Among the new mom's biggest fears of being a leader is a potential shortage. breast milk... But in fact, according to various sources, the absence or insufficiency of lactation occurs only in 1-5% of women in total the globe... Unreasonable fears are most often associated with the statements of "kind" relatives, brought up in the spirit of Soviet times, when women were not ordered to feed at night, as well as changes in the child's behavior, which are manifestations of development or malaise. Instead of falling into despair, it is better to assess the real parameters that indicate the sufficiency of milk.

There are several objective indicators by which you can understand whether the baby is eating up. They can be assessed by any mother at home without any special tools. Unless you need a scale.

Number of urinations

For the most objective assessment of this parameter, it is recommended to conduct a test for " wet diapers". To implement it, you must give up at least a day disposable diapers... You need to count how many times the baby urinates in 24 hours. Normally, a child who is one week old pees at least 10-12 times. This test is valid if the baby is not given enough water.

With less accuracy, you can estimate the abundance of urination in disposable diapers. Provided that breastfeeding is sufficient, the baby fills them per day in the amount of 4-6 pieces.

Child's age	Urine volume per day, ml	The number of urinations per day	The volume of one portion of urine, ml
1-3 years	750-820	10-12	60-90
0-6 months	400-700	20-25	20-30
6 months - 1 year	375-720	15-16	25-45
3-5 years	900-1070	7-9	70-90
5-7 years	1070-1300	7-9	100-150
7-9 years old	1240-1520	7-8	145-190
9-11 years old	1520-1670	6-7	220-260
11-13 years old	1600-1900	6-7	250-270

This is not the only parameter associated with a baby's toilet business.

In the first days after birth, and sometimes during childbirth, the baby's intestines get rid of meconium. This is the original feces. It is dark in color. With the appearance of milk in the mother, which occurs about the third day after birth, the baby's feces first turn green and then yellow. From now on, the baby must empty the intestines at least 3 times a day. This figure is valid until the child reaches the age of 3-8 weeks, when the frequency of bowel movements can be only 1 time per day, and sometimes less often, since milk is absorbed more fully.

Weight gain

If in the first 4-7 days of life the baby loses mass, which is physiological norm, then he begins to gain weight 125-500 g per week. The increase for the first month, the minimum value of which is 600 g, must be counted from minimum weight.

Age, months	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Increase per month, g	600	800	800	750	700	650	600	550	500	450	400	350
Increase for elapsed period, G	600	1400	2200	2950	3650	4300	4900	5450	5950	6400	6800	7150
Increase in height (in cm) per month	3	3	2,5	2,5	2	2	2	2	1,5	1,5	1,5	1,5
Increase in height (in cm) over the past period	3	6	8,5	11	13	15	17	19	20,5	22	23,5	25

It is often not worth evaluating how much a baby weighs, since it is gaining unevenly, and the mother will only have cause for concern. By the way, the scales must be the same.

These are 3 reliable indicators that can be evidence of whether or not there is enough breast milk for the baby. Sucking movements can also be evaluated. When a baby is breastfeeding, not for the purpose of calming, but for food or drink, then this can be easily determined. One sucking movement consists of three phases:

• letting go of the chin down;
• pauses;
• raising the chin.

At such moments, the baby receives the maximum portions of milk. If this happens regularly, then most likely there are no problems with lactation.

The rest of the opinions are just speculation.

Milk scarcity myths

There are several factors that may worry an inexperienced breastfeeding mom. Their appearance is attributed by the woman herself or someone from her environment to the fact that the baby receives little breast milk. But this is a misconception.

1. The baby continues to cry after feeding. Most often this happens in the evening. But crying is a baby's only language. The baby screams for many reasons: fear, discomfort, headache, meteosensitivity, colic, etc.

2. The child "hangs on the chest", that is, asks often and sucks for a long time. In fact, this is the norm. After all, the chest is for little man Is not only food, but also a way to calm down, and the world full of stress, especially for a newly born baby. Yes and difficult periods there are more than enough crumbs in life. Therefore, everyone has their own mode of attachment to the breast. But if the child sleeps less than 20 minutes, is restless, then it is worth contacting the pediatrician.

