Home › Fashion and beauty › The baby does not eat enough. How to tell if your newborn is getting enough breast milk

The baby does not eat enough. How to tell if your newborn is getting enough breast milk

4 808

Pediatricians and neonatologists around the world agreed that breastfeeding is the optimal type of nutrition for a newborn in the first months of life. With breast milk, the baby receives both nutrients and necessary fluids.

But young mothers often worry that their baby is not getting enough breast milk. The anxiety worsens when grandmothers press on the young family with advice. They are the ones who ask if the baby is getting enough milk, why he looks thin, or why he cries a lot.

But in reality, the question of whether the baby is eating should arise only in cases of immediate signals about possible underfeeding. These specific signals and signs are discussed below.

Special knowledge about breastfeeding is necessary for a nursing mother to protect her child and her psyche from the attacks of caring advisors. While breastfeeding, the baby receives everything it needs for full growth and development. It is important to organize this process correctly and ensure that the amount of this food is always sufficient.

How to tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk

Sometimes breastfeeding causes insufficient nutrition of newborns. Such situations can be recognized by specific manifestations.

How to tell if your baby is full of breast milk

Monitoring the child's nutrition is an important task for the mother. It is with proper nutrition that immunity is formed and beneficial substances necessary for growth and development accumulate in the body. In the first year of life, breastfeeding can ensure your baby is fully saturated with minerals and vitamins. To do this, the mother must lead a healthy lifestyle, monitor her diet, sleep and rest patterns. But women cannot always observe a large amount of milk flow. Often mothers feel that they receive much less than the baby needs. As a result, fears develop that the child is starving. If at the same moment the child behaves tearfully and is capricious, then doubts turn into confidence.

Before you get nervous and go to the store to buy formula, you need to find out how to tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk. After this, you should check whether the baby has signs of malnutrition. You can ask the pediatrician if the child has enough “sissy”. A good, qualified pediatrician will tell you at the appointment how to properly organize breastfeeding so that the process occurs easily and calmly.

It is important to remember that breastfeeding is a natural process inherent in a person genetically. Underfeeding can also occur when problems develop, which are often related to maternal or child health. If symptoms are detected, you should contact the local children's clinic.

Signs of malnutrition

Grandmothers often like to intimidate young parents by saying that the baby is hungry and urgently needs to be given a bottle of formula or, even worse, cow’s milk. But every mother should know exactly the signs that her baby is not getting enough breast milk.

These signs include:

Checking the number of urinations (wet diaper method),
Weight gain.

It’s easy to check how many times your baby pees. It is enough to give up diapers for one day and swaddle him. It is believed that after each feeding the baby necessarily pees.

The second sign is insufficient weight gain. It is determined by the local pediatrician during a routine examination. Children's weight should increase gradually, in accordance with established standards.

In the first months of life, weight should increase by 500 grams. If this figure is much lower, then we can talk about the presence of malnutrition in infants.

How to determine if you have enough milk - daily milk intake

You can figure out what a baby eats during lactation in different ways. First of all, it is enough to assess its condition. If the skin is smooth and pink, tender to the touch, the mucous membranes are moisturized, the baby is actively developing and feels well, then there is no reason to worry.

Getting enough food will manifest itself in proper weight gain. If in the first months the baby gains 500 grams, and from the fourth to the seventh months there are slight fluctuations, everything is fine. If weight is gaining slowly from the very beginning, then there is cause for concern.

Experts determine milk intake in different ways. There is an opinion that a baby needs one fifth of his weight. If the baby weighs 5 kg, then the baby will need to drink 1 liter of milk in one day. However, this indicator is conditional.

The main reasons leading to malnutrition

You can tell that your baby is getting enough to eat by the fact that, having eaten enough, the baby is not capricious and is active and cheerful. But it happens that young children do not receive enough nutrients. This can happen due to health problems in the baby or the mother.

The reasons for the shortage may lie in the following:

Hypogalactia,
Incorrect attachment of the baby to the breast,
The presence of lactostasis,
Short frenulum of the tongue in an infant,
Nervousness, stressful state of the mother.

Hypogalactia

It lies in the fact that the mother’s body produces an insufficient amount of milk for the baby.

