All parents want their baby to grow up healthy and gain weight well. But when breastfeeding, it is difficult to see the amount of milk that the baby drinks. It is not always possible to understand that the baby is not eating enough. How to know if a child is getting enough breast milk? Your pediatrician will tell you about this. Employees of the Daughters-Sonochki online store will recommend special mixtures and teas that activate the lactation process.

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

A newborn cries at the slightest discomfort: wet, cold, tired, overheated, hungry. Young mothers worry about whether the baby is full, whether he gets enough food for normal growth and development, because they are not always able to understand the causes of infant crying.

• wakes up earlier than an hour after feeding;
• long and superficial sucks;
• often comes off the chest and cries;
• does not fall asleep while feeding;
• gaining weight poorly.

These signs may be indirect and signal other problems. bad dream, frequent crying, nervous condition of the baby can be caused by pain. The baby may suck badly due to a short frenulum, and often wake up due to fear, cold, the need to feel maternal warmth. Neonatologists claim that sucking not only saturates, but also provides psychological comfort to the little man.

Important!

Whether the newborn is gaining weight, control weighing will tell. It is carried out before and after feeding. However, babies who are fed on demand may breastfeed differently throughout the day. Sucking not only satiates them, but also soothes them.

How to understand that the child is full?

Is your baby feeding on breast milk? This question worries every nursing mother. There are several undeniable signs that everything is in order with breastfeeding:

• the breast swells before feeding, becomes soft after application;
• milk oozes from the second breast;
• you can hear how the baby swallows loudly, sucks rhythmically and falls asleep at the breast;
• manages to wet about 10 diapers or 6 diapers per day (light-colored urine);
• soils diapers 1-8 times a day (plentiful stools, without an unpleasant odor).

In order to produce enough milk, feed often, on demand, do not wean the baby before he wants to, drink plenty of water. Bebivita tea for nursing mothers with natural extracts of fennel, cumin, anise will help to improve lactation. A good lactagon effect is provided by the Lactamyl mixture. It makes mother's milk optimal for feeding the baby and does not allow the mother to gain excess weight.

Important!

According to WHO standards, a baby who feeds exclusively on mother's milk should gain from 125 to 500 g per week. The baby's weight should be checked every two weeks.

findings

To gain strength, a newborn needs mother's milk. It is the most valuable nutritious product created by nature. If the baby does not eat enough, the mother should contact the specialists, find the causes of the problem and try to establish lactation. Special mixtures and teas that can be bought in our online store will help improve the lactation process.

The issue of the absence of a feeding deficit is of interest to the vast majority of young mothers who practice breastfeeding. Breastfeeding does not allow a woman to visually determine the amount of milk consumed by a child.

This criterion can only be determined by careful observation of the child's condition. We are talking about indicators such as weight gain, general condition and volume of bowel movements. In order for the baby to develop in accordance with age norms, his body must receive the necessary amount of nutrients.

General provisions

If a young mother has chosen breastfeeding, medical experts recommend that she feed her baby on demand. This technique allows you to meet the needs of the child at any time. This is convenient, since the body of each baby is individual, and the needs depend on the individual energy consumption of the baby. The mammary glands are arranged in such a way that the amount of milk produced directly depends on the needs of the child.

The more often the baby is applied to the breast, the more intensively the production of mother's milk is carried out. According to observations World Organization health care, the amount of breast milk consumed is determined by the baby. That is why the practice of applying on demand is a natural mechanism for regulating the amount of food consumed.

The same criteria apply to . The prolonged act of breast sucking stimulates the production of breast milk. On average, the duration of one feeding is from 25 to 55 minutes. Some kids devote at least 1.5 to 2 hours to this lesson.

If a young mother uses the technique of attachment to the breast on demand, then she does not risk facing the problem of feeding deficiency.

