When it comes to feeding your precious little one, you might be wondering if it’s best to feed on a schedule or respond to your baby’s cues. Embracing the early days, weeks, and months with your newborn is a journey of learning and understanding, especially in feeding. Let’s talk about signs that your baby is hungry.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
The most nurturing approach, especially in the early stages, is on-demand feeding. This means tuning into your baby’s hunger cues and feeding them when they show signs of hunger, like lip-licking, tongue-sticking, rooting, or sucking on hands. On-demand feeding is not just about nutrition; it’s about warmth, comfort, and nurturing too. This approach is beneficial for bringing in a full milk supply and ensuring your baby gets enough milk to grow properly. Each baby is unique, and their intake can vary throughout the day. It’s about following your baby’s lead and providing what they need, when they need it.
Scheduled feedings, where you feed the baby at fixed intervals regardless of their cues, can sometimes disrupt the natural breastfeeding relationship and the baby’s health and growth patterns. It may not account for growth spurts when babies feed more often, which could impact your milk supply and the baby’s growth needs. Plus, scheduled feeding misses out on the comfort and bonding breastfeeding offers.
In the first few weeks, if your baby is excessively sleepy due to factors like prematurity or jaundice, it’s best to gently wake them for feedings every 3 hours during the day and every 4 hours at night. This helps ensure they get back to birth weight by two weeks, after which you can fully embrace on-demand feeding. Later on, your baby may go through periods of time when they are feeding every hour, known as cluster feeding. Just follow their lead, trusting that your baby’s body knows best.
How much your baby eats at once changes as she grows. Her tummy is very small at first and grows as she does. If you’re breastfeeding, you may not ever really know how much baby is eating, but the amount taken at each feeding looks something like this (2):
Crying is a late sign that your baby is hungry. Try to keep an eye for the more subtle cues that your baby needs to eat. If you can tune in to your baby’s needs and fix any problems before baby escalates to crying, it will make life smoother for both of you..
Here are the subtle, non-crying ways your baby may be telling you that they’re hungry:
While on-demand feeding can initially feel overwhelming, with your baby seeming to feed almost constantly, this intensity usually settles down. As your baby grows, they’ll likely develop a more predictable pattern.
If you notice signs that baby is hungry, offer the breast or bottle. And as with any questions or concerns about feeding baby, make sure to lean on your pediatrician and look for a lactation consultant, La Leche League, or other breastfeeding support in your area. You and baby will figure out this feeding relationship, and it’ll be second nature in no time!
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When it comes to feeding your precious little one, you might be wondering if it’s best to feed on a schedule or respond to your baby’s cues. Embracing the early