3. Even with a breast pump it is possible to express a maximum of 30-40 ml. This is one of the most frightening parameters. But it doesn't really mean anything. After all, it is impossible to imitate the sucking movements of a baby either with a breast pump or with your hands. In addition, milk rushes occur while the baby is sucking, even with greater intensity than during the breaks.

4. Milk no longer flows from the breast by itself. In the first months, mom often wakes up in a puddle of milk, and during the day, you cannot do without special breast liners. But at about 3 months, lactation is established, so the milk stops leaking.

5. The breasts feel soft even between feedings. It is also associated with the establishment of lactation.

6. The kid does not sleep at night. In fact, a baby in the first months should not skip night feeds, latching on to the breast between 3 and 8 am is important for lactation. If the baby sleeps for more than 4 hours, then it is worth waking him up. To do this, it is enough to catch the moment when the baby is busy and try to give him a breast. Sleepy babies suck well.

7. The baby is happy to take the bottle after feeding. This does not always show that the baby is hungry. In addition, bottles and nipples can make it difficult to breastfeed.

If a nursing mother faced similar phenomena, and weight gain and urinary frequency are normal, then you should not panic. Properly organized breastfeeding is the prevention, and often the solution to lactation problems and milk shortages.

The main secret correct lactation is feeding on demand, including around dreams. In addition, there are a number of other nuances.

If you have any doubts or problems, it is better to contact a pediatrician who really supports breastfeeding, and a lactation consultant. It is these specialists who should help you in establishing lactation, and, if necessary, make a decision together with you on the introduction of supplementary feeding.

For every mother, one of the pressing problems and main questions is how to understand if the baby has enough breast milk? Perhaps the baby is not eating enough and should be supplemented with formula? He behaves restlessly, is capricious, maybe this is exactly the case when he is hungry? It should be noted that the child's anxiety cannot always be justified by hunger. If the feeding was very recent, then you can offer him a pacifier, pick him up. In the event that the child is really hungry, such manipulations will not help, and he will still be capricious, demanding breast.

Of course, in order for the baby to receive a sufficient amount nutrients and vitamins, mom must provide herself with a complete diet. Her menu must include: fish, meat, cereals, vitamins and minerals from natural products... Thanks to good nutrition mothers, the baby will receive important micronutrients for him, respectively, eat well, grow and develop. Every mom wants to know how to understand that there is not enough milk for a newborn. There are certain manifestations that demonstratively show that the baby does not have enough milk.

The main manifestations of baby malnutrition

It should be noted right away that if you realize that your baby lacks the volume of milk that enters the breast, this does not mean that you need to immediately run for the mixture and inject artificial feeding... It may be worth changing the feeding schedule, if you have already established one, and feeding the baby as he wishes. Night feeding should not be replaced with water and, in general, review the organized breastfeeding.

So how do you know if there is not enough milk? Necessary Special attention draw on the following manifestations on the part of the child:

• when mom has a small volume of milk supply, the baby will suckle for a long time. He may fall asleep in the process, you should not immediately put him to bed, because in an hour he will wake up hungry again. Wake him up by stroking his cheek or running a nipple over his lips, he will start eating again. It is better to let the child eat for forty minutes, but still be full, rather than constantly waking up from hunger during the night. Do not forget that the baby quite often asks for a breast during an illness, when his teeth are climbing, but this calms him more, and does not indicate a systematic feeling of hunger;
• considering the question of how to understand that the child is not enough milk, it is necessary to take into account the monthly weight gain. There are standard parameters that the baby must fit into. The first few months, weight gain should be at least 500 g per month. If less, the doctor talks about deviations from the specified norm, then you should pay special attention to breastfeeding;
• make sure that the child really has enough mother's milk, the count of the number of his urinations per day will help. It will only take a day to give up diapers and use only diapers in order to accurately see the amount of urination of the baby. Normally, the baby should urinate at least 10 times a day, but this is provided that he receives exclusively breast milk, without supplementation in the form of a mixture and water.

