How to understand that a newborn is full: the main signs

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

The first couple of weeks after the birth of the baby, lactation is only getting better, and the woman's body adapts to the needs of the child. Milk can come in strongly or, on the contrary, be produced very slowly. All this is considered the norm in such a period. However, then mothers want to be sure that the child is full and that he has enough breast milk. The consequences of malnutrition can be a lack of weight and height, so it is very important to know and respond in a timely manner to a lack of nutrition in the crumbs. In the article, we will consider how to understand that a newborn is full, what are the symptoms of insufficient saturation of a small body.

Mom's fears

There can be infinitely many reasons for a young mother to worry. One of the most common is the concern about whether the baby is full, whether he has enough milk. Here are a few signs that make a mom suspicious that her baby is not getting enough food:

1. Baby eats for a long time without lowering the breast. In fact, this is more than normal, because the baby likes to feel the mother's warmth. In the first weeks after birth, tactile contact is especially important for him. It is necessary to provide him with this closeness: you can lie together and rest more often. In addition, each child is unique and everyone needs a different time to satiate.
2. The baby quickly releases the breast. There is no cause for concern here. If he let go of his chest, it is worthwhile to understand that the newborn has eaten or calmed down. Children ask for breast milk not only because of hunger, but also when they are thirsty, uncomfortable, want tactile contact. To satisfy these needs, breasts are needed for a short period of time - to know that mom is around.
3. Feeding too often. In the first few months of life, feeding may be far from the regimen. The thing is that lactation is only normalizing, however, the growth of the baby during this period is especially intense.
4. The body adapts to the growing need for breast milk and produces as much as the baby needs to eat. Yes, and the baby in the first months needs to eat more often than in the next.
5. The baby is restless and capricious. If the reason for this is malnutrition, then such a reaction is not observed constantly, but soon after feeding. If this is not the case, then the reason, most likely, lies elsewhere. For example, it can be colic, the child does not sleep well, often cries and calms down only in his arms.
6. Baby lets go of the breast but remains restless. Often this is due to the outflow of milk, and not its quantity. Gotta make sure the baby is rightapplied to the chest. Perhaps his tummy hurts, or maybe the mother herself is in an unstable emotional state.

Causes and signs of malnutrition

The reasons why a child is malnourished can be:

• hypogalactia;
• improper breastfeeding;
• nipple structure;
• lactostasis;
• tongue tie.

Hypogalactia is a condition in which milk production is less than what the baby needs. The reason may lie in a hereditary predisposition or is related to the mother's lifestyle. This problem is solvable: you should carefully monitor your diet, eat more often, preferably an hour before the intended feeding. Drink plenty of fluids - at least two liters daily. At the same time, drinks should be as natural as possible: fruit drink, compote, green tea, juices and water. In pharmacies, you can buy special herbal teas that stimulate milk production. Frequent attachment of the baby to the breast also helps to improve lactation. It is important to monitor your psycho-emotional state and not be nervous.

Incorrect attachment to the breast often causes discomfort for the baby, he fails to suckle the breast in full and he remains hungry. Mom has cracks on her nipples, causing pain during feeding, the woman is tense, which cannot but be transmitted to the baby.

The structure of the nipples. If the mother's nipples are inverted or flat, this makes it difficult for the baby's lips to capture them. In such cases, it is requiredpatience and perseverance, a couple of weeks after the start of feeding, the breast changes shape, and the nipples are drawn out and no longer cause so much discomfort. At first, you can use special breast pads or express milk into a bottle.

Lactostasis. Milk stasis, or lactostasis, is a very common problem among nursing mothers, especially in the first months after the birth of a child. The fact is that if there is a lot of milk, the baby is not able to completely empty the breast. The mammary gland swells, and feeding is difficult. In an advanced form, lactostasis can lead to a deterioration in the mother's well-being. How to understand if a newborn is full of milk, if the liquid remains in the chest after feeding, we will consider later in the article.

For prevention purposes, after each feeding, it is necessary to express milk, put the baby to the breast more often, lightly massage the breasts during feeding, wear a properly fitting bra.

A short bridle does not allow you to properly grasp and suck on the breast. Usually, if there is such a problem, the mother is informed even at the maternity hospital or at the first examination by the local doctor. This situation is solvable and should not cause concern.

How to understand that the child does not have enough food

Understanding whether a newborn is full of breast milk, what the baby wants, what worries him, is not always easy, especially if it is the firstborn. He expresses his demands by crying and shouting. If half an hour after feeding, he is dissatisfied with something, most likely, he is worried about the feeling of hunger.

Sometimes a breastfeeding mother has problems. The baby is just lazy and wants to suck breast milk through the nipple, falls asleep at the breast. In this case, he needs to be disturbed, not letting him sleep until he finishes his meal. If, due to certain circumstances, it is inconvenient for him to take a breast, he is fed through a bottle and track the portion of what he eats.

Another important indicator that a child is not full is a slight weight gain. It all depends on the age of the child, on average it should not be lower than 120 g per week.

Child Behavior

To understand if a newborn baby is full, it is worth watching his behavior:

• a well-fed baby is in a good mood;
• he sleeps well and sleeps soundly;
• almost not naughty;
• his skin is pink, elastic and does not tumble where the fontanel is located.

According to research, a he althy breastfeeding woman produces as much milk as the baby needs. This has nothing to do with the baby's weight or breast size.

