pattern and having swallows. When your baby slows down to only short, light sucks, and isn’t having any more swallows, then they are done on that side. Maybe your baby pulls off on their own, but most likely you’ll need to break the latch and take them off.

Try to burp your baby, and then check in with their feeding cues. If your baby stays asleep, then the feeding is done and you’ll plan to latch them on the other side at the next feeding. If your baby wakes and shows feeding cues like trying to chew their hand, then latch them on the other side and continue the feeding.

Babies need to eat about every 1-4 hours, which is roughly 8-12 times in 24 hours. This is counting from the beginning of one feeding to the beginning of the next feeding.

A normal length of a feeding in the beginning is about 5-30 minutes. That may change as your baby becomes more skilled at latching and as your milk supply increases. Or it may stay the same.

You do not need to set a timer and take your baby off at a certain point. Let your baby continue to nurse as long as they are wanting.

You also know that your baby is getting enough based on their diapers.

On the day of delivery, only 1 poop and 1 pee is required. Basically, it’s knowing everything is working well. The next day counts as day 1, and again only 1 poop and 1 pee is expected. The next day is day 2, and 2 poops and 2 pees are expected. And then 3&3 on day 3; 4&4 on day 4; 5&5 on day 5, and then it’ll average to be about 6-10 diapers a day. I love when babies are overachievers in this category. Less diapers means that the baby needs to eat more often or more quality feeding with better latching.

If you have any questions about how you both are doing, then it’s time to talk with a lactation consultant. It’s better to get help early on and set yourself up for success.