How to find out if a newborn has enough breast milk, you can pay attention to his behavior, sleep. If the child does not gorge himself, then he will often ask for breast, sleep poorly and constantly wake up, and behave restlessly. However, anxious behavior can be associated with other problems - teething, overwork, painful condition.

Instructions

Count the number of wet diapers throughout the day. An adequately nourished baby normally urinates 6-8 or more times a day. If you use disposable diapers, ditch them for 1-2 days in favor of gauze or cloth diapers to get the real picture.

Examine your child's stool carefully. A yellow and grainy color is considered normal, undigested is allowed. A toddler who is getting enough high-calorie milk, stool is 1-2 times a day or more, since breast milk has a natural laxative effect.

Green stool of a child can mean lactase deficiency: during feeding, he sucks out the so-called front milk which contains a lot of sugar, but does not get the more fatty "back" milk having the greatest nutritional value... Perhaps he really lacks such nutrition for normal development.

Evaluate your breasts before and after feeding: if before latching on the baby it is tight and full, and after it is soft and noticeably empty, then the baby is full. Leaking breasts between feeds indicate that milk is being produced well.

Pay attention to the baby's behavior during feeding: if his cheeks are rounded, he himself lets go of the breast or does not sleep, but he looks happy and, therefore, he is full. If, after eating, the baby is curdled or whey, then the problem of shortage milk not at all: these are signs of overfeeding. But when spitting up milk, you need to contact a pediatrician or neurologist (there may be other problems).

Monitor your child's weight gain. In the first babies, they normally gain 100-200 g per week, up to 6 - 400-1000 g each, from up to a year - 400-500 g each. These indicators are average, and in general, the increase depends on individual characteristics child: birth weight, height, physique, etc.

Spend next test: Use two fingers to squeeze the baby's skin over the muscles and bones. A well-nourished baby has a firm and firm feel, as it has good body fat. Wrinkled skin loosely lagging behind bones and muscles suggests that to kid lacks milk... Try to breastfeed and see your pediatrician who will prescribe formula supplements if necessary.

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Many young mothers who are breastfeeding their baby once ask themselves: “Does he have enough milk? ". Especially often this question appears in women when their breasts suddenly stop filling like before. In fact, the size of the breast is not an indicator of the presence in it milk... The breasts are reduced when the body begins to produce so much milk how much the baby eats. Determine if enough to kid milk, allow completely different criteria.

Instructions

We can say with confidence that the breast milk to kid enough if it is at least 6-8 times. Moreover, his urine should be almost colorless and have a slight odor. With the constant use of disposable diapers, it is quite difficult to determine the amount of urination of the crumbs. But if mommy has to change because of its fullness at least 4 times a day, with the amount consumed by the baby milk everything is fine.

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Bowel upset is as common in young children as it is in adults. But the treatment should be somewhat different, because babies cannot take most medicines in view of side effects and age restrictions... To fix chair baby, you need to pay attention to its nutrition.

You will need

• - fruits;
• - nuts;
• - fermented milk products or preparations with bifido and lactobacilli;
• - bran or fiber;
• - liquid.

Instructions

Give fresh fruit daily. Apples, peaches, grapes, pears and apricots help to improve digestion especially well. You need to eat them in the intervals after the main meal and always at night. The ballast substances contained in these fruits stimulate the flow of fluid, gently irritating its walls. Thereby feces become softer chair normalizes.

Give your baby nuts. They will not only improve digestion, but also have a beneficial effect on mental activity. Hazelnuts will do walnuts, almonds or pistachios. On average, 100 g of nuts per day is enough for a child, a little less is possible.

Be sure to feed with vegetable soup for lunch. Try not to give your baby pasta, bread and buns. The only exceptions are bakery products containing bran or fiber. By the way, these substances are also sold in dry form. If your child is still on treatment, try persuading him to eat 1 tablespoon of bran or fiber in the morning.

