How to understand that a newborn is feeding on breastfeeding. Why a child does not get enough breast milk (how to understand that he is not getting enough, signs, reasons and what to do). Mom's stress

Face and body care

Last article updated: 04/25/2018

Pediatricians around the world consider breast milk optimal for feeding babies from birth to one year. And it is true. It contains all the necessary substances that are ideal for your child. The composition of milk is unique, it changes constantly and depends on the needs of the baby. For example, when it's hot, breast milk contains more water, which helps quench your thirst. Need to grow? There is more milk and its fat content increases. Is your baby sick? The amount of immune substances in milk increases.

Local pediatrician

However, despite centuries of breastfeeding experience, many questions still remain. During appointments, I am often asked how to check whether a child is full or not, what to do if the baby does not eat enough?

Let's try to figure out these problems together.

How can you tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk?

To make it easier for the mother to determine whether the baby is full, I’ll tell you about some features of the newborn’s body. The baby usually sleeps for 2 - 4 hours. This means that the number of feedings together with night feedings should be from 6 to 8 times per day. Does your baby suck his fist, turn his head around and stick out his tongue? He wants to eat! It's time to offer him your breasts.

The baby can eat from 10 to 30 minutes. How much he suckles depends on the activity and appetite of the baby. Some eat quickly and hastily, while others eat slowly, with rest breaks. Both options are considered the norm and reflect the individuality of your little one. The portion of milk consumed is regulated by the child himself. Having eaten, the baby will release the breast on its own.

A child cries not only when he is hungry. Crying may indicate tummy pain, a reaction to weather conditions, or the baby is simply demanding your attention.

In the first year of their life, children grow rapidly. The average monthly weight gain of a baby during the first trimester (three months) is 800 grams. Knowing the characteristics of your baby, carefully observing his behavior and monthly growth, you can determine whether the child is full or remains hungry.

A child does not eat enough if:

he often wakes up and sleeps little, shows signs of anxiety, cries a lot;
does not gain weight within a month.

As a breastfeeding advocate, I hope your baby is eating enough. But if the parents determine that the baby is not getting enough milk, questions immediately arise: what is the reason, what to do?

The main thing is not to panic. For successful breastfeeding, proper nutrition, proper rest and an optimistic attitude of the nursing mother are necessary. I'll tell you about nutrition a little later.

Main reasons leading to malnutrition

Malnutrition may be caused by:

hypogalactia - decreased production of breast milk;
improper attachment of the child;
flat, inverted nipples;
lactostasis - stagnation of milk, manifested by painful swelling of the breast;
short frenulum of the tongue.

Let me remind you again. Do not worry! All these problems can be fixed.

If true hypogalactia is directly related to the mother’s hereditary predisposition and lifestyle, then the other four reasons depend on the breastfeeding technique. They can be adjusted.

Hypogalactia

Hypogalactia is a condition in which less milk is produced than the baby needs.

And although there is a hereditary predisposition, lifestyle also has a significant influence.

Will help overcome this problem some useful tips:

Eat right. You need to eat, even more often than you ate before pregnancy. Preferably before each breastfeeding. The list of the healthiest foods includes meat, cottage cheese, fish, dairy products, fruits and vegetables. It is advisable not to eat citrus fruits and chocolate (they may cause allergies); foods that increase gas formation (legumes, white cabbage, black bread, a lot of flour can cause colic in the baby). If the milk is low-fat (“like water”), you can eat sour cream, nuts, and pork in moderation. They make the milk fattier.
Drink more (up to 2.5 liters per day) fluid. Give preference to simple clean water, green tea, compote, fruit juice, and fermented milk products.
Rest. A nursing mother needs at least 8 hours of sleep at night and 1 to 2 hours of daytime rest per day. Spend more time outdoors.
Apply your baby more often. At the same time, the flow of milk increases. In the first days of the baby's life, it is advisable to feed every hour. Don't forget about night feedings. Give both breasts at one feeding, ending with the breast you started with.
Communicate with your child. Skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby causes milk to flow.
Seek support and help from your husband and relatives. Psychological comfort in the family is very important.
Herbal teas for mothers containing cumin, dill, fennel, and anise are designed to enhance milk production. Drink a cup of this tea an hour before feeding, try to relax and unwind. The taste of the milk will be better, and the baby will eat with appetite.

