Holding your baby for the first may cause many questions you hadn’t considered before to spring into your mind, and some of them may surprise you with how basic they are. When it comes to your baby’s feeding routine, these five facts should help put your mind at ease and get you off to a comfortable start:
1. Newborns Feed Frequently
How much and how often should you feed your new arrival? Is it like a baby bird or a kitten that requires exact dosages of nutrition and precise time increments? For breastfed babies, the answer is to simply feed as often as the baby demands, which is roughly two-hourly at first (day and night).
If you’re using perfectly healthy baby formula, there certainly are guidelines on the tin detailing how much and how often to feed your baby. However, it’s essential to keep in mind that your baby doesn’t follow instructions and may have days of being hungrier than others. So, it’s important to also be guided by their daily demands.
2. Weight Loss Is Normal in the First Few Days of Life
In the womb, babies retain water in their little bodies. So, when they’re first born, they look puffy and swollen (although you might not think so when you consider just how tiny they are). In the days following birth, that excess water will be eliminated from the body, and in the process, babies typically lose up to 10% of their birth weight.
As you can imagine, this reduces their weight substantially. However, you don’t need to stress as this is natural and healthy. If you are concerned that your baby is losing weight beyond this normal little dip in the first few days, seek medical advice immediately. There’s likely nothing to worry about, but it’s always good to be sure so you can put your mind at ease.
3. Both Breast and Bottle-Feeding Can Be Challenging
Some parents breastfeed, and some formula feed, but neither option is the easy way out. Breastfeeding often limits mothers to being the only ones to feed the baby, putting all of the night shifts and the bulk of the work onto one person.
Meanwhile, babies who are formula-fed require bottles to be sterilized and given to them with every feed, even those bleary-eyed night feeds. Additionally, babies may reject their bottles or the breast for periods of time.
4. Breast Is Beneficial for Parent and Baby
While formula feeding is a true testament to incredible scientific advances of our time, we have not yet discovered how to make a formula that benefits the mother as much as it benefits the baby. Breastfeeding offers numerous benefits to the mother. It reduces her risk of developing breast cancer, promotes oxytocin, and reduces the risk of developing postpartum mental health struggles. It also burns up to 600 calories a day, helping the mom lose any excess baby weight.
5. Feeding Is About More Than Just Nutrition
Whether you feed your baby formula, breastmilk, or a combination of both, remember that feeding also signals to the baby that they are safe and loved. During times of illness, breastfed babies often want to suckle on the breast without actually drinking because it provides them with a sense of secure attachment and comfort.
Do It Your Way
Raising your baby and embracing motherhood isn’t something you can adopt from others. You can learn by watching, but each person needs to develop their own motherhood style and values. When you step into the role of mothering on your own terms, it becomes easier.
About Jammie Morey
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