If such a problem is identified, you should not switch to artificial feeding. You can do certain things to stimulate its production. These actions include:
Frequently putting the baby to the breast, sucking movements will stimulate the breast and provoke a flow of milk,
Spending time with the child, close contact, games during the day,
Proper nutrition for women
Drinking enough warm liquids
Good sleep, rest, walks in the fresh air for mom.

Tea with fennel, dill, and anise also helps.

Incorrect attachment of the baby to the breast

Even during pregnancy, the calendar at the antenatal clinic includes training courses. Doctors emphasize that the child must be able to eat properly. His mouth should completely cover the nipple and the area around it. When the child eats, the lower lip should be slightly curved and protruded. While eating, only the sounds of swallowing should be heard. Do not give your baby bottles with nipples. After all, it is much easier for a baby to eat from a nipple than from the breast. As a result of this, breast problems may arise due to early weaning of the baby. Using a pacifier can cause lactostasis.

Lactostasis

Due to congestion in the breast, especially in the first days after birth, the newborn may have difficulty obtaining milk. You can help him with this by kneading his chest and pumping.

Short frenulum of the tongue

It happens that a child cannot eat normally due to a short frenulum. This problem is a common childhood illness and can be easily solved. You can carry out a small manipulation in a few minutes. Healing is easy and fast.

What to do if there is a lack of milk

Milk contains all the necessary elements for children's health. Therefore, when caring for a baby, it is important to take care of breastfeeding. If you have problems with lactation, you can contact a specialist. There are special teas that stimulate milk production. Drink plenty of fluids and eat right.

It is important to lead a healthy lifestyle, maintain your calm, get proper rest and sleep.

How to increase lactation

You can increase lactation first of all by putting your baby to the breast frequently. You should spoon feed only when it doesn't work out naturally. Supplementing with formula or other products is not recommended.

Lactation is an amazing self-regulating mechanism. If nothing interferes with it, the mammary glands themselves adapt to the baby’s needs, producing as much milk as he needs. But if there is no experience of breastfeeding, or the child begins to behave unusually, mothers become worried - what if he does not get enough to eat. How to understand that a child is not getting enough breast milk and what to do for normal lactation?

How much should a child eat?

If the baby is breastfed on demand, there are no clear standards defining the volume of milk, the time that the baby should stay at the breast or the frequency of feedings. To understand whether a newborn is eating, you need to monitor his condition and behavior. If the baby regularly wets his diapers, gains weight well, can withstand a 2-hour interval between feedings and still sleeps peacefully, then he has enough milk.

If you focus on approximate indicators, then the child should eat up to 12 times a day, the break between feedings (according to pediatricians) should be 2-3 hours, but it may be less. The baby should be put to the breast on demand and fed until he is satisfied and releases the nipple. But you need to make sure that feeding lasts no more than 40 minutes, and that the baby actively sucks the breast and does not chew it in his sleep. This is necessary, first of all, for the mother herself, who also needs to fully rest.

When organizing breastfeeding, it is important to consider one more point. Breast milk is divided into “front” and “hind”. Foremilk is watery and contains a lot of milk sugar, water-soluble minerals and proteins. Its color is bluish. "Foremilk" replaces the child's drinking.

Hind milk is fattier and more nutritious. It is yellowish in color and contains mainly fat and fat-soluble enzymes.

It is impossible to say exactly at what point the “front” milk is replaced by the “hind” milk, but it is important that the baby receives both in full volume. To do this, it is worth holding the baby longer at one breast before offering the other.

How to tell if your baby is hungry

Crying is perhaps the only way a newborn can communicate. He may cry if he is cold, overheated, soiled his diapers, heard a sharp sound, or experiences discomfort, and not just because he is hungry. If all the baby's needs are met and he is still crying, then it is time to feed him. Although some mothers usually start by putting the baby to the breast at the first concern. In addition, you can determine that a baby is not getting enough breast milk by the following signs:

Too long or, conversely, restless sleep, weakness. It is better to wake the baby for feedings, or even put him to the breast directly in his sleep.
Dry skin, frequent “hungry” stools.
The child sucks his finger, the edge of the diaper, smacks his lips, sticks out his tongue.
Urinating less than 12 times a day. To check this, you need to remove the diaper and count how many times the baby wets the diaper.
Weight loss or insufficient weight gain.
Excessive activity or lethargy of the child, a sharp reaction to the approach and smell of the mother.