Incorrect attachment of the baby to the breast

Incorrect attachment of the baby leads to discomfort and dissatisfaction of the baby, cracks in the nipples, which is painful for the mother. The baby is unable to fully breastfeed, and therefore the baby cannot get enough to eat.

Conditions for correct application.

Baby position: belly to belly, face to chest. It is up to the mother to decide whether to feed lying down or sitting. Choose a position that suits both of you.
The baby's head and body lie on the same line. The chin touches the mother's chest.
The baby should latch onto the nipple along with the areola (the pigmented area around the nipple).
The baby's lower lip is slightly turned out.
The mother should be relaxed and focused on the child.

If the mother has flat, inverted nipples, it is difficult for the baby to suck. It will take patience and persistence. Over time, the shape of the breast changes, it softens, and the nipples become more elongated. And after two weeks the problem with feeding disappears. Until this time, you can use special ones. If necessary, milk is expressed and given to the baby from a spoon.

Lactostasis

Lactostasis is a problem that often occurs at first. This occurs due to the presence of more milk, and the baby is unable to completely empty the breast. The mammary gland swells, becomes painful, the temperature may rise to 38 - 38.5 degrees, but overall health does not suffer. When the mammary glands become engorged, it is difficult for a child to suck, and not all babies can cope with this problem.

more frequent attachments by the baby;
Express a small amount of milk before feeding. Pumping softens the breast and helps the baby;
massage during feeding, stroking from the armpit to the nipple;
when you finish feeding, express the milk until a few drops are released;
Wear a properly fitted nursing bra.

Breastfeeding poses serious questions for new mothers, one of which is how to determine if the baby is not getting enough breast milk.

This problem is especially worrying in the first month of a baby’s life and does not lose its relevance until the end of the first half of the year, when liquid and healthy nutrition often remains the only source of energy for the child.

A lot depends on the correctness of the mother’s actions, because sometimes a woman, misreading the signs of malnutrition, transfers the baby to an artificial formula, depriving him of the ideal product and the necessary tactile communication.

According to some mothers, the most telling signs of infant malnutrition are as follows:

constant crying that is not associated with other possible causes;
weakness of the child, low activity;
restless behavior that occurs as soon as the baby approaches the mother's breast.

Despite the general knowledge of these facts, a nursing mother should not take them too seriously. Of course, they really talk about children's problems, but not that the baby is hungry, but that he has problems with the intestines.

If all these symptoms are observed, then the baby probably has colic. In this case, he additionally presses his legs towards his stomach and cries after latching on to the chest.

Another common parental mistake is weighing the baby too often, for example, after every meal. Seeing that the weight gain is small, parents begin to get nervous and eventually decide to supplement with formula feeding.

Symptoms of malnutrition in a newborn often include difficulty falling asleep and restless behavior during sleep.

For example, the baby may feel maternal nervousness, was simply born overly anxious or was a little sick. It is important for a woman to find out accurate information about the “sleepy” standards that are relevant for each month of life and try to put the baby to bed at the appropriate time intervals.

Checking wet diapers

Breastfeeding experts say there are only two accurate ways to determine if a baby is not getting enough breast milk: checking wet diapers and assessing monthly weight gain.

Another sign of a hungry infant is smacking his lips, tongue, sucking a finger, fist or the edge of a diaper.

In addition, since mother's milk is considered both food and drink for the baby, excessively dry skin can also be a sign of malnutrition.

So, you have determined that the baby remains hungry throughout the day, now you need to identify the reasons that interfere with optimal lactation and lead to malnutrition. Since both mother and baby are involved in feeding, the nutrition process needs to be considered from all sides.

The reasons for the lack of milk are often due to the incorrect behavior of the mother (or her environment) during the lactation period:

Another probable reason is too frequent, leading to an overabundance of this product. In general, milk secretion can be anterior or posterior. Foremilk is thinner and contains less fat (“empty”), which is what is produced during frequent pumping.

Hind milk is fatty, which means it is more nutritious and filling. The baby can only get enough of hindmilk, because fatty foods are not digested so quickly and leave a feeling of fullness for a longer period.

The baby may remain hungry if the feeding process is interfered with:

colic that worsens while eating;
nasal congestion or damage to the oral cavity;
incorrect latching of the chest.

The following experiment will help you discover feeding deficiencies: when you give your baby the breast, listen to how he swallows. The normal ratio is two or three suckings interspersed with one sip (in the first minutes of feeding, the baby should do a lot of sucking to increase the flow of milk from the breast). If there are few swallowing movements, the baby will remain hungry.

