About how much milk should be eaten by a newborn baby

The birth of the first child for every woman is accompanied by an avalanche of emotions. It is an avalanche! On the one hand, it captures the spirit of ecstasy: "I - I could, here it is - my baby, my blood." On the other hand, there is a wave of anxious thoughts: "Oh, what can I do with it now" or "How much milk does a newborn baby need to eat to develop normally?"

Pediatricians all agree as one, that there is no better way to raise a healthy baby than the one that mother nature has come up with. Only breastfeeding removes most of the problems associated with strengthening immunity and the normal development of the baby, not only in the first weeks and months after its birth, but also in the next year and a half.

Breast milk contains trace elements and vitamins in the amount necessary for an infant. In the first two or three days in the female breast, colostrum is produced, containing three times more protein than regular breast milk. And further, as the baby develops, the composition of breast milk changes, adapting to the needs of the child. That's why it's wrong to even ask about how much milk a newborn baby should eat when the baby is breastfed. The answer is the only and simplest - the child himself knows how much milk he needs.

And for mom in this situation the best way out is to feel less about how much a newborn should have for one feeding. After all, any stress, even the easiest, has a negative effect on lactation. If the child's weight gain corresponds to the age norm, if he moistures at least 6-8 diapers per day and the color of the child's chair is light yellow, without any greening impurities, if the baby sleeps quietly between feedings, then the mother should not worry about the fact that The child is malnourished. She must put the baby to her breast when he wants it.

If circumstances require feeding a baby, for example, when a child does not gain weight, restlessly sleeps, eats suckily, it is necessary to check how much he eats for one feeding, weighing the baby before and after he eats. The resulting difference is compared with the value of the norm corresponding to the age of the child.

The norm of milk for a newborn changes as he grows up. From the second to the sixth week of life, a child should receive a day of milk, equal to one-fifth of how much it weighs. At the age of one and a half to four months, the amount of milk eaten must be at least one sixth of the weight of the baby, from four to six months - at least one seventh, six months to nine months - at least one-eighth.

However, the table values of the rate of weight gain during feeding are taken from the calculation of the average statistical values. In fact, this figure may vary depending on the fat content of the milk of the nursing mother. Obviously, if a mother has high-fat milk, the child will eat up a much smaller amount of milk. Conversely, if the milk is not rich enough, the baby will suck longer, and the value of gain in weight will be higher than normal when fed. That is why it is not necessary to hurry with an estimation of how much milk the newborn should eat, and even more so, with a conclusion about whether the baby's milk is enough when feeding. In any case, an integrated approach is needed to estimate the amount of milk eaten by the newborn for one feeding.

If, however, on all indicators, as well as on the results of control feeding, it is concluded that the child eats less than the prescribed one, one should not rush with the introduction of mixtures for complementary feeding. A competent pediatrician can always advise how a nursing mother can increase lactation. Usually the doctor advises to apply the baby more often to the breast, drink more liquid, including special teas that increase lactation.

Unfortunately, there are a number of indications in which a newborn is forced to be transferred to artificial feeding. For example, with inflammation of the breast in a nursing mother. In such situations, the question of how much milk should be eaten by a newborn becomes really relevant.

Norms of complementary feeding even in these cases should be chosen individually for each baby and only following the advice of a pediatrician. Of course, it is necessary to be guided by the recommendations given on the packaging of the formula for artificial feeding. For each type of mixture, detailed tables for the calculation of complementary foods for each age and weight category of the child are given. When mixed or artificially fed, it is also important to observe the intervals between feedings to prevent overfeeding of the baby with milk from the bottle.

And the most important advice that should be adopted by every mother, who brings up her little "continuation" - is less worried about whether she is doing anything right, and look more closely at the behavior and condition of the baby, trying to feel his mood, guess the desire. In fact, it's very simple - to hear and understand what your child lacks and to fill in time what he does not have in time.