Why does the child not eat enough?

The reasons may be related to both the child and his mother.

On the mother’s side, a lack of milk can be observed due to lactostasis, errors in diet, insufficient fluid intake, lack of adequate walks in the fresh air, and sufficient sleep. Breastfeeding can become incomplete if the mother experiences soreness in the mammary glands, is stressed, or is sick. Often the cause of breast milk deficiency is postpartum depression, as well as the fact that the mother is not psychologically ready to accept the baby, breastfeed him, or care for him. The situation can be aggravated by the irrational organization of the place where the child is fed and where the mother rests, and an unfavorable atmosphere in the family.
On the part of the child, a runny nose or rapid falling asleep at the breast, due to which the baby never gets to the “hind milk,” can interfere with proper breastfeeding. If you have accustomed your baby to a pacifier, then it can create a feeling of imaginary satiety, while the child will remain hungry, and the milk will decrease due to lack of demand. Disturbances on the part of the baby’s digestive organs or endocrine system can also cause him to stop fully breastfeeding and eat enough.

What should mom do?

First of all, you need to figure out what caused the problem in your case and, if possible, eliminate it. To do this, mom will need to restore her own normal rest and walk routine, eat well and quench her thirst.

If the cause of the problem is lactostasis, it is recommended do breast massage under a warm shower, increase the frequency and duration of night feedings, drink more warm liquid 15 minutes before putting the baby to the breast. And if physiological remedies do not help, you can always try teas and products that stimulate lactation.

In order for the baby to empty the breast efficiently, it is worth try different feeding positions, feed on demand, but do not alternate breasts too often. Avoid pacifiers, and if you supplement your baby with expressed milk, do it with a spoon or syringe. When bottle feeding, “nipple confusion” may occur, in which the baby will prefer to easily obtain food from feeding devices. Avoid supplementing with water or other liquids, try to put your baby to the breast more often, and do not rush to introduce complementary foods ahead of time.

Hello, dear readers!

This article is devoted to a very important aspect of the life of a newborn baby - its nutrition. Specifically, whether the baby gets enough breast milk or not. Agree, the topic is relevant for many, because the fear of “underfeeding” is comparable only to the fear of “what if I drop it.”

Many mothers are overly afraid that their child may remain hungry after suckling and begin to introduce complementary feeding from the first days of the baby’s life, citing the fact that very little milk is coming in and, in their opinion, it may not be enough.

How can you tell if this is really true? What do experts say about this? Let's talk about everything in order.

Signs that your baby is getting enough breast milk

If a newborn sucks and swallows breast milk correctly during feeding, then this is the first reason to stop panicking. Throats should be deep, every three to four suctions. In addition, the mother's breasts should noticeably shrink and become soft.

You can also determine whether your baby is developing normally by his appearance - smooth, firm skin, normal weight gain, dark yellow stool, frequent urination, cheerful mood.
If all these signs, as they say, are present, you can easily exhale and take a breath, and also calm down your grandmother, who is constantly walking around you talking about malnutrition.

Tell her that even if your baby eats for only ten minutes, and your breasts are empty after feeding, this can only mean one thing - you have a healthy, strong baby who has enough strength to suckle quickly and a lot. Therefore, he will not disappear in this world, at least now, as long as his mother and her nurse are nearby.

Signs that your baby is not getting enough breast milk

Anxiety before and during feeding is also a sign of hunger, especially if the intervals between feedings are very small - this means that your baby cannot tolerate even such a short period of time.

The baby is apathetic, sucks poorly and suffers from dehydration and dry skin.
Now, if there are such signs, it means that your child really is not getting enough to eat and you should contact a breastfeeding specialist so that he can teach you how to properly attach your baby to the breast, because in 70% of cases, this is precisely the problem.

Try feeding him with expressed milk and see what happens. Now you know how to determine if your baby is full and it will be easy for you to draw conclusions.

How should a child develop?

During the first month, the child’s weight should increase by 100-200 grams per week. Even up to six months, weight gain should be from 500 grams to a kilogram per month.