If a child does not get enough breast milk, he begins to be capricious, irritable, and also grows poorly and lags behind in development. If you discover that your baby does not have enough food in the first month, do not be nervous, as nervousness will only worsen the situation.

By listening to the following advice from breastfeeding experts, you can improve lactation and properly organize your baby’s feeding:

Try. With natural feeding, the mammary glands secrete the optimal amount of milk in response to the baby's stimulation of the nipples. That is, the child should eat whenever he wants.
How to understand that a child is full? A well-fed newborn releases the nipple on its own, which is why it is not recommended to interrupt your meal at will.
Make sure you are applying the crumb correctly. Correct position: the mouth is open, the child should grasp both the papilla and the areola, only swallowing can be heard, there are no other sounds.
Set up a couple of comfortable feeding positions so you can alternate between them. The correct position is that the back of the child’s head, neck and back are located on a straight line. To prevent the baby from turning his head and reaching for the breast, the nipple should be close to his mouth.
Try feeding from one breast at a time so that the baby can suck both the foremilk and the hind milk.
Don't be afraid to wake your baby to feed. During the day he should not sleep more than three hours in a row, at night - more than 5-6. Before eating, the baby can be washed with cool water or undressed to activate all processes.
Avoid bottles for at least the first month of your child’s life. It is better to give expressed milk using a spoon or pipette. This is necessary so that the baby does not get used to pacifiers.
Give yourself a break, while there is such an opportunity - the child is sleeping, or relatives are babysitting him.
Review your diet, including more carbohydrate and protein foods. Avoid foods that may affect the flavor of the milk. It is also necessary to drink the required amount of warm liquid.
If there are any signs of trouble, be sure to show the baby to a specialist.

To make the feeding process easier, you can purchase a special pillow. This device helps to properly attach the baby to the breast and reduce the load on the mother’s back.

A cozy feeding procedure, a comfortable pillow, and pleasant music will create a comfortable atmosphere for eating and enjoy the procedure itself.

Inexperienced mothers often listen to the advice of girlfriends or simply common myths regarding breastfeeding, and decide for themselves that the child is not getting enough to eat. And this is already fraught with the wrong choice, which can harm the baby.

If it seems to you that your child is not eating well and has not eaten enough for 24 hours, be sure to consult a doctor. He will most accurately determine the likely factors that provoke malnutrition, recommend ways to improve breastfeeding, or suggest choosing the optimal milk formula for supplementary feeding.

The most important thing in such a situation is not to worry unnecessarily, but to maintain a positive attitude, which will certainly be passed on to the baby!

Hello, I am Nadezhda Plotnikova. Having successfully completed her studies at SUSU as a specialized psychologist, she devoted several years to working with children with developmental problems and consulting parents on issues of raising children. I use the experience gained, among other things, in creating articles of a psychological nature. Of course, I in no way claim to be the ultimate truth, but I hope that my articles will help dear readers deal with any difficulties.

New mothers inevitably face many challenges. The fact is that a baby requires an attentive and responsible attitude. The appearance of a child in a family is always accompanied by a number of difficulties that no one can avoid. He needs to be fed strictly by the hour, diapers changed regularly, and his health monitored. When you consider that there are only twenty-four hours in a day, it is understandable why new parents show so much anxiety.

In some cases, a situation occurs when the child does not get enough breast milk. A caring mother will definitely notice this feature and try to eliminate it as soon as possible. You cannot leave your baby underfed. A lack of important vitamins and microelements will negatively affect his condition.

Signs

You can notice that a baby is not getting enough breast milk based on several characteristic indicators. Usually, even inexperienced parents immediately notice changes in their baby’s behavior. You don't need to be or have a higher academic degree to do this. It is enough to sincerely love your child and want to take care of him with all your heart. The problem must be solved if the baby does not get enough breast milk. Signs that indicate there is a problem are outlined below.

Tearfulness

A hungry baby will not sleep peacefully, snoring peacefully through his nose. He will constantly worry, spin, look for his mother's breast. Tearfulness is a clear symptom that the baby is not getting enough breast milk. It’s just that the little one cannot tell you about this in words, but he really hopes that his parents will understand him without verbal reference. The baby becomes extremely irritable, constantly screaming, demanding increased attention. This is how he tries to keep his mother’s love close to him, to say that one of the most important basic needs is not being satisfied.