Fermented milk products will also help solve delicate problem... Give your baby yoghurts, sour cream, yogurt or kefir every day after the main meal. If a child cannot eat dairy products, then they will be able to with bifido and lactobacilli. Gradually, the microflora will normalize and digestion will improve.

Make sure your child drinks enough liquid. Especially good for bowel function fruit juices, tea and compote, but from lemonade, on the contrary, a failure occurs and constipation begins.

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note

Consultation of a therapist, gastroenterologist. What table, such a chair. In order to establish a chair, first of all, you need to eat right: eat a sufficient amount of vegetable fiber (vegetables, fruits, bran) and liquid, lead active image life.

Helpful advice

Very often, mothers complain about constipation in their babies and ask many questions about how to improve normal stool... First of all, you need to find out the cause of constipation, because they are very different. The most common reason is the improper diet of the baby, as well as the irrational diet of the nursing mother and her baby.

Influenza epidemics (severe viral infection) happen annually. The defenses of the baby's body are still very weak. And so, unfortunately, babies more susceptible to infection.

Instructions

Minimize or eliminate visits to clinics and public places altogether. The flu is transmitted by airborne droplets, so waiting in the corridors of the clinic with sick children is often fraught with infection. Call your pediatrician and other doctors at home. Avoid contact of the baby with people with a cold.

Ventilate your home or apartment regularly. In the room where he lives, leave the window open for 15 minutes before going to bed. At the same time, isolate the baby from drafts. Wet your baby's room daily.

Dress appropriately for the weather. Make sure that the child is not hypothermic, but also that he is not hot. On the street touch your nose and - they should be warm. Spend as much time as possible on fresh air if the weather permits. On cold days it is better to take 2 - 3 walks for half an hour. On the street, the baby hardens, he gets stronger the immune system.

Do not introduce new foods into your diet during an epidemic. They can develop food allergies that drain your strength. child's body... If the baby is on, then the mother should continue to feed him, even if she is. In this case, the mother should wear a cotton-gauze bandage with the baby and reduce the time of communication with the baby to a minimum, entrusting the care to relatives or a nanny. Before you take infant on your hands, wash your hands thoroughly with antiseptic soap and wipe dry.

Moisten the nasal passages of the crumbs, for example, with a salt solution. Check with your local pediatrician, he can prescribe prophylactic antiviral drugs. For example, he will advise you to lubricate the baby's nose with oxolinic ointment. But any prevention of colds should be supervised by a specialist.

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Everyone knows that there is no cure for influenza: both vaccinations and antiviral drugs are aimed at stimulating your immunity, and not at killing the influenza virus. Therefore, we have to repeat the hackneyed truth: disease prevention is no less important than effective treatment.

Helpful advice

Let the child be dressed warmly, but not wrapped up. So he will move more, from the generated energy he will warm up and not catch a cold. But do not overdo it with walks: as soon as the baby began to freeze - go straight home. Now more and more they say that the most good way to protect the child and yourself from the flu - get vaccinated. The main thing with which you can protect yourself from infection, especially from the flu, is to get vaccinated.

Sources:

• How to protect babies from influenza

The amount of milk consumed by a child depends on the age of the baby, on the state of his health, as well as on the character of the baby. But there are some norms that a young mother needs to be guided by.

In the first days after giving birth, the child eats very little, about 15 grams for each feeding, about 100-150 grams per day. These days, doctors recommend putting the baby to the breast as often as possible so that more and more milk is produced, because the baby is gaining strength. By the end of the first week, his appetite will increase 3-4 times, that is, the child will need about 300-400 grams of milk per day. By the end of the first healthy baby eats 600 grams. If you feed the baby with a mixture, then you must adhere to the recommendations given on the package. It should be noted that formula is a heavier food for the body, so the amount of milk eaten by the baby may be less.

