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volume of breast milk
- Dec 7, 2009 at 12:02 AM
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Volume of breast milk
Baby's stomach is only as big as their fist. That is not very big at all. Moms tend to think that a new born needs ounces to survive, when in reality we are talking MLs.Moms get hung up on that they can't see how much baby is getting and then fear they are not providing enough when in fact they are. So here is a visual aide for you Moms. It may not seem like a lot and you wonder how baby can live on that small amount. Trust your bodies and know you are giving your baby the best they can ever have.
The first 24hrs after birth baby will only be getting about 5MLs of colostrums from your breast at each feeding.
The next 24hrs baby will be getting 10-15MLs of colostrum from your breast.
Day 3, 20-30MLs of colostrums or breast milk.
When your mature milk comes in anywhere from day 3 to day 7. By the end of the week baby will be getting 1 to 1 ½ oz of breast milk from each feeding. This will be enough for baby. End of week 2, baby could be getting anywhere from 2-4 oz.
Frequent nursing is going to be key to being successful. Breast milk is digested very quickly and you should be nursing 8-15 times a day. Keep track of wet and pooping diapers to make sure baby is getting enough. 1 dirty diaper per day old and 2-8 wet diapers per day.
Look for signs of dehydration by if baby's lips are dry and wrinkled, if you are able to see their pulse pulsating on their soft sspot on the top of their head. Lack of wet diaper or the absent of dirty diapers through out the day. You may also see what they call"red brick dust" in the diaper in the urine area. This is blood and can also be a sign of dehydration. (sometimes from baby girls,they may have small amounts of blood expelling from their private area a few days after birth from the birth process.) These are just a few cues to watch for if you feel your baby is not getting enough. If you want to supplement to make sure baby is ok. Don't offer a lot of supplement. A nipple full should be enough for one feeding. This may get them satisfied enough to get them to get a good latch and nurse some more from you.
Every 2hrs during the day and not longer then 3hrs at night. Set an alarm if you must to wake and feed baby during the night. We are working on keeping baby's weight drop to less than 10%.
Nursing time is from the START to the START point.
1pm for 45 mins on R breast, next nursing session will be at 3pm on left breast for 45 mins. Eventually nursing will go from 45mins to 5-10 mins after a month or so depending on baby's temperament.
Proper latch is KEY!!!! Please watch this video from www.ameda.com. It is located on the bottom right hand corner. We don't do the open and shove technique anymore. Watch how the nipple rolls into the baby's mouth. See how the bottom lip is pulled down and more of the bottom part of the areola is in the baby's mouth compared to the top part. These are key points to nursing.You shouldn't feel any pain or biting from baby. If so, insert your finger in the side of their mouth and break the suction and try again.
Another thing to check when baby is born is to see if baby is tongue tied. This will be the piece of skin we all have attached to the bottom part of our tongue. If this piece of skin is attached the whole length of the baby's tongue. This can make it difficult for baby to get their tongue out and over their gums to latch onto your breast properly and get a good suction to get milk. This will also cause nipple pain. So check baby when born for this concern. If you think baby has this, Get baby into the Dr and have it snipped and the problem is fixed.
Watch for signs of a hungry baby, rooting, making small noises, and sucking on hands. If baby gets to the point of crying, baby then is starving. Frequent nursing will help keep this from happening.If you beat baby to the punch before they are getting upset. It will set the mood for a relaxing nursing session. So if that means that you start nursing 1 hr 45 mins after you started instead of the 2 hr mark and baby is interested in nursing. Then go for it.