Expressed anxiety

How can you tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk? This question is often asked by young, inexperienced parents. They are simply afraid of missing out on something or making a mistake. Women who have given birth to their first child read many articles on children's topics and constantly analyze their own actions. Another characteristic sign that a baby is not getting enough breast milk is constant anxiety.

Expressed anxiety manifests itself in the fact that the baby wakes up every hour and sleeps much less than the hours allotted to him. Of course, he is not able to tell his parents that he is feeling hungry, but this can be understood by his behavior.

Causes

Why doesn't my baby get enough breast milk? As a rule, there are objective reasons for this. If parents really take them into account, they will be able to avoid such an unpleasant moment in the future.

Not enough milk

The most common sadness of young mothers that can only be encountered. This is a serious problem that requires increased attention. If a woman does not produce enough breast milk, the baby will inevitably remain hungry. Since a young mother does not always know what amount should be considered normal, she can easily underfeed her little son or daughter. The problem can often be noticed only by the baby's prolonged crying. When the mother has little milk, the baby does not gain weight. If this issue is not taken care of in time, the baby can even lose significant weight.

Mom's stress

A nursing woman must remember that any of her experiences will immediately affect the child. That is why you should try with all your might to protect yourself from all kinds of emotional shocks. The mother's stress will be passed on to the baby - he will become restless and whiny. Some babies even stop sucking and remain hungry. If a child of 1 month does not get enough breast milk, this situation is fraught with extremely negative consequences for him. As a rule, the immune system begins to suffer.

The baby becomes capricious and often gets sick. Mother's milk, like the most impenetrable defense, protects the baby from everything negative. Along with food, the child receives warmth and care. Absorbing the reverent attitude, he feels the love of his mother. This is how trust in the world is formed.

Digestive problems

Many young parents ask how to tell if their baby is full of breast milk. There is no clear answer here. But a caring mother always feels it. The baby looks peaceful, well-fed, happy and cheerful. In case of any disturbances in the gastrointestinal tract, the baby often worries and becomes whiny. Digestive problems may mean that a child will not be able to receive all the substances necessary for growth and development. He will lack food because his body is simply not ready to properly absorb mother's milk.

Solution

When the reason for the baby's constant crying is established, it becomes necessary to take active action. If a child does not get enough breast milk, what to do in this case? It is clear that you need to make a decision as quickly as possible so as not to harm your own child.

Adjust your diet

This means that mommy herself should eat nutritious food and avoid all kinds of harmful things. It is better to give up processed foods, giving preference to healthy natural products. By adjusting the diet, it will be possible to track visible changes in the baby’s condition.

The calmer the child behaves, sucks the breast better and sleeps, the more prosperous he feels. When a woman, due to lack of time, pays insufficient attention to her nutrition, she will certainly be disappointed. You cannot neglect the health of your own child.

The more a nursing mother thinks about herself, the better she will take care of her baby as a result. I would like to wish all women a competent and responsible attitude towards their own health.

Competent complementary feeding

When the mother really does not have enough milk, there is a need to feed the baby additionally. Mixtures are often used for this purpose. In their structure and composition, they perfectly imitate breast milk, although they cannot completely replace it. Meanwhile, at least the problem of lack of food for the baby disappears. With formula, the baby will turn into a plump, pink-cheeked baby doll with an excellent appetite.

Competent complementary feeding should begin with a thorough analysis. As a rule, everyone has their own individual picture of the state of things. Having thought about how to understand that a child has had enough of breast milk, a woman will become more attentive to the smallest changes and fluctuations in her child’s appetite. If the baby is already four to five months old, he can be fed with special baby food and cereals. Very small babies should be switched to formula as soon as possible. If the amount of milk continues to decrease over time, at least he will not suffer the consequences of starvation.

Thus, the issue of infant nutrition is a very pressing topic that remains relevant at all times. Parents who have small children know how difficult it is to raise a toddler with minimal signs of independence from a toddler. It should be noted that you should never, under any circumstances, skimp on food. If breast milk is not enough, you need to switch to formula. This product must be of excellent quality. It cannot be cheap for objective and understandable reasons. You should not be foolish enough to look for packages of formula at discounted prices. If you're wondering whether your baby is getting enough breast milk, then you really need to reconsider the nutritional issue. Remember that there is nothing more important and dearer than the health of your son or daughter.

