Weight Gain

Adequate feeds = adequate weight gains. It generally is that simple! Your little one should gain on average around 150g a week. I want to stress the “on average” part of that sentence because some weeks may be more or less.

Now in the first 72 hours, it’s very normal for your baby to lose up to 10% of their birth weight before they start gaining weight when your milk comes in. This will be closely monitored by your midwife/doctor and if needed, you can connect with a Lactation Consultant to assess how baby is feeding.

Sleep and active periods

When we are assessing baby’s behaviour to decide whether they’re likely getting enough milk, we’re looking to see whether they are generally happy and content after a feed (it is normal for them to be fussy at times – especially during the witching hour- so please don’t worry if your baby isn’t 100% happy all of the time – they are a baby after all!). They will likely pull off the breast themselves, or even fall asleep at the breast. Their body language will also seem more relaxed, and they will stop displaying hunger cues.

In terms of sleep, your little should be able to settle well without constantly looking for their next feed. We also want to make sure our baby is waking regularly for feeds (around 2-4 hourly is expected). If they are low in energy and sleeping too much, it might be a sign they are not getting enough milk.

Growth and development

One of the biggest signs your baby is getting enough milk is meeting growth and developmental milestones. This means that they’re smiling, cooing, crawling, sitting etc in line with what is expected for their age.

Output – wet and dirty nappies

What goes in… must come out! If you’re wondering ‘is my baby getting enough breastmilk?’ this is the obvious ways to tell.

If your baby is feeding well, then you’ll be seeing plenty of wet and dirty nappies. What is expected varies as your little one grows. In the first day, you may only see one wee and one poop. This will increase to 5-6 wet nappies a day once milk comes in. Over the first few days, your baby’s poop will transition from black, tarry meconium to more of a mustard/seedy type of poop. You’ll likely see quite a lot of poop in these early days (several per day). But, once you get into more of a routine and your milk is fully established, then it’s normal for a breastfed baby to go up to seven days without a poop. Please chat to your Dr if you are ever concerned.