When nursing babies, look at their meals like yours as an adult. You start off with a salad, This for the baby will be the first 5-10mins of nursing. They are getting the latch down, you have let down that gets the milk flowing down to the nipples. Then the second part of the meal is the main course. This will be the meat, potatoes and veggie part for baby. This part can take 10-15 mins as well. Then there is the best part of all for baby. This is the desert part. In this case the hind milk for baby. This has the thickest cream in it for baby. This is where baby will get most of their calories in their nursing session. This will also help keep baby more content til the next nursing session. That will be the last 5-15 mins of nursing Baby should pull off by themselves when they are done. They should have a milk drunk look on thier face of how content they are from nursing. This nursing session should all be done on one breast. So we are looking at 40-45 mins of nursing on one breast. Then the same will be done at the next session on the opposite breast and so forth. When the nurses tell you to nurse 15-20 mins on one and then switch. Just stay on one. If you keep switching half way through. Your baby will never get the hind milk part and become hungry faster and seem fussy til the next feeding. This may also cause for them to become gassy and not sleep well.
I always hear that my baby is sooooo hungry.They may be, but that is what newborn tendenies are. They make sucking noises and root looking for your breast. If they want to use you as a pacifier, as long as the latch is good. Let them latch back on.
Here is the thing about supplementing. If y ou give a new born baby a bottle of formula. Even one ounce the first few days because you think baby is starving and don't feel you ar giving baby enough. You can see how much baby got and it make you feel better to see that You are doing you and baby a disservice. By doing that, you have just allowed your baby to eat the equivalant of a begas buffet.Babies are like cows. They will eat and eat and eat. They don't know how to stop on their own at this young age. If the bottle has two ounces and you let them drink the whole thing. They will be too full to evn want to eat for hours because formula take way longer to digest compared to breast milk. The longer you go inbetween nursing session. You are telling your body to only produce so much. Our breast are a supply and demand system. Baby wil also learn that it is easier to get formula out of a bottle then have to work at it at the breast. Bottles give babies instant gratification. Breast fed babies have to work at getting their milk from the breast. They are more sufficient then a breast pump and can do it.
Engorgement is going to happen no matter what. The degree will depend on how your nursing schedule is going.If you skip a nursing by over sleeping or supplementing. This will increase the degree of pain and discomfort when your milk comes in. This can be the start of a Mom who is in to much pain for baby to latch and just give in to letting baby have a bottle and then that can start a vicious cycle for Mom and baby.
Have on hand cold packs for keeping swelling down in between feedings, and hot packs for helping open flow of milk when it is time to nurse.
Massage while nursing to help the flow of milk down to your nipple.As if you are giving yorself a breast massage.
Pumping will be up to you, Binkies up to you. Breast shields not recommended, If you choose to use a breast shield for nursing issues. Please know that they are ONLY meant to be used for the first 5 mins of a nursing session. Then you are to remove the shiled and place baby back on to finish nursing. If you use them the whole time you are nursing. Your baby will have a hard time when you try to in a sense wean baby off of it. It should never be used for the whole nursing session. Try to be done using it fully by the end of the first week, 2ND at the most. It is suppose to be an aide, not a crutch. Bottle feeding should wait until you are established at nursing and your milk supply is showing consistent production.
Baby will go through a growth spurt at 3 and 6 wks of age. It may seem as if baby is eating more, but for a smaller amount of time. This is baby's way to tell your breast to up their supply for baby. Will take anywhere from 3-5 days and then will level out til the next spurt. But you are producing enough and don't fret. Stress can deplete your supply.
Don't get up in arms with the well child checkups. Drs go off of a formula feed baby chart. Breast fed babies tend to be smaller and weigh less then formula babies.Don't let other Moms tell you"oh my, your baby is so small for their age." If they are meeting their milestones and nursing fine. You are dong a great job!
If you have any questions about what I wrote. Please email and i would be happy to answer any questions you have about this journal.
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The part about weight made me smile - I have two atypical nursing only babies. My son was literally off the chart for both height and weight until he was six months old. Then he pretty much stalled until about a year of age. Now he's growing at a "normal" rate. Our pedi actually told us at one point that if he was a FF baby, she would be lecturing us about over feeding.
My daughter isn't nearly as much of a glutton as her big brother was. But she's still above the 95% for weight and height. Pedi knows better than to comment on weight gain now, lol.
Neither was terribly huge at birth; 8.7 lbs for my son and 8.8 lbs for my daughter (she had a larger head).
- eema.gray
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