More and more often, mothers after birth want to breastfeed their baby, and this is very pleasing. However, most young mothers have no experience in feeding issues and many questions and difficulties arise. This is greatly facilitated by various “experienced” advisers who consider it their duty to notice to the young mother - “he’s thin”, “your milk is low-fat” and “the neighbor guy over there gained 15 kilos on formula in one year!”

These kinds of remarks involuntarily make a young mother doubt her abilities, or they can lead to completely unreasonable complementary feeding with purees and cereals and supplementary feeding of the baby with formula. The introduction of additional amounts of food negatively affects lactation, leads to overfeeding of the child and the formation of excess weight. Such phenomena will not improve the baby’s health. How to avoid overfeeding when supplementary feeding or complementary feeding is really necessary, which is an indicator that the child is not getting enough to eat and what not?

Roots of the problem.
Unfortunately, in our country for many years there was a dominance of artificial nutrition, and there was no support for breastfeeding. Several generations of artificial babies have grown up, whose developmental norms are often very different from those of infants. In addition, children on formula often initially have quite pronounced overfeeding due to the diligence of parents in feeding their children, and the idea is firmly ingrained in the minds of our parents that a well-fed child should be very well-fed with pronounced folds and constrictions, gaining more than a kilo every month !

Grandmothers also play a significant role in matters of overfeeding, instructing a young daughter or daughter-in-law - “don’t torture the child, your milk is blue, give him formula!” Under the pressure of such “heavy artillery” the woman gives up. And the grandmother is incredibly happy about the baby’s gain of 100-1500 g, not realizing what harm such overfeeding causes to the toddler’s digestion and metabolism.

Constant hard work of the digestive system, caused by excess food intake, ultimately leads to the formation of pancreatitis, liver problems and a restructuring of the entire metabolism, it begins to deposit fat, subsequently forming obesity. In children with overfeeding, the risk of developing heart disease, as well as early vascular atherosclerosis, increases sharply. Such babies in adulthood more often suffer from hypertension, the hormonal balance of the body and the ability of girls to bear children are disrupted. Do you want such a fate for your baby? How, then, can you decide whether the child has enough nutrition and whether he is hungry?

What are not signs of hunger?
Sometimes situations arise in which mothers worry about whether the baby has enough milk or whether he needs to be given additional nutrition? These situations are different in each case and require detailed explanation in order to eliminate doubts and prevent the introduction of excess nutrition. There are several of them:

- My milk began to leak from my breasts, so I decided that there was less of it, the baby didn’t have enough of it.
Very often, mothers think that a sign of a lack of milk is the absence of leakage between feedings from both breasts or during feeding from the second breast. This does not apply to objective signs of lack of milk. It only indicates the fact that the mother’s lactation is entering a fairly stable or mature phase. The body already produces exactly as much milk as is needed for one feeding, and milk is produced during feeding, without excess or waste. This allows you to better maintain the shape of the breast, and also not deplete the reserves of the mother’s body due to milk loss. The breast is a delicate instrument and adapts to its baby.

- I don’t have a feeling of fullness or tides.
This, along with the previous sign, is also not a sign of lack of milk, but an indicator of the transition of lactation to the mature phase. During the period of mature lactation, most of the milk is formed during the process of the baby sucking at the breast, which makes it possible not to overfill the mother’s breasts and not cause her discomfort.

- I can’t express anything at all from my breast after feeding.
This is an argument often made by mothers, but it is not a sign of a lack of milk. First of all, no breast pump or even the most skillful manual expression technique can empty the breast as completely as the baby himself will, so you won’t be able to express much. Secondly, with mature lactation, milk is produced approximately as much as the baby needs, and there is no need for additional pumping. With additional pumping, excessive stimulation of lactation occurs and the formation of hyperlactation occurs with breast fullness and discomfort for the woman and baby.

- The baby constantly screams between main feedings or when he is on the breast.
Typically, this behavior does not indicate a lack of milk; rather, it indicates the beginning of breastfeeding, infrequent feedings, or it is a sign of colic, illness or other discomfort. If the mother always gives breast to the toddler at the first request and is attentive to the baby’s requirements, such situations usually either pass quickly or do not arise at all.

- The baby may hang on my chest for a long time, or he asks for the breast too often.
This is one of the most common reasons for introducing formula and the formation of overfeeding. The mother does not know or does not want to understand that the breast for the child is more than just food and drink. It plays the role of calming, toy, affection and even medicine. In addition, the baby's appetite is different at different times. Sometimes he wants to have a little snack, sometimes he wants to eat a lot. That is why you should not limit your baby’s sucking and give breastfeeding on demand.

