Breastfeeding: Signs Your Baby's Getting Enough Milk
How can you tell if your baby's feeding well?
Nappy Clues
Monitoring the frequency and quantity of your baby's output is one of the most reliable ways of knowing if he's getting adequate milk. Here's what to look for when changing his diapers.
Your baby is pooing enough
For newborns, "the baby should have increasing bowel movements so that by the end of the first week he should be passing at least two to three substantial yellow stools each day. In addition, many infants have a stained diaper with almost each feeding, " says Newman. In the first few weeks, your baby should fill his nappy about two to five times a day with seedy, mustard-colored poo. From six weeks on, babies fill their nappies a lot less frequently but have more substantial bowel movements, so don't panic if the rate then drops to once a day, sometimes less.
Your baby is wetting enough
"With six soaking wet (not just wet) diapers in a 24 hours hour period, after about 4-5 days of life, you can be reasonably sure that the baby is getting a lot of milk (if he is breastfeeding only), " reveals Newman. In fact, when your baby is under five or six weeks of age, he can be expected to wet his diapers around eight times a day. After five or six weeks of age, you can expect him to wee at least five to six diapers daily.