Signs of adequate nutrition

During the application of the baby to the mammary gland, it is necessary to observe its behavior and condition, and not the passage of time. The main criteria that reflect the usefulness breastfeeding, are:

• Duration of breastfeeding. A newborn baby should be at the mother's breast for as long as it sees fit. During this time, he will receive the required amount of mother's milk. A young mother should not take her baby off her breast on her own;
• application frequency. From the moment of birth, a newborn child is applied to the mother's breast from 8 to 12 times a day. Such a frequent need for attachment is due not only to the need for nutrients, but also to the desire of the baby to come into close contact with the mother;
• . This criterion is characterized by high information content, since on its basis it is possible to judge the sufficiency of nutrition of a newborn child. You can practice weighing your baby before and after feeding from the 4th day of his life. By this time, there is a physiological loss of body weight, due to the release of excess fluid from the body and the passage of meconium. A healthy full-term baby gains from 125 to 220 grams per week;

• The level of development of the swallowing reflex. In the process of feeding, it is important to pay attention to the behavior of the child. A healthy baby, as a rule, does not lie passively near the mother's breast. Subject to the application technique, the child performs sucking movements and swallows milk without difficulty. During the first minutes of feeding, the intensity of swallowing is greater;
• Appearance of the child. A newborn baby who receives enough milk always loudly declares his desire to take food. Such babies are active, have a cheerful appearance and do not act up for no particular reason;
• Frequency and volume of bowel movements of the newborn. Nutritional deficiencies can be recognized by observing the number and frequency of bowel movements of the child. For the first 3 days, the baby secretes primary feces, called meconium. After the start of the flow of mother's milk into the child's body, the frequency of defecation acts reaches 5 times a day. This indicator corresponds to the physiological norm. It is also worth paying attention to the amount of urine excreted. With sufficient nutrition, the baby relieves up to 12 times, which corresponds to 5-6 diapers.

Invalid signs of underfeeding

Often, young mothers, due to lack of experience, talk about a decrease in lactation and the development of a feeding deficit in their child. In order to eradicate such doubts, every woman should become familiar with the false criteria for insufficient breastfeeding.

These criteria include:

• Decreased frequency of bowel movements in infants. When a baby is 6 weeks old, their digestive system is in a state of physiological change. Such babies stop excreting bowel movements after each application to the mother's breast. This phenomenon does not go beyond the physiological norm. The run-up frequency of the act of defecation is from 1 to 6 times a day. During this time, you should monitor the condition of the baby. If the baby is not naughty, does not show signs of anxiety and malaise, then his body receives a sufficient amount of nutrients;
• Lack of feeling of lactational rush in the mammary glands. In the process of breastfeeding, women often notice the absence of soreness and a feeling of fullness in the mammary glands. This condition leads them to think about a decrease in lactation function. This situation does not reflect the functional state of the mammary glands, but only indicates the stabilization of the lactation process;
• Increasing the child's need for food. If the baby has become frequent with requests for attachment to the mother's breast, then this indicates the so-called growth spurt, which is a physiological process. During this period, the frequency and duration of feedings are increased.

How do you know if a baby is not breastfeeding? Exist different ways but they are all very imperfect. Yes, you can fully pump and measure the amount received, you can even weigh the newborn before and after feeding, then calculate the difference in weight. The only objective and most reliable indicator will be children's behavior. Be observant and soon you will be able to accurately determine whether your baby is full or not. It is also useful to know the principles of proper feeding, as well as the signs and causes of too little milk in the breast.

Feeding expressed milk from a measuring bottle is not the best The best way determining the amount of food eaten

How can you tell if you have enough milk?

How do you know if a baby is breastfed? Here are some signs to help. There are 5 in total:

1. The number of feedings per day is 8-12. There may be more of them, this will also be the norm. Frequent breastfeeding is due to three factors:
   • the baby needs close contact with the mother;
   • his small stomach is simply not able to accommodate a lot of food;
   • rapid digestion of breast milk.
2. The duration of one feeding is at least 20 minutes. You should not determine the duration of the meal - the baby should suck on the breast until it is full. If he stopped eating and behaves calmly, mutters cheerfully or sleeps peacefully, it means that he had enough milk. Make sure that the position when feeding (both yours and the child) does not cause discomfort.
3. Clearly traced swallowing reflex. Check that the baby is not just smacking, but swallowing. At first he will do this often, because he is hungry, and the so-called near milk is thin and not very nutritious. After a few minutes, swallowing will become less frequent, as hunger will dull, and distant milk is thicker, in order to swallow it, you need to make an effort.
4. The child is gaining weight according to the norms (we recommend reading:). In the early days, the weight of the baby will become less compared to that which was at birth. This is normal, as the body gets rid of meconium (original feces formed in the womb) and swelling of the tissues. Tracking weight gain starts from the fourth day of life - the increase should be 125-215 g per week.
5. The child looks healthy. He is calm, but at the same time active and curious; animated but not overexcited. When he wants to eat, loudly demands breasts; when he has eaten, he sleeps peacefully or is awake. Pink color skin and its elasticity will also indicate that the baby is receiving good nutrition in sufficient quantities.