Then the weight gain begins to decline, and the little one steadily gains 400-500 grams per month at 10 months. And these indicators are highly averaged, because no two children are the same. After a year, this coefficient will decrease slightly.

But, if suddenly you do not fall under the general norms of weight gain and your baby, at the same time, eats well, is active, can tolerate between feedings, is not capricious and looks like a happy and contented well-fed toddler, then your milk fat content is normal and this is just your individual feature.

Assessing urination

How to tell if your baby is getting enough breast milk by assessing urination. If a newborn really eats in 10 minutes, then he will urinate frequently, about 6 times a day after the first week of life. If urination is small and infrequent, there is reason to think about it.

The same cannot be said about the amount of feces, because mother’s milk can be completely digested in some children and, therefore, breakdown products will simply be absent, while the liquid part of the food will be released in the urine. These indicators are absolutely normal at both 3 months and 7 months.

We wish you good luck in your difficult task. In our other articles you will learn how to check the health of a toddler and how to find out how neglected his upbringing is.

No matter how many articles, seminars and letters I (a lactation consultant) have written and conducted, the truth of life will remain the same: nursing mothers always worry, have worried and will worry about the fact that the child is not getting enough breast milk.

It’s a pity that the baby’s tummy is not transparent, and there is no scale showing how much milk is inside. That would be great, wouldn't it?

In the meantime, you have to worry, worry and yes, sometimes cry because you can’t track how much the baby has eaten, and the baby can’t talk about his hunger.

But that's enough jokes, let's move on to serious things. We will restore your peace of mind and confidence in your maternity powers.

And I'll start with the good news: there are proven methods for determining the lack of milk. I'll tell you now.

Signs of lack of milk

How to understand and accurately find out that a child is starving and is not getting enough breast milk?

There are only two true ways (remember: only TWO!): a wet diaper test and an assessment of weight gain over the month.

During the day, do not put a diaper on your baby, but swaddle him or keep him in a onesie.

A well-fed baby should urinate at least 10–12 times a day. If there are less than 10 pees, the baby is not eating enough, you need to work on mistakes and check yourself for compliance with the rules of breastfeeding.

Weight gain is measured once a month or once a week. More often it is not necessary!

The minimum weight gain for a child under 4 months of age is 500 grams per month, or 125 grams per week. Until the age of seven months, weight gain can be up to 300 grams per month, then the baby grows in leaps and bounds - at one time the weight stays the same, and at another time it increases by half a kilo at once.

If you find out that your baby is not getting enough breast milk, you need to monitor for signs of dehydration until the situation improves (I sincerely hope that you don’t let your baby get to this point). The danger signs are:

lethargy, drowsiness;
sunken eyes, dull eyeballs;
dry oral mucosa, viscous saliva;
crying without tears;
sagging skin: if you pinch a child, the pinch does not straighten immediately;
bad breath;
The baby pees less than 6 times a day, the urine is dark and has a strong odor.

Important: If several of these symptoms are combined, you should call an ambulance.

The last of these symptoms in itself requires immediate contact with a pediatrician.

To prevent this, learn to breastfeed correctly from the first day after birth. How to do this, what to consider, what rules to follow,

Causes of milk shortage

The main reason for insufficient milk supply is improperly organized breastfeeding. The main mistakes you may make:

Feeding by the hour. Milk comes in response to the baby's request, that is, sucking. If the baby drinks it whenever he wants, then the milk will be enough.
Reducing feeding time.
Incorrect chest grip.
Uncomfortable position for feeding.
Refusal of night applications. Morning feedings stimulate the mammary glands to work throughout the day.
Use of pacifiers and pacifiers.
Feeding with expressed milk.
Feeding in silicone pads. It is impossible to form a correct grip in them. The use of overlays is justified during the healing period of nipple cracks.

For many breastfeeding mothers, it comes as a surprise that milk does not come immediately after birth. Normally, it appears after two to three days.

You should not immediately give the baby formula, it is better to continue feeding, then the baby, firstly, will be filled with colostrum, and secondly, it will stimulate the mammary glands to produce nutrition as quickly as possible.

