Is My Baby Getting Enough?
Diapers and Demeanor
I think wondering about your baby’s intake is a normal part of parenting HOWEVER it doesn’t have to be. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could see exactly how much our babies are eating? In some ways, we can! Let’s talk about The 2 Ds. The first D stands for diapers meaning we can track our infant’s diaper output as a way of tracking our infant’s input. For the first day of life we need to see 1 wet and 1 dirty diaper which tells us our babe has removed enough milk to jump start their GI tract. For day of life 2, we need to see 2 wet and 2 dirty diapers again, which tells us they’re receiving adequate input. This trend continues until day of life 6! By tracking output we know our babes are getting enough in because we’re seeing enough coming out. Make sense?
Day of life # of # of
Day of life 1 1 wet 1 dirty
Day of life 2 2 wet 2 dirty
Day of life 3 3 wet 3 dirty
Day of life 4 4 wet 4 dirty
Day of life 5 5 wet 5 dirty
Day of life 6 6 wet 6 dirty
*And throughout the first month of life our infant should be having at least 6 wets and 6 dirty diapers per day which ensures adequate intake.
The second D stands for demeanor meaning we can track our infant’s demeanor before and after feedings. When infant’s are hungry we usually see hunger cues i.e. hands to mouth, baby’s hands are in fists, licking lips, smacking lips, or looking around with room with a wide open mouth. All of these are signs of hunger and the longer you spend with your babe the quicker you’ll start noticing these cues. Instead of feeding our babies for a number of minutes, we’ll instead want to feed until we see a change in their demeanor. For instance, we should see baby’s demeanor change from the above (tight fists, licking lips) to; open relaxed hands, a calm and sleepy baby, no lip smacking or, “baby bird” mouth movements. If we feed until we see this demeanor change we can ensure they’ve removed an appropriate amount of milk to satisfy their hunger.
As our infant’s grow and become more efficient at breastfeeding we can have a better gauge on duration of feedings, but for the first month or two we’ll want to feed until we see a quiet and calm demeanor.