It will take quite a bit of time to track the listed signs. If you have any doubts, you can use the measurement of the amount of urine and feces.

Not enough food

Dear reader!

This article talks about typical ways to solve your questions, but each case is unique! If you want to know how to solve your particular problem - ask your question. It's fast and free!

To understand that the baby is not getting enough breast milk, there are 3 simple tests:

• wet diapers;
• the amount of stool;
• weight gain.

To determine how many times a child pees a day, you need to keep him not in a disposable, but in a reusable diaper or just in a diaper (disposable diapers are generally undesirable and can only be used as a last resort) (we recommend reading:). When the baby has enough breast milk, he wets the diaper 10-12 times a day. If this happens less than 10 times, the baby does not eat up.

In the first 3 days of life, as such, they still do not have a chair. The dark mass that can be seen in the diaper is meconium (primary feces). He will appear in small quantities 1-2 times a day. Then, when the baby is already breastfeeding and his digestion begins to function, the excretion of feces will occur 5 times a day.

What weight gain is considered normal? In the first 3 months - not less than 500 g per month or 125 g per week. Then this figure is slightly reduced - 300 g per month. It should be noted that weight gain may occur unevenly, but this is normal and should not cause alarm. Track the intensity of weight gain after 1 or 4 weeks. It is not necessary to do this more often.

Tracking weight gain is a safe and easy way to know if your baby is getting enough breast milk.

Day and night, you need to carefully monitor the condition of your crumbs. There are signs that speak not just about a lack of nutrition, but already about dehydration:

• the child is too lethargic and sleepy;
• the eyes were sunken and the eyeballs became dull;
• the mucous membrane in the mouth is dry, saliva has become viscous;
• the baby is crying, but you do not observe tears (we recommend reading:);
• the skin has become flabby (if you pinch lightly, it will not immediately smooth out);
• an unpleasant smell comes from the mouth;
• dark, saturated urine with a pungent odor, which appears 6 or less times a day.

The last item, as well as the simultaneous presence of 2 or 3 others, is a signal that you need to urgently call " ambulance". Do not delay, so as not to bring to a deplorable situation.

If the mother noted that the baby has become lethargic and drowsy - perhaps we are talking about dehydration

Why is there not enough milk?

The main reason why a baby does not get enough breast milk is very simple and banal - wrong organized process natural feeding. Let's see what factors lead to this:

1. Compliance with a strict regimen. Lactation experts have come to the conclusion that the process should be natural. You need to feed the child when he asks. The only thing that is desirable to observe is the time interval between feedings, which should be at least 2 hours.
2. Feeding too short. The baby should eat until he is full. One feeding should last at least 20 minutes.
3. The baby does not latch on to the breast correctly.
4. When feeding, you take an uncomfortable position (we recommend reading:).
5. Reduce or eliminate nighttime feedings. Feeding at night and in the morning stimulate lactation as much as possible.
6. Blanket abuse.
7. Bottle feeding.
8. . They interfere with proper latch on of the nipple. They can only be used temporarily when the nipple is injured.

Silicone pads should only be used for medical reasons, as they cause improper nipple latch compared to natural feeding conditions.

The chest begins to fill up only 2-3 days after natural childbirth and 5-6 after caesarean section, however, you need to continue to put the baby to the chest (we recommend reading:). Firstly, as long as he has enough colostrum, and secondly, breast sucking is the best lactation stimulant.

There are other reasons why a baby does not feed on breast milk. Among them:

• malnutrition of the nursing mother and low fluid intake;
• tense or stressful state of the mother;
• hormonal disorders in the mother's body;
• insufficient rest;
• physiological characteristics of the breast flat nipples, narrow milk ducts) or temporary problems (lactostasis, cracked nipples);
• improper functioning of the baby's digestive system;
• runny nose and swelling of the nasal mucosa, because of which the baby simply cannot breathe normally and suckle;
• too large a peanut who does not have enough food;
• too weak baby, who simply does not have enough strength to eat for a long time.