After feeding, many mothers give the baby a bottle of formula and he begins to suck it greedily - and this is the main motivation for the child to fast.
However, such behavior of the child is not a lack of milk at all, but an innate sucking reflex; with the same success, the baby will begin to suck a fist, a diaper or your finger that has fallen into his mouth, this is the satisfaction of the sucking reflex. But, there is a hole in the bottle with the mixture and the mixture will certainly end up in his mouth, it must be swallowed so as not to choke, hence the false feeling of underfeeding. The baby will push the bottle out when there is simply nowhere for the milk mixture to go physically - usually then mothers also complain about excessive regurgitation. After such a massive volume of excess formula, the baby loses his appetite for a long time and does not latch on to the breast - the mother thinks that the milk has run out and curtails the breastfeeding, making sure there is a “lack” of milk.

- He doesn't sleep well at night - he wakes up to eat, which means he's hungry.
This is one of the strongest motivations for the older generation. And with incredible efforts they try to push formula or porridge into the child at night in order to achieve “rest” for the tummy and sleep for the mother. But in fact, night feedings are designed by nature to maintain active and prolonged lactation. After all, the maximum amount of lactation hormones is released at night. In the absence of active sucking of the breast and its emptying, the breast develops an attitude toward curtailing lactation - “since milk is no longer needed at night.”

How to determine whether you are full or not?
In breastfeeding, there are two main indicators that allow you to objectively assess whether the baby is getting enough to eat and whether he needs to be given additional nutrition. This is weight gain and the number of urinations according to the “wet diaper test”.

If the child’s body receives adequate nutrients, he can gain weight in leaps and bounds, 1500g in one month, 600g in another, or evenly 500-800g per month. The lower limit of normal weight gain through global research has been established as 500g per month or 125g per week.

Many doctors who do not have objective knowledge in the field of natural feeding practice “control weighing” with calculation of the volume of milk consumed. This test is completely unobjective and harmful for nursing mothers; it will not show an objective picture even at home, and even more so in a clinic under stress.

We have already mentioned the child’s different appetites and spasmodic growth - at one feeding he can eat 100g, and at another only 20g, only to quench his thirst - what kind of objective weight gain can we talk about in such a situation? It is possible to correctly assess weight no earlier than after a week of control, but it is better to assess weight gain within a month, but what if you need to assess sufficiency right now?

At home, you can easily conduct a “wet film test” - this is an objective criterion for insufficient milk supply. Under normal conditions of food intake, the child urinates on average once every 1-2 hours. Thus, he will wet at least 10-12 diapers per pack. If there is a shortage of milk, this indicator drops below 6-8 pieces and consultation with a doctor or breastfeeding specialist is required. If the number of diapers is below 6 pieces, additional feeding is definitely required. What if your baby urinates every half hour? His diapers fill up enough after 2-3 hours of wearing - he has no indication for introducing formula, even if it seems to you that he spends little time at the breast and eats little!

When do we introduce complementary foods?
With the introduction of complementary foods, toddlers naturally experience a decrease in weight gain, but this is how it should be. A child cannot gain a kilogram throughout his first year - he will become obese. The introduction of complementary foods is a replenishment of calories and teaching the child to digest new food for him. And there is no need to force a child, forcing him to eat the “age-appropriate” 150-180 g of porridge. Each baby has its own norms in terms of volume; excess food that you force into it will not do any good, but will only add excess weight and cause an aversion to the process of eating.

You should not follow the lead of grandmothers, to whom the baby “seems too thin” and feed him semolina porridge 3-4 times a day from 4-6 months. Such a load is harmful to digestion and will harm breastfeeding; it is necessary to introduce porridge once a day from six months, and only on the recommendation of a doctor, if there is severe weight loss, you can add a second feeding of porridge before breastfeeding. Throughout the first year, mother’s breast milk is one of the main foods of the child’s diet and you should not replace it with complementary foods for fear that the child will be malnourished.

Mothers always want their little one to eat more and grow faster. But you shouldn’t deceive nature - it has its own laws of weight gain, which you shouldn’t strive to exceed - excessive plumpness of the cheeks, continuous folds and fat deposits on the baby’s body - this, alas, is not a sign of his health at all!

