Or, keep a notebook handy or use a breastfeeding app to keep track of how your baby feeds. Your baby may like switching breasts at each feeding or prefer to nurse just on one side.
If so, then offer the other breast at the next feeding. Do whatever works best and is the most comfortable for you and your baby. After your baby finishes on one side, try burping before switching breasts. Sometimes, the movement alone can be enough to cause a baby to burp. If your baby spits up a lot, try burping more often. While it's normal for infants to "spit up" a small amount after eating or during burping, a baby should not vomit after feeding.
If your baby throws up all or most of a feeding, there could be a problem that needs medical care. If you're worried that your baby is spitting up too much, call your doctor. When babies go through a period of rapid growth called a growth spurt , they want to eat more than usual. These can happen at any time. But in the early months, growth spurts often happen when a baby is:.
During these times and whenever your baby seems extra hungry, follow your little one's hunger cues. You may need to breastfeed more often for a while. That's a personal choice. Experts recommend that babies be breastfed exclusively without formula, water, juice, non—breast milk, or food for the first 6 months. Tommee Tippee asked parents for their bottle feeding tips. Get some handy advice from other parents just like you. Sign up to receive exclusive discounts, offers, hints and tips via email.
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Why parents love our subscriptions Is Feeding On Demand Bad? Your baby will let you know when he or she is hungry, usually through certain cues. In hot weather breastmilk can also be less energy dense, encouraging infants to consume more of a higher water content milk 9. Again, this can affect the amount or frequency of how often babies feed. Generally, the less energy dense the milk, the more they take in. Feeding frequency is also context dependent.
In Western culture our norm is to separate from our babies to some extent. Baby wearing for most of the day and co-sleeping are normal from an evolutionary perspective but not common in our society today. Put simply, this means that babies do not always have easy and unfettered access to the breast. However, in cultures where co-sleeping and carrying infants in a sling are common, and babies therefore have free access to the breast, they feed far more frequently than this.
An observational stud of the rural hunter- gatherer tribe known as the! Kung, found that babies breastfed on average four times an hour, with an average feed being two minutes or less Other studies show less frequent feeds, but sill significantly more than in Western cultures. For example one study in rural Thailand found babies averaged 15 feeds over 24 hours In the UK, when babies do co-sleep, they feed more per night Firstly, breastmilk is low in fat and protein but high in carbohydrates and lactose, which makes it easy — and quick — to digest.
It is more easily digested than formula milk, which means that breastfed babies often feed more frequently than formula fed babies approximately every two hours compared to three hour for formula fed babies Breastfed babies also tend to consume less milk than formula fed babies at each feed, preferring to feed little and often compared to many formula fed babies.
Breastfed babies tend to take smaller feeds, not completely filling their stomach. In the first six months babies need around ml of milk a day meaning that even at maximum capacity that equates to feeding around every three hours Research has shown that formula fed babies take in more milk from the first day of life about twice as much on day one and three times as much by day two Meeting the frequent and unpredictable feeding needs of a breastfed baby can feel challenging and is a common reason why mothers stop breastfeeding — either through anxiety that something is wrong, or a belief that formula will offer a more convenient feeding schedule However, responsive feeding is not only normal but important for a number of reasons.
Feeding responsively is particularly important when a baby is breastfed because it is intrinsically linked to establishing and maintaining a good supply of breastmilk. Breastmilk starts to be produced in small amounts during pregnancy. Once the placenta is removed after birth this production shoots up, supported by rises in the hormones prolactin and oxytocin However, once this initial surge has occurred, one of the most important things for breast milk supply is frequent feeding.
Simply, the more milk is removed from the breast either by a baby or by expressing , the more milk is produced. The human body is very clever at matching how much milk is removed e.
