Many parents are often interested in the question of how many times a day a newborn should eat. It is difficult to give an answer to it, because it all depends on the individual characteristics of the infant's development. Still, it is important for parents to figure out how often a newborn eats, and how much food he consumes at a time.
How many times should a newborn eat
Breast milk feeding basics
During breastfeeding, it is necessary to carefully observe the behavior of the baby, its activity.
How to know if a baby is full
Many parents fear that their baby is not eating enough food. To know if he has enough food, you should monitor the reaction. When he is sound asleep and does not require more milk than necessary, he gains weight, this means that everything is fine, and he consumes as much food as he needs for growth and development.
If the baby is anxious, it is necessary to check if he is consuming enough food. For this purpose, baby scales are purchased. The baby should be weighed before and after meals. The difference between weighings will be the amount of food consumed.
Some pediatricians recommend doing differently: expressing milk and storing it in a feeding bottle. This is how the parents will know if the baby is starving.
Mother's milk in a bottle
Important! Excessive concern about the amount of food consumed is in vain - the child will take the amount of food he needs.
How long does the baby eat
The structure of the baby's mouth apparatus is such that it firmly grabs the mother's breast. To strengthen the muscles involved in the sucking process, you need to regularly apply the baby to the breast, otherwise he will suck a finger or a fist.
The approximate time for a children's meal is 15 to 30 minutes. The mother does not always manage to strictly count the required time. As soon as the baby eats his norm, he will let you know about it.
Important! When feeding a baby, care should be taken to suckle the breast and not hold it in your mouth.
How to avoid overeating
It is quite possible to avoid overeating of a breastfed baby. As soon as he is satisfied, he stops sucking.
First feeding in the hospital
Feeding infants in the first days of life should satisfy their needs for substances necessary for full development. The first breastfeeding should be done within a few hours of the baby's life.
First feeding
Note! Initially, a woman does not excrete breast milk, but colostrum. It is much thicker. Colostrum is ideal for a baby during the first days of life.
After a few days, the colostrum turns into milk. To always have enough of it, you should express your breasts. It is important to follow these feeding rules:
- correctly apply the baby to the chest;
- feed him often;
- apply to both breasts.
How many times does the baby eat
It is difficult to answer the question of how many times a newborn baby eats per day. It is advisable to feed him when he feels hungry and keep him at the breast until he feels full. Infants usually eat every 2 or 3 hours.
Each baby eats differently: someone more often and more, someone less often and less. Determining a suitable feeding schedule for your baby can only be done through observation.
How much milk do you need
The first postpartum days, the mother produces colostrum. During this time, the newborn eats very little of this nutritious food. This is not surprising, because at the time of birth, a baby's stomach holds no more than 10 ml of food.
The next day, the child already eats several teaspoons of colostrum. On the third day, to get enough, he needs up to 40 ml of breast milk. As the baby grows every day, the amount of milk consumed also increases. By the end of the second week, the toddler consumes up to 500 g of milk per day, with a single feeding - 50-70 ml of milk.
Lactation
Note! Up to six months of age, the baby consumes up to 1000 ml of food per day.
How often to breastfeed
Mothers worry about how often the newborn should eat and whether he is eating enough. There are no strict boundaries - it all depends on the physiological characteristics of the organism.
Feeding up to a month
Young parents are often interested in how many times a newborn eats and what is the optimal feeding schedule. The baby eats up to a month every 2-3 hours, regardless of the time of day. Bottle-fed children eat less often because it takes more time to digest the formula. Pediatricians recommend feeding the baby on demand. This is how lactation is regulated.
Duration of feeding the baby
The duration of this process is individual. No strict norms have been developed for the duration of breastfeeding.
Features of artificial feeding
A bottle-fed baby should be fed in the same way as a breastfeeding baby. Modern adapted mixtures have all the elements necessary for a comprehensive development.
Artificial feeding
There is a risk of overeating during artificial feeding. If you do not observe how many times a day a newborn should eat, he may develop colic and digestive problems. Pediatricians believe that it is better to slightly underfeed the baby than to overfeed him.
To find out the mass of the necessary food for the crumbs, it is recommended to multiply the number of days from birth by 10. The result will be a volume of milk mixture sufficient for one feeding. This formula is only valid up to two weeks of age. Further up to 2 months. you need to divide the weight in grams by 5. This is how much you need to give the baby the mixture for one day. In the future, the volume of food increases. To avoid overeating, do not exceed 1200 ml of food per day.
Knowing how much newborn babies eat will help prevent overeating and digestive problems. Mothers should closely monitor meal schedules and food intake. So the baby will gain weight and develop well.