Other causes of low milk supply:

poor nutrition for the nursing mother, insufficient fluid intake;
Mom worries and is nervous a lot and is in a difficult psychological state;
severe hormonal disorders in the mother;
the nursing mother gets little rest;
breast problems: flat nipples, cracked nipples, lactostasis;
the child has problems with the digestive system;
the baby has a runny nose and cannot suckle effectively;
the child was born large and has a greater nutritional need compared to other babies;
The baby, on the contrary, is weak and falls asleep during feeding.

How to increase your milk supply?

In order for a child to begin to eat, you first need to establish the reasons for the lack of milk and eliminate them. Basically, there is little milk due to improperly organized breastfeeding. To correct the situation, follow these rules:

Feed your baby on demand. Natural feeding is a special system; The mammary gland produces as much nutrition as the baby needs. Milk appears in response to stimulation of the nipple. For this system to work, the baby must receive the breast whenever he wants it. >>>
How do you know for sure that your baby is full of breast milk? He let go of his chest. Therefore, do not interrupt feeding, let the baby eat as much as he needs.
Check for correct application. The baby's mouth is wide open, the baby grasps not only the nipple, but also the areola. The baby is fed without any extraneous sounds, only gulps are heard. >>>
Find several comfortable feeding positions and alternate between them. In any position, the back of the child’s head, neck, and back should be in one straight line. The nipple is located in the mouth, the baby does not have to turn his head or reach for the chest.
If your baby is not getting enough to eat, feed him only on one breast, alternating between them each feeding. So the baby will suck both the front milk and the more nutritious hind milk.
If your baby is weak and sleeps a lot, wake him up for feedings. Do not sleep more than three hours during the day, and more than five at night. To help your baby eat more actively, wash your baby before feeding. Some kids eat better naked.
Do not give a bottle or pacifier. The baby sucks them completely differently than the breast. Children quickly get used to nipples, then they try to take the breast like a bottle, but nothing works and the baby is transferred to artificial feeding.
Get more rest, sleep when the baby sleeps.
Accept any help, involve your relatives in caring for the baby yourself.
Eat 3-5 times a day tasty and healthy foods rich in proteins and carbohydrates. Drink more fluids. >>>
If your child has health problems, take him to the pediatrician.

If you are not sure that you can organize breastfeeding on your own, you can seek a face-to-face consultation with a breastfeeding consultant. If this is not possible, you should use the help of a Skype consultant by writing a request through the feedback form.

During the consultation, we will determine whether the baby is really not getting enough to eat and what needs to be done to ensure that your baby has enough milk.
Watch also the video on the topic of quantity and fat content of breast milk:

Seven myths that need to be dispelled

Some advice for breastfeeding is passed on by word of mouth, but does not help increase milk supply, and sometimes can even be harmful:

How can you tell if your baby is full of breast milk? You will probably be asked to weigh him before and after feeding. The error of such a procedure is so great that it becomes completely inconclusive. You should weigh your child no more than once a week.
No need to supplement with formula. The more formula the baby eats, the less time he will spend on the breast, and less milk will arrive at the next feeding.
Do not give your child goat or cow milk. A small body is not adapted for such nutrition, and the baby may begin to have problems with the digestive system.
Introduce complementary foods no earlier than six months of age. Earlier accustoming to adult food provokes problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
Before introducing complementary foods, do not give your baby more to drink. Milk consists of 86% water and satisfies the need for both food and drink.
The milk in a woman's diet has nothing to do with how to increase breast milk; Eating food “for two” so that the child is full is a myth. Milk is not produced from the mother's food, but from her blood.

Natural feeding has many advantages over artificial feeding. Do everything in your power to breastfeed your baby, and I will definitely help you with this.

All mothers, without exception, and especially those who have felt the joy of motherhood for the first time, very often worry that their baby is not getting enough breast milk. But often these fears are unfounded. After all, the mother’s body adapts to the needs of the newborn baby almost on the second day.

