Is My Baby Getting Enough Milk? 2 of 4

Quite Good Feeding.

In the second clip, a good swallowing motion (active jaw and muscles) is clearly shown by the baby, and nice pauses where milk is flowing into the mouth. This baby is getting a great deal of milk from the mother. It's not quite the express pump of baby 1, but baby 2 is clearly getting a lot of milk!

This is the second in a sequence of understanding how to spot your baby is getting enough milk out of your breast. The written info starts on Number 1 on:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yeqnas3Uf2A

But it has been split up to fit! So it now continues here: :-)

I Know My Baby Is Getting Enough But He's Latched On For Hours!:

Babies need to breastfeed for more than just food. The act of breastfeeding, which they've practised in the womb by swallowing amiotic fluid, comforts and sustains a breastfeeding baby. It is a primal urge, that fills them with a sense of well being and security.

Babies come out of the womb as individuals. Some will have very high sucking needs - they need to be on the breast, comfort sucking, for long periods of time. Deprived of this, they can become fussy and anxious and cry a lot. They often crave lots of skin to skin with the mother, and wearing them in a sling or wrap can help calm them.

Others come out with low comfort sucking needs, and will only attach to the breast for as long as it takes for them to fill up.

Both these scenarios are perfectly normal.

Your baby will have its own sense of how much time it needs at the breast. Mothers who have had several breastfeeding babies, report how different the sucking needs of each of them were. :-)

Therefore, you can have a baby that's very efficient at removing breastmilk, and who fills up quickly, but who stays on the breast comfort nibbling, for some time.

It's important to recognise the difference between a baby getting enough milk, but who needs to breastfeed for longer, and a baby who is not getting enough and is on for hours just to get enough. The info on video 1 of this sequence will help:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yeqnas3Uf2A

as can the support organisations detailed on 'First Latch':

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox8ht-EVnQA

Our video 'Breast Compressions' can help if you have a baby that isn't getting enough out:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HJrBRYxDNSE

It is also important to recognise that you cannot overfeed a breastfeeding baby. Your milk adjusts to the baby's demands and no matter how long your baby breastfeeds, the milk has the right balance.

For more help and tips on babies with high sucking needs (often called fussy babies, or high needs babies):

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussybaby.html

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T050100.asp

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/5/T051200.asp

Many fusssy babies have a very fussy time in the late evening, and a good tip sheet on dealing with this by a technique called cluster feeding, can be found here:

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

Growth Spurts:

Finally, no breastfeeding baby nurses at a constant rate, all the way through. Babies have growth spurts, where their bodies are literally growing quicker, and they need to feed more to get the raw materials to build their bodies. Growth spurts are not a sign that your milk supply is suddenly dropping, and they are not the same as comfort sucking. Baby is on the breast longer, as it needs more milk.

Growth spurts can be tricky for the mother, as the sudden increase in breastfeeding can upset her own routine and sense of 'getting on'. It's important to recognise that this can cause an emotional reaction in the mother who is not prepared for this sudden increase in demand.

Crucially, the mother needs supported in knowing that it's a totally normal and expected event, and is not the result of her doing something 'wrong' and the baby is responding by being clingy! The baby just needs more milk. :-)

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/growth-spurt.html

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/frequent-nursing.html

http://www.llli.org/FAQ/spurt.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

• breastfeeding
• positions
• latch
• milk
• transfer
• Jack
• Newman