A child already needs about 800 grams per day, and in one feeding the baby can eat up to 100-120 grams. Further, each consumed milk increases by 50-100 grams per day, and by six it is usually about one liter. Do not forget that with the age of 5, the child needs, that is, milk will gradually be replaced with regular food. By ten months, it is advisable to give the baby breast milk or formula only three times a day: in the morning, before bedtime, and at night feeding. For each feeding, the baby should eat about 210 grams, an average of 630 grams is obtained, excluding complementary foods. However, the amount of milk consumed at this age depends on the individual characteristics of the child. Some children flatly refuse to eat cereals, mashed potatoes and soups, they like the mixture or mother's milk more.

After a year, the baby's main diet should be food. If you stop breastfeeding, you can give your baby or special mixture after a year. The approximate volume of milk consumed at this age should be 330 grams. However, in addition to milk, it is necessary to introduce crumbs of kefir and yoghurts into the diet.

Sources:

• how much milk do you need infant

Frequent regurgitation is one of the main causes of concern for mothers in the first months of a newborn's life. The problem is especially exacerbated if the baby is not gaining weight well, chokes on the milk that comes out and screams incessantly after each such incident. Most often, the issue is resolved by itself by the age of six months, but prevention will help to cope with constant regurgitation earlier. It is only important to understand why it is happening.

Instructions

Binge eating. This is the most common cause of regurgitation. This phenomenon is especially often observed in children who are on the natural. It's just that the child absorbs a larger volume of breast milk than the body needs, the stomach stretches, and then, with a slight gag reflex, part of the eaten. At the same time, the mother has that the baby has spit up a lot. To calm yourself, it is enough to pour 2 teaspoons on the diaper. cow's milk and you will see that the volume seems large, but in fact it is only 10 ml.

Swallowed air (aerophagia). Perhaps the child's stomach enters the stomach along with food - he just sucks it in. This happens with and when using mixtures in bottles. The air causes discomfort to the child, it comes out, as a rule, with small amount milk. But after feeding, it is enough to place the baby with his tummy in an upright position, as a normal belching occurs, and the child will feel better.

Intestinal intussusception. If the child is often and, and the vomit becomes greenish or mixed with bile, this is a reason to contact a pediatrician. No prevention in the form of an upright position and tearing away from the chest will help, since the most probable cause is intestinal obstruction.

Pylorospasm. In children who regurgitate with a fountain after each feeding, this is most likely the diagnosis. It's all about the regular muscles of the pylorus - the valve that closes the exit from the stomach. Suitable drugs can only be prescribed by a pediatrician, and frequent feeding in small portions is suitable as a prophylaxis.

Sudden regurgitation. If the child does not have a predisposition to regurgitation, but suddenly it happens several times, you should pay attention to the child's condition. This could be a symptom of a serious illness or injury. After all, spitting up is easy to confuse with vomiting. The repeated food intake in some children accompanies an increase in body temperature, in general, it indicates diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, including infections, and often the brain happens. If there is blood, it is necessary to urgently call an ambulance.

The appearance of a baby in the house leads to the appearance various problems developmental and health related. When a green stool is found, parents panic. To understand the problem, it is necessary to establish the reasons.

Causes of green stool in newborns

During the first year, the child's digestive organs and other body systems are formed, therefore, stool disorders or color changes are not a pathology. As a rule, intestinal bacteria cannot cope with the incoming volume of food.

For the first 5-7 days, meconium leaves the child's body, which later turns into ordinary feces.

What causes the stool to turn greenish in a child after the fifth day after birth? Follow the baby's behavior carefully to determine the correct cause.

If, with a green stool, the child behaves calmly, sleeps, the color of the feces depends on the food that the nursing woman ate. For example, the diet contains a large number of green products. To prevent this from happening, you should choose your food very carefully, since the baby's intestines are not sufficiently developed, so the body reacts to the smallest changes.

The second reason for green stools is the mother's liquid and low-fat milk. In this case, the feces become more liquid consistency without a pungent odor. When unnecessarily fat milk feces become mustard-brownish, constipation may appear.