Stress in a nursing mother can also cause the baby not to eat enough and not have enough milk.

Proper feeding process

If you understand that your baby does not have enough breast milk due to non-compliance with the rules of feeding, then solving the problem is not very difficult. It is necessary to eliminate errors and provide everything for yourself and the child so that in the future there will be no more difficulties. Follow the guidelines:

1. Feed your baby when he needs. The more he suckles at the breast, the more milk production is stimulated.
2. Don't rush your child. When he is satisfied, he will simply let go of the chest.
3. Follow to. The mouth of the baby should be wide open and capture not only the nipple, but the entire areola. If it only grabs the nipple, the nutrient fluid will not be sucked out, and you will feel severe pain. You should also hear how the baby swallows.
4. Make sure both of you are comfortable sitting or lying down while feeding. The head and back of the child should be on the same straight line, the head should be slightly higher than the legs. Study for GW.
5. It is advisable to apply the baby to only one breast at one feeding. So he will suck everything completely.
6. Weak babies sleep a lot, so you often have to wake them up to feed them. During the day, do this at least every 3 hours, and at night - after 5. Before feeding, you can wash the baby - this will slightly cheer him up.
7. Do not use pacifier bottles or pacifiers. It is easier to suck from a bottle than from a breast, which is why babies often refuse to breastfeed in favor of a bottle. Give a bottle only as a last resort - for example, when the nipple is injured and you are simply not physically able to endure feeding.
8. Get plenty of rest and sleep. Sacrifice household chores for a good rest. The greater the degree of fatigue, the less milk you will produce.
9. Do not refuse help, even if it is offered by a friend who came to visit you.
10. Eat every time after feeding, that is, at least 5 times a day. Get yourself a nutritious diet and a large number of warm liquid.
11. If you find a baby with health problems, be sure to show it to the doctor.

7 myths about lactation

When young mothers are seriously concerned about whether the baby is getting enough breast milk, they may heed dubious and completely meaningless advice, and in fact the wrong actions can have disastrous results. Let's dispel some of the myths about feeding and warn ourselves against mistakes:

1. Weighing the baby before and after feeding to determine if he is full. In this case, the readings will be so inaccurate that the procedure loses all meaning. Weighing is considered more or less objective no more than once a week.
2. . To produce more milk, the baby must suckle well at the breast. If you apply it to the breast too little and additionally give the mixture, be prepared for the fact that lactation will become even worse.
3. Supplementation with cow or goat milk. The gastrointestinal tract of a newborn cannot yet digest such food. From cow's or goat's milk, problems with the tummy can begin.
4. Complementary foods before six months. Adult food, even in small amounts, can also lead to digestive problems.
5. or other liquid prior to the introduction of complementary foods. This is not necessary at all, since breast milk is 86% water and is sufficient.
6. Mother's consumption of milk in order to increase her own production. Milk in the mammary glands is formed from the blood, so it makes no sense to further overload your diet. In order for it to form and be saturated, vitamins and others are needed. useful material that mother receives with good nutrition.

Natural feeding - providing the child not only with food, but also with good immunity, as well as spiritual closeness with the mother. If you want your little one to grow and develop fully, make every effort to maintain and normalize this process. Very soon you will see that it is impossible to replace it with anything else.

Among the biggest fears of a new mother, the leader is the possible lack of breast milk. But in fact, according to various sources, the absence or insufficiency of lactation occurs only in 1-5% of women around the globe. Unreasonable fears are most often associated with the statements of “kind” relatives, brought up in the spirit of Soviet times, when women were not ordered to feed at night, as well as changes in the child’s behavior, which are manifestations of development or malaise. Instead of falling into despair, it is better to evaluate the real parameters that indicate the sufficiency of milk.

There are several objective indicators by which you can understand whether the baby is full. Any mother can evaluate them at home without special tools. Unless you need scales.

Number of urinations

For the most objective assessment of this parameter, it is recommended to conduct a wet diaper test. To implement it, you need to give up disposable diapers for at least a day. You need to calculate how many times a baby urinates in 24 hours. Normally, a child who is a week old pees at least 10-12 times. This test is valid if the baby is not soldered.

