Many mothers who are breastfeeding are worried about whether the baby is full. It's one thing when a baby is fed from a bottle, where you can see how much he has eaten, and quite another is breastfeeding, when it is quite difficult to determine by eye. To understand whether a baby has enough breast milk, you need to focus on objective signs.
Instructions
Step 1
Count the number of wet diapers throughout the day. An adequately nourished baby normally urinates 6-8 or more times a day. If you use disposable diapers, ditch them for 1-2 days in favor of gauze or cloth diapers to get the real picture.
Step 2
Examine your child's stool carefully. A yellow color and a granular structure are considered normal, the presence of undigested lumps is allowed. A baby who gets enough high-calorie milk will have stools 1-2 times a day or more, since breast milk has a natural laxative effect.
Step 3
A baby's green stools may indicate a lactase deficiency: during feeding, he sucks out the so-called foremilk, which contains a lot of sugar, but does not receive the fatter "hind" milk, which has the greatest nutritional value. Perhaps he really lacks such nutrition for normal development.
Step 4
Evaluate your breasts before and after feeding: if before latching on the baby it is tight and full, and after it is soft and noticeably empty, then the baby is full. Leaking breasts between feeds indicate that milk is being produced well.
Step 5
Pay attention to the baby's behavior during feeding: if his cheeks are round, he lets go of his breast and falls asleep or does not sleep, but looks happy and calm, which means he is full. If, after eating, the baby spits up a curdled mass or whey, then there is no problem of lack of milk at all: these are signs of overfeeding. But when spitting up milk, you need to contact a pediatrician or neurologist (there may be other problems).
Step 6
Monitor your child's weight gain. In the first 2 months, babies normally gain 100-200 g per week, up to 6 months - 400-1000 g per month, from 6 months to a year - 400-500 g per month. These indicators are average, but in general, the increase depends on the individual characteristics of the child: body weight at birth, height, physique, etc.
Step 7
Do the following test: Use two fingers to squeeze the baby's skin over the muscles and bones. A well-nourished baby has a firm and firm feel, as it has good body fat. The wrinkled skin that loosely lags behind the bones and muscles indicates that the baby does not have enough milk. Try to establish breastfeeding and contact your pediatrician who will prescribe formula supplements if necessary.