If the child is on an artificial one, a change in the color and structure of feces is associated with a change in nutrition. The mixture may have been selected incorrectly. It is necessary to try a different kind and monitor your health.

Very often, when switching from breastfeeding to artificial feeding, a change in the color of feces occurs.

Dark- green chair- a sign of insufficient absorption of iron by the body. With oxidative reactions, feces are stained.

Green stools are a sign of illness

Green stools are often a symptom of a medical condition:
- with a cold or a viral illness, the feces change color;
- feces can be painted in almost any color, appears Strong smell rot, foam or blood debris forms;
- with lactase deficiency.

As a rule, the staining of feces in green color with no other signs of concern - this is a fairly common occurrence for a growing organism. If green stools are accompanied by colic, abdominal pain, anxiety of the baby, skin rashes, sleep disturbances, you should immediately be tested to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Tip 8: when milk burns out after breastfeeding ends

Breast milk - the most important product for a child. With breast milk, the baby will receive all the most useful for his health. But nonetheless, the time will come"Tear" the baby from the breast.

Weaning

One of the questions that moms have: in weaning? The answer is ambiguous. There are many judgments on this topic. There is an opinion that long-term natural feeding has a beneficial effect on the development and health of the baby. Also, people believe than younger child, the easier the weaning process is.

A nursing mother should focus on her feelings, on her emotional condition and the baby's willingness to switch to a different type of feeding after breastmilk.

Psychologists recommend a smooth end to breastfeeding. In order not to be too difficult, weaning is done gradually, introducing complementary foods and replacing each feeding. But more often there are situations when the baby eats adult food and at the same time asks for a “favorite treat”. It is then that mothers decide to abruptly give up such snacks.

There are many options for how best to do this. Someone recommends the breast with mustard or something else tasteless, someone tries to explain to their baby that there is no more milk.

The main thing to remember is that children are individual and for everyone there is a solution to this issue.

Cessation of lactation

Mom is very worried about the time when the milk will burn out. It passes almost painlessly gradual weaning... The mammary gland adapts to new demands and decreases milk production. A different picture occurs with abrupt weaning.

Sometimes it also happens that you have decided to stop breastfeeding, but the milk is still there, because the mammary gland cannot be explained that there is no longer a need for milk. V in this case it is recommended to tighten the chest with an elastic bandage or wear a tight bra that will serve as a corset. You should walk like this until the milk burns out. You can express some milk to keep your breasts soft. Abrupt weaning from the breast is a rather painful process for mom. Try not to overuse foods that promote lactation during this period.

Milk usually stops producing within 3-5 days. It will take some more time for "resorption".

The main thing is to prevent stagnation and the formation of mastitis. Observe your feelings carefully. If necessary, see your doctor to prescribe the pills, medications and special drugs you need.

To successfully establish breastfeeding, it is enough to observe just a few simple rules: remove bottles and nipples, do not feed the baby with formula and apply correctly to the breast. Nature will do the rest for you. By letting your baby suckle, you trigger the process of milk production and send your body a signal about how much to produce.

Instructions

Take it easy. This is perhaps the most important thing a nursing mother needs to do. Milk production is influenced by a hormone that is very sensitive to stress and anxiety. Any negative emotions can lead to a decrease in the amount of milk and even its complete loss.

Start breastfeeding as early as possible. It is best to attach the baby to the breast immediately after delivery. At this moment, the mother's body is very sensitive, therefore, doctors recommend immediately after birth to provide continuous contact between the mother and the baby "skin to skin" for at least 2 hours, which will give appropriate signals for milk production. As a rule, during this time, the newborn himself begins to look for the breast. If it doesn't, you can carefully direct it. If early attachment is not practiced in your maternity hospital, although this is stipulated by the order of the Ministry of Health, do not worry, you still have a chance to establish breastfeeding.