With less accuracy, it is possible to estimate the abundance of urination in disposable diapers. Provided that breastfeeding is sufficient, the baby fills them per day in the amount of 4-6 pieces.

Child's age	Urine volume per day, ml	Number of urination per day	The volume of one portion of urine, ml
1-3 years	750-820	10-12	60-90
0-6 months	400-700	20-25	20-30
6 months - 1 year	375-720	15-16	25-45
3-5 years	900-1070	7-9	70-90
5-7 years	1070-1300	7-9	100-150
7-9 years old	1240-1520	7-8	145-190
9-11 years old	1520-1670	6-7	220-260
11-13 years old	1600-1900	6-7	250-270

This is not the only parameter associated with the toilet affairs of the baby.

In the first days after birth, and sometimes during childbirth, the baby's intestines get rid of meconium. This is the original feces. He is dark in color. With the appearance of milk in the mother, which occurs about the third day after birth, the baby's feces become first green and then yellow. From now on, the baby should empty the intestines at least 3 times a day. This figure is valid until the child reaches the age of 3-8 weeks, when the frequency of bowel movements can be only 1 time per day, and sometimes less often, since milk is absorbed more fully.

Weight gain

If in the first 4-7 days of life the baby loses weight, which is a physiological norm, then he begins to gain weight by 125-500 g per week. The increase for the first month, the minimum value of which is 600 g, must be calculated from the minimum weight.

Age, months	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Increase per month, g	600	800	800	750	700	650	600	550	500	450	400	350
Increase for the past period, g	600	1400	2200	2950	3650	4300	4900	5450	5950	6400	6800	7150
Increase in height (in cm) per month	3	3	2,5	2,5	2	2	2	2	1,5	1,5	1,5	1,5
Increase in height (in cm) over the past period	3	6	8,5	11	13	15	17	19	20,5	22	23,5	25

Often it is not worth evaluating how much the baby weighs, since it is gaining unevenly, and the mother will only have a reason for concern. By the way, the scales should be the same.

The rest of the opinions are just speculation.

Myths about lack of milk

There are several factors that may bother an inexperienced breastfeeding mom. Their appearance by the woman herself or someone from her environment is associated with the fact that the baby receives little breast milk. But this is an erroneous opinion.

1. The baby continues to cry after feeding. Most often this happens in the evening. But crying is the only language of a baby. The baby screams for many reasons: fear, discomfort, headache, weather sensitivity, colic, etc.

2. The child "hangs on the chest", that is, he asks often and sucks for a long time. In fact, this is the norm. After all, breasts for a small person are not only food, but also a way to calm down, and the world full of stress, especially for a newly born baby. Yes and difficult periods in life crumbs more than enough. Therefore, everyone has their own mode of breastfeeding. But if the child sleeps less than 20 minutes, restless, then you should contact the pediatrician.

3. Even with a breast pump, it turns out to express a maximum of 30-40 ml. This is one of the most intimidating options. But it doesn't really mean anything. After all, it is impossible to imitate the sucking movements of a child either with a breast pump or with your hands. In addition, rushes of milk occur at the moment when the baby sucks, even with greater intensity than during breaks.

4. Milk no longer flows by itself from the breast. In the first months, the mother often wakes up in a milk puddle, and during the day one cannot do without special inserts for the breast. But at about 3 months, lactation is established, so the milk stops leaking.

5. Breasts become soft even between feedings. It is also associated with the establishment of lactation.

6. The baby does not sleep at night. In fact, the baby should not skip night feedings in the first months, attachment to the breast between 3 and 8 o'clock in the morning is important for lactation. If the baby sleeps for more than 4 hours, then it is worth waking him up. To do this, it is enough to catch the moment when the baby is fiddling, and try to give him a breast. Sleepy babies suck well.

7. The child takes a bottle with pleasure after feeding. This does not always show what the baby wants to eat. In addition, bottles and nipples can make breastfeeding difficult.

If a nursing mother has encountered similar phenomena, and weight gain and urination frequency are normal, then you should not panic. Prevention, and often a solution to problems with lactation and lack of milk, is properly organized breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding Rules
If you have any doubts or concerns, it is best to consult a pediatrician who truly supports breastfeeding and a lactation consultant. It is these specialists who should help you in establishing lactation, and, if necessary, make a decision together with you on the introduction of supplementary feeding.