How can you tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk? This is one of the most common questions asked to pediatricians by young mothers who believe that the baby is malnourished due to a lack of milk in the breast. Their fears are quite understandable, because the development of the baby largely depends on the quality and quantity of nutrition in the first year of life. So, how do you know if your baby has enough milk and what to do if natural nutrition is not enough?

How to determine?

If a young mother is trying to find out how to understand whether the baby is getting enough breast milk, she should remember that her subjective feelings regarding the fullness of the mammary glands in this case play absolutely no role. The lactation process is different for all women. And if at first after giving birth the mother constantly feels a feeling of heaviness in her chest, then after a few weeks this may go away, the mammary glands will become soft to the touch, and milk will stop oozing through clothes. Very often, it is at the moment of complete establishment of lactation that a woman begins to feel as if there is no milk in her breasts, even if she is feeding the baby as usual. Expressing will also not help to check whether the mother really has a lack of milk, since the nutrient fluid is produced continuously and it is simply impossible to express it completely to calculate the volume.

If a woman feeds her baby on demand, she should not have any question at all about how to understand that the baby does not have enough breast milk: the baby asks for the breast very often, and milk is produced in response to the baby’s need. Thus, the nutrient fluid in the breast is always in exactly the quantity that the baby needs, and he can always eat enough.

And yet, sometimes, under the influence of certain factors, milk deficiency can actually occur. The only way to understand whether a newborn is getting enough breast milk is to observe the baby himself. The following features of his behavior and well-being will indicate that a child is not getting enough breast milk:

The baby behaves restlessly at the breast: it grabs the nipple, tries to suck and then tries to grab the breast again.
The baby begins to ask for the breast more often than usual, ceases to maintain the previous intervals between feedings, and in between breastfeeding, he sucks fingers, diapers, toys, sticks out his tongue and smacks his lips.
If a baby doesn't get enough breast milk, he won't gain weight well. This is one of the most reliable signs of nutritional deficiency. Normally, children up to 4 months add about 500 g per month, after this age - about 300 g per month.
When a baby does not get enough breast milk, he begins to urinate less often, so a mother who doubts whether her baby is getting enough nutrition should conduct a “wet diaper test.” To do this, you need to stop using diapers for a day and count how many diapers (or onesies) the baby has “soaked.” Normally, the number of urinations should be at least 10 times per day.
If a newborn does not receive a sufficient amount of nutritional fluid, he or she develops symptoms of dehydration: the skin and mucous membranes become dry, bad breath appears, and the baby becomes lethargic and sleepy.

If a mother knows how to understand that the baby is not full of breast milk, she will notice signs of milk deficiency in time and will be able to do everything possible to normalize the situation. However, you need to keep in mind that you should not make hasty conclusions based on 1 or 2 symptoms. A possible lack of milk should be assessed taking into account all of the above factors.

How to increase breast milk supply?

What to do if the baby does not get enough breast milk, and the nursing mother even thinks that there is no more nutritious fluid in her mammary glands? First of all, a woman must understand that milk never disappears abruptly and without reason, and in the vast majority of cases it is quite possible if you approach this with full responsibility.

If a young mother has already realized that the baby does not have enough nutrition, she must figure out why the child has stopped eating enough milk. Often it is enough to simply eliminate the cause affecting milk production for the situation to return to normal. However, it must be recognized that milk deficiency can develop under the influence of a number of factors. This could be the mother’s poor nutrition, her severe psycho-emotional state, improper breastfeeding, and even too frequent use of bottles and pacifiers.

When the main cause of the lack of milk has been eliminated, the woman should return to her previous lactation mode naturally, that is, put the baby to the breast as often as possible, especially at night. After feeding your baby with one breast, you must offer him the second one in order to stimulate the process of producing nutrient fluid as much as possible. Pediatricians and lactation consultants say: frequent breastfeeding is the only sure way. All other methods (taking lactogenic drugs or special nutrition) can only be considered auxiliary measures.

Even if the baby does not have enough milk, and the mother herself thinks that there is nothing in the breast, there is no need to rush to feed the baby with formula: this can lead to even less fluid being produced in the mammary glands, since the baby’s need for breast milk will decrease. Eventually, lactation may stop completely. You should also stop using bottles: children who are accustomed to receiving nutrition without much effort do not breastfeed well.

It is hardly worth explaining to a nursing mother how to determine that the amount of nutrient fluid has returned to normal. The pleasant feeling of heaviness and warmth in her chest and the contented appearance of her well-fed baby will definitely tell her about this.