One study that asked mothers to either feed their newborn baby responsively or to feed to a set 3 — 4 schedule found that babies who were fed responsively consumed a third more milk Because responsive feeding is linked to a better milk supply, it has a knock on effect onto outcomes for babies. Responsive feeding is associated with mature milk coming in quicker after the birth 20 , regaining birth weight faster 19 , and a lower risk of jaundice Conversely, supplementing with formula milk, particularly in the early days and weeks, can lead to a drop in supply, or difficulties with latch Using a pacifier can also reduce milk intake as it can lead to a delay in how often babies are fed.
Based on this, it is not surprising that babies who are fed responsively are more likely to continue being breastfeed Meanwhile, trying to breastfeed to a parent led routine is associated with stopping breastfeeding This can apply to wider parenting style; mothers who adopt a routine for feeding, sleep and day to day care of their infant are more likely to stop breastfeeding in the early days Notably, those who stop breastfeeding after using a routine are more likely to report breastfeeding difficulties e.
One of the main needs infants have at night is to feed. Until that point, the concept of sleeping for an extended period of time is not something that babies are physiologically designed to do — and even then it can take a while to get into the habit However, society continues to sell us the myth that babies should start sleeping through the night after the first few weeks, and that getting them to this stage is an achievement.
Aside from evidence to the contrary, given that around a third of adults report at least mild insomnia, should we really believe that babies who cannot meet their own needs if they wake should be able to sleep all night?
How many adults when they wake have a drink of water? Waking at night is also thought to be protective. Babies want to be close to their mother at night and sleeping close to them helps babies maintain their temperature 28 , heart rate 29 and have steadier breathing Sleeping too deeply may be a risk factor for SIDS. Babies who have died of SIDS are more likely to have longer periods of uninterrupted sleep and moved about less in their sleep Although sleep problems in older children can be an issue, waking at night as a baby has no link with later sleep problems or development Feeding at night is also common — and important — in supporting breastfeeding.
Firstly, the body takes into account feeds at night when establishing milk supply. Feeding at night is an important step in developing a good milk supply. Although it may be dark outside, the body still considers frequency of feeds at night when establishing milk supply. Feeding at night is also an essential part of providing a high level of contraceptive cover through the Lactational Amenorrhea Method.
Feeding at night is an important part of this Additionally, feeding at night is important from a hormonal perspective. Prolactin is linked to milk supply; generally the higher prolactin levels you have, the more milk is made. Prolactin levels are already higher at night but also rise further when your baby feeds, so feeding at night is a great opportunity to really drive those levels higher and help your milk supply Sometimes parents worry about their baby continuing to breastfeed at night based on the myths that a babies should sleep through the night and b breastfeeding stops babies sleeping through the night.
However, rather than being something breastfed babies do more, breastfeeding at night should be recognised as something that is very normal. In countries where night-time infant care and co-sleeping is the norm, babies breastfeed around four times a night Some studies do show that very young babies who are formula fed start sleeping for longer at an earlier age 37 and have longer periods of deep sleep However once babies get a little older, this difference disappears.
One study found that for babies aged 6 — 12 months, babies who were breastfed did feed more at night than babies who were formula fed. However they did not wake more, suggesting that breastfeeding was likely used as a tool to encourage the baby back to sleep quickly However, sleep training can have a negative impact on breastfeeding success. One intervention to reduce night waking in babies aged 6 — 12 months found that although babies started sleeping for longer, breastfeeding rates dropped far more rapidly than expected during the course of the study Feeding responsively is therefore a critical element of establishing and maintaining milk supply, supporting weight gain and promoting positive longer term eating behaviour in children.
More importantly, it is the norm and biological expectation of young babies, and a central element of a responsive parenting relationship however a baby is fed. Feeding responsively can be demanding for mothers though and as a society, rather than trying to normalise routines and scheduled feeding, we should be looking towards how we can value and support our new families better.
Mothering the mother so she can breastfeed her baby, and more widely, supporting the new family and a unit makes the new responsibility of caring for a young baby that little bit easier.
Landry, S. Responsive parenting: establishing early foundations for social, communication, and independent problem-solving skills.
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