Video - How to understand if a baby is getting enough breast milk

Every minute guardianship, caring for a baby can sometimes bring unnecessary anxiety and excitement to the mother, and unreasonable changes in care, changes in nutrition, and even prescription of unnecessary medications to the child. This also applies to a very common situation when a woman seems that her baby is not getting enough milk.

Possessing some elementary knowledge and not succumbing to panic, such a “lack” is very easy to distinguish from the true lack of milk - hypogalactia, which any nursing mother can perfectly handle.

Artificial mixture is not always good!

To begin with, let's answer one simple question: what's wrong with the fact that a nursing mother, suspecting her lack of milk, will switch to additional artificial nutrition?

If the lack of milk really takes place, then this will only benefit the child.

But this phenomenon is not very common - according to statistics, it is observed in less than 3% of women.

Much more often, various indirect signs observed in the child and mother are taken for a lack of milk - the color of milk, the “loss” of weight in the baby, his tearfulness and anxiety, etc. In this case, a woman, trying to feed her child with artificial mixtures, exposes herself and her baby certain risks:

1. A child receiving artificial nutrition will be deprived of a significant part of the vitamins, nutrients and immune defense factors contained in mother's milk;
2. A woman, reducing or stopping breastfeeding, deprives herself of all the beneficial benefits of breastfeeding - for example, preventing the development of osteoporosis, reducing the incidence of cancer.

In this regard, it is very useful to know how a lack of milk really manifests itself and what can be mistaken for a lack of it.

Signs of a lack of breast milk

Insufficiency of milk (hypogalactia) is manifested in a child by four main signs: restlessness of the baby, rare urination, stool retention and insufficient weight gain. It should be noted that with true hypogalactia, these signs occur all together, which is usually not observed with an apparent lack of milk.

weight loss

Weight loss is the most common reason that can alert a young mother. The usual physiological weight loss that is observed in every (!) newborn is usually taken for weight loss associated with milk deficiency.

This phenomenon is observed during the first 3-5 days and is associated with the loss of fluid through the lungs and skin, the loss of the remnant of the umbilical cord, and other phenomena. Usually by 7-10 days the weight of the child should be restored. The maximum weight loss due to physiological loss should not exceed 8% of body weight. For example, if a newborn weighed 4000 grams at birth, then the loss should not exceed 320 grams.

• After an initial weight loss in the first week, newborns normally gain an average of 125-150g per week during the first few weeks.
• Then, on average 450-900g per month for the first 6 months.
• In the period from 6 months to a year, 450g per month.

Typically, babies gain 2-3 cm in length per month during the first 6 months.

It should be noted that weight gain and height are partly dependent on the type of physique of the child.

There are children who receive enough milk but not enough calories(as evidenced by poor weight gain). At the same time, such a child does not have signs of dehydration, he has a sufficient amount of urination per day. At the same time, the child's stool is infrequent - less than once a day, while the norm is 2-3 times a day. The reason for this phenomenon is the lack of hind high-calorie milk.

Experts call the most informative way to check the amount of milk in a mother - control weighing. The essence of the method is the weighing of the baby immediately before and after feeding. The difference in weight is the amount of milk received by the child. But the experience of breastfeeding mothers calls into question the objectivity of this approach.

Practice shows that the most reliable picture is given by weighing the child in a period of a week.

Crying and restless child

Indeed, after childbirth, the child sometimes behaves restlessly and often asks to suck. This, however, is not always a sign of poor nutrition.

Modern science considers such behavior of the baby as a protective reaction to childbirth - getting into a strange, unfamiliar world after being in a cozy mother's womb. Experienced stress, fear, temperature fluctuations, unfamiliar sounds and smells make the baby seek protection from the mother in the only way provided by nature - breast sucking. By the way, in the body of a sucking baby, special substances are produced - endorphins, which have a calming effect and reduce postpartum stress.

Anxiety of the baby can be associated with malnutrition only if it occurs immediately after feeding or during feeding - then it is explained by a feeling of hunger.

The “hungry” cry of a child has its own characteristics. It starts with a draft - the child cries for a short time for 5-7 seconds, then falls silent. During the pause, the child opens his mouth wide. Further, crying resumes with an increase in crying time and becomes continuous. With a lack of milk from the mother, the child shows anxiety during feeding, at the end of sucking he wiggles his legs.