Signs indicating childhood malnutrition can manifest themselves in a wide variety. For example:

If the child does not eat enough, the mother will hear a long, hungry cry. This cry is difficult to confuse with any other.
The baby is prone to restless sleep or no sleep at all.
The baby desperately reacts to his mother's smell and her presence.
The number of bowel movements and wet diapers may also indicate that the baby is not getting enough breast milk. Baby doesn't have to go to the toilet "in a big way" after each feeding, however, if such a reality occurs, then this makes it clear that the newborn is full, and mother’s milk is well absorbed. When your baby is wearing it, it is difficult to understand how many times a day he urinated. Therefore, many experienced mothers advise that in order to understand whether the baby is getting enough milk or not, you need to swaddle him for at least one day or put on a romper without a disposable diaper. Normally, in a well-fed child, this number can reach up to 20 times. If the child does not eat enough, then his urine will have a darker color and be accompanied by an unpleasant odor, and the number of urinations will be no more than 6-8 times a day.
His facial expressions will help determine whether a baby is getting enough breast milk. A hungry baby will begin to smack his tongue and lips, and may also begin to smack diapers and everything else that comes his way.
No weight gain. Children under one year of age are required to undergo control measurements and weighings from a pediatrician. When the baby does not eat enough, then after a month there will be no weight gain. In addition, the scale may show less weight than the child had. The only acceptable situation with weight loss can occur in the baby during discharge from the maternity hospital. As a rule, during this period of time, on days 3-5, the baby can lose 10% of its original weight. The normal monthly weight gain is 0.5 kg (this figure applies from birth to four months of age) and up to 0.3 kg (from 4 to 7 months).
Dry skin. For babies, mother’s milk is not only food, but also drink, because more than half of it consists of water. Therefore, if a mother notices dry skin of her children, this may be a sign of malnutrition.
The lethargy of a newborn baby and his low mobility will indicate that he is hungry. This symptom is already close to dehydration of the body, so it will not appear at the initial stages. This is a dangerous symptom indicating long-term childhood malnutrition. This also includes: sunken eye sockets, sagging skin, and an unpleasant odor from the mouth. Also at this stage, you may notice a viscous consistency of saliva, dry mouth, and the number of urinations will be less than 6 per day. When a mother notices several of these symptoms, there is no need to wait for the pediatrician, but should immediately call an ambulance.

Why does a child not get enough breast milk?

The reasons why a child does not eat enough may lie both in the baby himself and in the nursing mother.

Reasons hidden in the child:

Firstly, the baby may remain hungry due to digestive problems.

Secondly, the cause of insufficient satiety may be a runny nose. Because of this disease, the sucking reflex may be difficult. In this case, before feeding, it is necessary to clean the baby's nose.

Thirdly, problems in the functioning of the endocrine system.

Fourth, continuous sucking of a pacifier.

Fifthly, the baby quickly falls asleep at the breast.

Sixth, the child could be born very large (about 4 kg or more). Thus, his nutritional needs will be greater than those of lighter weight babies.

Reasons behind the mother:

Medical indicators (flat or inverted nipple).
Sore nipples. It is possible that a woman psychologically rejects the very idea of breastfeeding and devotes insufficient time to this, which is why there is soreness on the nipples.
An incorrectly selected menu for a nursing woman, resulting in insufficient milk production, or milk lacking fat content.
Insufficient exposure to fresh air or little physical activity.
Postpartum depression, lack of sleep, fatigue and other ailments.
The mother has violated the feeding technique or the baby is placed on the breast incorrectly.
It is possible that breast milk has an unattractive taste for the baby from spices or other foods eaten by the mother the day before.
A nursing woman experiences major hormonal imbalances in her body.

Based on consistency, mother’s milk can be divided into two components:

liquid front milk, which replaces the baby's drink;
hindmilk, which acts as food. This milk has a thicker consistency.

Foremilk and hindmilk: hindmilk is yellower.
Very often you can encounter a situation where a child does not get enough of one breast. This may be due to several reasons.

Firstly, the mother produces a lot of milk. This may be due to frequent pumping. Then the baby eats only liquid foremilk, receiving imaginary satiety. In this case, nutrients are not received and after a while the child becomes hungry.

Secondly, the mother may have the opposite. Then the child will probably not get enough of one breast. In this case, the mother should place the baby alternately on both breasts.