Counting the amount of liquid released

You can understand that a newborn has eaten breast milk by measuring the amount of urine excreted. The main advantage of this method is that the very next day, the mother knows if her baby is full. To do this, you need to know the amount of fluid secreted and the amount of milk eaten per day. The first indicator is calculated experimentally, and the second - according to the formula.

AlgorithmThe action here is as follows:

1. All used diapers per day are stored in a plastic bag, which must be tied so that the baby's urine does not evaporate, the feces are removed.
2. The next day, a bag of dry clean diapers and the corresponding number with urine are weighed. The smaller value is subtracted from the larger value, the resulting number displays the mass of the allocated liquid.

Normally, this figure is 46-66% of the daily volume of breast milk eaten. When calculating the weight and volume of urine are taken as equal. Relative to the volume of the allocated liquid, the amount of milk is calculated and compared with the norm.

Counting the number of urination

The previous method is quite effective and up to a milliliter can determine the lack of milk. However, there is another, simpler method based on counting the number of urination.

You don't need to calculate them, since the volume of liquid released is calculated according to the previous method. Considering that the baby excretes approximately 30 ml of urine at a time, a further calculation is made.

The daily volume of excreted fluid must be divided by 30 (the volume of urine for each urination), the result will be the number of urination per day. The norm is 8-14 times a day, if fed exclusively with breast milk, without water, the minimum indicator will be 8. So you can understand that the newborn baby has eaten.

You can determine how much milk a child is missing by adding 50 ml to the number of missing urination. Forto determine the amount of urine excreted during the day, it is better to use cloth diapers.

The inaccuracy of the method may be due to the individual characteristics of the baby, who pees a little, but often. Therefore, the amount of urination in this case is not indicative.

Expected weight gain

This method involves weighing used and corresponding number of clean diapers. Feces in this case do not need to be cleaned.

So, if the content of a diaper is 500 g per day, then, most likely, in a month the baby will gain 1 kg of weight or more. With a diaper content of 450 g, the increase will not exceed 700 g. If 400 g, then most likely the baby will not gain weight at all, so you need to increase the portion of milk or mixture. With the contents of the diaper from 350 or less, for sure, the baby will lose weight, it is imperative to introduce supplementary feeding and show the child to the pediatrician. These calculations will help you understand that the newborn is not full of formula or milk.

How mom feels normal

Often, young mothers worry about the baby's satiety and lack of milk immediately after birth. How to understand that the newborn ate colostrum? It is worth remembering that immediately after birth, the baby's stomach is very small and can only digest a few drops. Later, it expands and the child begins to eat more. Accordingly, the amount of milk increases.

Consider what happens when milkis getting bigger. A he althy baby takes big sips while feeding. After 15 minutes, having eaten, he sucks less intensively and throws the breast or calmly falls asleep, clinging to his mother. The woman feels that the milk in her chest has decreased, she has become softer and sank. The baby ate not only the easily incoming "first" milk, but also the fat at the end.

Mammary glands in nursing mothers are involved in different ways. Some give one breast each feeding, changing them in turn, others give both at once, since milk does not have time to develop in sufficient quantities. Most newborns simply do not want to be separated from their mother and do not let go of the breast, even after eating.

How to understand that the baby is full of formula

If a bottle-fed baby, for no apparent reason, began to behave restlessly: often act up, sleep poorly, lose weight, have problems with stools, most likely, he does not eat up. Often he does not stand three to four hours between meals. In these cases, it is necessary to revise the feeding regimen or try replacing the mixture. A pediatrician can help to understand whether a newborn is full of formula. Also, the specialist will advise what kind of food to choose for the baby. The new adapted formula is introduced little by little, paying special attention to the child's reaction to the new product.

Properly introduced complementary foods for an infant are the key to his immunity. Having eaten, the artificial baby looks happy and he althy. After feeding, he falls asleep easily, and during moments of wakefulnessactive and smiling. Mom should always carefully monitor the reaction and behavior of the crumbs. Pediatricians recommend keeping a diary, where information about the introduction of a new product, the amount eaten and the reaction of the baby will be entered. Sometimes feeding happens more often, sometimes less often. Not always the norms of complementary foods recommended by experts are suitable for the baby. Everything is purely individual.

Milk is produced depending on the appetite of the baby. If he completely empties the chest, it will fill up completely. This factor also affects the amount of complementary foods that he needs to fully saturate. It has also been shown that the fat content of milk increases as the time between feedings increases.

What to do when the baby does not have enough food

Above, it was discussed how to understand that a newborn is breastfeeding. It is worth knowing about those nuances that will help solve the problem of malnutrition:

1. First of all, you need to adjust the feeding regimen: eat at the right time, at least three to five times daily, monitor the balance of the diet.
2. Keep your body hydrated, drink plenty of fluids, including lactation-stimulating teas and herbal infusions.
3. Exclude from the diet foods that can affect the taste of milk, and those that can not be eaten by a nursing mother.
4. Stay away from gas-polluted roads every day.
5. Sleep and rest whenever possible.
6. Involve households in newborn care.
7. Masterproper attachment of the baby to the breast.
8. Be sure to feed at night.
9. Follow the feeding schedule, but do not deny the baby breast milk on demand.
10. Supplement the baby with expressed milk from a nipple, pipette, spoon, if necessary, avoiding their use outside of feeding.
11. Observe breast hygiene, wash it before each application, apply special softening ointments to the nipples, wipe with a solution of furacilin or chamomile.
12. Massage the chest with stroking movements.

Among other things, it is important that feeding takes place in a calm, peaceful environment, away from noise and loud noises that can frighten the baby.