The number of urination and the child's stool

Decreased urine output and stool retention may indeed reflect malnutrition in the child.

In the first week, the baby's stool should turn from black to green; as soon as the mother has fatty hindmilk, the baby's stool will become more yellow.

In the first month, a baby who gets enough fatty hindmilk has at least 2-3 stools a day. In the first 3 days, urination is relatively rare - 4-5 times a day. But the number of times increases and in the second week is up to 12-25 times a day.

If you decide to check whether your baby is peeing enough, you will have to put aside diapers for one day and use ordinary cloth diapers.

Video - Does mom have enough milk

Situations of temporary lack of milk

The occurrence of such a situation is possible for every young mother, what are they caused by?

Child's growth spurt

The child has a periodic increase in appetite, which is associated with uneven rates of increase in his energy needs, the so-called growth spurts. Such "exacerbations" of appetite are observed at 3 and 6 weeks, and later - at 3, 7, 11 and 12 months of life.

Naturally, on such days the activity of the child increases, but this does not mean at all that this is due to a decrease in the production of mother's milk!

lactation crisis

lactation crisis is a temporary and completely reversible phenomenon

A lactogenic crisis is a temporary condition of insufficient milk production. Once again, it should be emphasized: the lactation crisis is a temporary and completely reversible phenomenon, therefore, when it occurs, one should not panic, but take all necessary measures to find the causes of the crisis and eliminate them. For an ordinary child with normal weight gain in this situation, there is nothing to worry about.

Most common causes lactogenic crises are:

• Rare feeding;
• putting the baby to the breast;
• Early and unreasonable introduction of supplementary feeding with artificial mixtures;
• An age jump in a child - the need for milk increases;
• The need to go to work;
• Stress, discord in the family;
• Chronic intoxication (smoking, drinking alcohol).

A lactation crisis usually occurs in the first 3 months after childbirth, but sometimes it is also observed in a later period - at 5-7 months. Its duration is from 3 to 8 days. Any nursing mother should be aware of the possibility of developing a crisis, and most importantly, of what needs to be done to prevent the development of a crisis.

What to do in the event of a lactation crisis

To stimulate additional milk production, you must:

• Elimination of all identified factors that support reduced lactation;
• More often to put the baby to the breast, joint sleep with the baby, night feeding (especially at 3-6 in the morning).
• The combination of a hot shower (water temperature is about 44 0C) with a circular massage of the mammary glands with movements from the periphery to the center; More about breast massage
• Caraway drink, dill seed infusion
• homeopathic pharmaceutical products- Mlekain, Laktosan, as well as the use of the preparation of royal jelly Apilak.

Read more about ways to stimulate lactation read

It should be noted that all of the above points will work only if the number of attachments of the baby to the breast is increased.

It is undesirable, but as a last resort, the child can be supplemented with a mixture, but not from a bottle, but from a spoon or from a syringe (without a needle!).

Once again, we note: the periodically observed decrease in the amount of milk in the mother - phenomenon is normal and with proper prevention and correction - absolutely reversible and safe for the child.

Prevention of lactation crisis

• Complete nutrition already during pregnancy (!), As well as during breastfeeding; Read about the dietary habits of a breastfeeding mother.
• The use of a nursing mother at least 2 liters of fluid per day. By the way, the idea that tea, beer, milk or oatmeal increase the amount of breast milk is nothing more than a myth: in fact, its volume directly depends on the amount of liquid consumed, and in this regard, tea, compote or plain water will have an equivalent effect. for lactation.
• Eating dill. The influence of dill on lactation is indirect: it gives the milk a pleasant taste, the child is more willing to suckle the breast, due to which the amount of milk increases. In contrast, cauliflower, celery, onion, garlic, and asparagus detract from the taste of milk and have the opposite effect on lactation in the long run.
• The correct mode of a nursing woman. This includes emotional peace, stress prevention, walks on fresh air, full sleep at least 8 hours a day, including daytime - 1-2 hours. You need to rest 15-20 minutes before feeding;
• Restriction of the use of any medicines, except when they are absolutely necessary; Read more about taking medications while breastfeeding.
• Complete cessation of smoking and drinking alcohol.

About others possible reasons lack of breast milk read

Video - lactation crisis