There are erroneous opinions that when a mother has little milk of her own, she should:

But such a way out of the situation will not help the matter at all, but will only aggravate it. Lactation may worsen even more, and later disappear altogether. The baby may have problems with bowel movements.
Animal milk. It is not recommended to supplement the baby and... The protein content in such milk, which is very different from the protein in mother's milk, can lead to problems with the baby's digestion. Lactation will also suffer from this.
The more liquid the baby consumes, the more full his stomach will be, but this will not bring satiety. After all, water is devoid of nutrients.
Use donor milk. This is not prohibited, but you should think twice before giving your newborn baby such milk. You need to be confident in the hygiene and cleanliness of the woman who provided the valuable liquid.
The baby's digestive system has not yet fully formed, and early intake of vegetables and fruits can cause problems.

If a child does not have enough mother’s milk, then every effort should be made to revive the necessary lactation. It is possible that the mother should change her feeding position, take a hot shower before feeding, or drink more lactation teas.

What to do when a child does not get enough of one breast

Balance the menu of a nursing mother. A woman should consume enough of all microelements, vitamins and nutrients. Otherwise, the mother will experience a situation where there is a lot of milk, but the baby is still hungry. The number of meals should be at least 3 per day, in the best version of meals there will be 5. The mandatory diet should contain such products as: meat, cheeses, vegetables, fruits and milk (no more than 1 liter; you should not consume more milk , because breast milk comes from blood, not milk consumed).
A nursing mother should strictly monitor her water balance. Water can be replaced with stimulating lactation teas (tea with milk) and decoctions (fennel, dill, nettle and other herbs). Drinking a hot drink a quarter of an hour before feeding helps. From this intake of liquid, the milk will not increase in volume, but it will provoke a rush. Due to this, the pressure of the milk stream will be greater, which will contribute to easier breastfeeding. This situation will help the child get full faster and perhaps he will have time to eat enough before falling asleep.
Remove from the menu all products that affect the taste of milk (spices, onions, garlic, legumes, citrus fruits and other products).
Spend more time outdoors. It is better to walk in parks and squares away from roads. If the baby was born in cold or rainy weather (autumn - winter), then walks should be carried out more often (up to 3 times a day), but they should not be as long as in warm summer months (30 minutes will be enough). In very bad weather, it is allowed to take walks on the loggia or balcony.
Monitor sleep and rest.
Enlist the help of nannies or close relatives.
Read more literature about.
Do not exclude breast milk directly from the breast. Very often, nursing mothers bottle feed their baby. Pre-dawn feedings are important for lactation. They set the mammary glands to work a day in advance.
Try to work out a feeding schedule, but do not deny the baby food if he falls behind the schedule.
In addition to feeding, it is better to refrain from using it.
Don't neglect breast hygiene. Before each feeding, you should wash it thoroughly, massage your nipples, and you can rinse your breasts with chamomile decoction. To prevent cracks, it is necessary to apply a special cream to the nipples.
If a child does not get enough of one breast because of the shape of the nipples (too flat, etc.), then breastfeeding doctors recommend that the mother use breast pads that correct the shape of the nipples.
For lactostasis, cold lotions and self-massage will be good.

When a child eats and does not get enough, the mother should reconsider the environment in which feeding occurs. It is possible that the baby is very overexcited due to noise or is distracted by something.

Feeding conditions should, if possible, meet the following requirements:

the room should be ventilated and quiet;
a comfortable chair and a feeding pillow will come to the aid of the mother;
- a guarantee of satiety of the baby. In the baby's mouth there should be not only a nipple, but also an areola;
There is no need to forcibly remove the breast from the baby; when he is full, he will let go of it himself. All babies are different and therefore some need more time to get full, while others need less.
During one feeding you do not need to put the baby first on one breast and then on the other. Otherwise, the baby will only receive liquid foremilk. It is necessary that the baby empties one breast as much as possible, and only if he is hungry should the second one be offered.
If a newborn baby often falls asleep during feeding and does not have time to get enough, then the mother should forcefully wake him up. For this, a light, gentle touch and stroking the face will be enough. During the day, you can wake up the baby after 3 hours of sleep, while at night you should let the baby sleep for 4-5 hours.

How to understand that a child is not eating enough on one breast

Some advisors may recommend weighing your baby before and after feeding. But this is just a waste of time, since the procedure will have a huge error, covering the child's weight at such a young age. It is advisable to weigh in no more than once a week.