Remember that the mother produces colostrum for the first 2-5 days after giving birth. At first glance, it may seem that there is not enough of it, and the inexperienced, fearing that the child is malnourished, begin to feed the child with formula. It is absolutely impossible to do this. Colostrum is very nutritious, so it is enough for. It is at this stage that the most important foundation for subsequent breastfeeding is laid. The frequency and duration of applications depends on the amount of milk produced after its arrival.

Latch your baby to the breast correctly. If you feel discomfort, pain, you are definitely doing something wrong. The baby should fully capture the nipple and the nipple. At this stage, stock up special creams for the treatment of cracked nipples. They will relieve pain and allow sores. Don't worry, most mothers go through this. Ask a consultant at the maternity hospital to help you with lactation, or call a breastfeeding specialist at home.

Remove the bottle. If sucking hurts you because of cracked nipples but you want to keep breastfeeding then pump and spoon milk or measuring cup until everything heals. The milk or formula is much lighter through the nipples on the bottles, i.e. the child does not need to make any effort to eat. As a result, he may subsequently simply refuse to breastfeed.

Do not supplement with formula. The main stimulus for milk production is sucking. The more often and more the baby sucks, the more milk will be produced. By feeding a baby with a formula, you break this rule, because the baby will already require smaller breasts... To fix the problem, simply make sure you feed yourself as often as possible. Apply the child on demand, establish a joint sleep.

The hormone prolactin peaks at night, so night feeds are very important in establishing breastfeeding. If the newborn is asleep at this time, then wake up and express. Drink a glass before or during pumping to make pumping easier. warm drink(water, tea, milk). Also helps a lot warm shower and rubbing the breast with a washcloth.

Observe the rule: "One feeding -". It is best to divide the day into 3 hour intervals, determining the sequence of breast changes. For example, if you fed at 9 o'clock in the morning, then in all subsequent feedings until 12 o'clock in the afternoon, give it the same and only after 12 put the baby on the right one.

Do not seek to increase milk supply without good reason... If it produces more milk than the child is able to drink, then this can lead to lactostasis. To determine if the newborn is eating, count the pee-pies. In the first months, the baby should have 12 or more urinations.

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The crying of an infant is piercing, loud, it is almost impossible to endure it calmly - and this is not accidental. After all, the cry - the only way the baby to signal to others that something does not suit him.

Newborn babies don't cry for no reason. They cannot, contrary to popular belief, simply "be capricious." If a child cries, then some of his basic needs are not satisfied, without which his further normal existence and development is impossible. The child will scream until the problem he is facing is resolved, therefore, in order for the screaming to stop, it is necessary to find its cause and try to eliminate it.

There are not so few reasons for screaming. Here are the most common ones.

Wants to eat

A newborn baby is growing rapidly, so it needs food every 2 - 2.5 hours. But the problem is that a child cannot satisfy hunger on his own, so he notifies adults with a loud cry that he is hungry, while smacking his lips and making sucking movements with his mouth. Having received food, the hungry baby immediately calms down.

Stomach colic

The digestion process in the first 2-3 months of life is only getting better, and gastrointestinal tract not yet fully formed. Therefore, at this age, the baby is often tormented by colic. In this case, the child screams loudly, most often some time after feeding or even during it.

To relieve suffering, it is imperative to ensure that after feeding the baby spits up, releasing excess food and air. You can massage around the navel, put a warm diaper on the tummy, and bring the baby's legs to the belly. Be sure to lay the baby on the tummy from the first weeks of life.

Discomfort under a diaper or clothing

Some babies react violently to a wet diaper, and this is natural: the skin is too thin and delicate, and the effect on it of urine, feces, is simply disturbed temperature regime and high humidity causes irritation (so-called ""). It is clear that the child does not enjoy this, and he reacts by screaming. For the same reason, a baby can be anxious in uncomfortable clothes: even the smallest fold can cause him suffering.

Fatigue

The nervous system of not only a newborn, but also an older child is still very imperfect: the processes of excitation in it prevail over the processes of inhibition, therefore, if the baby is overworked, it is difficult for him to calm down and fall asleep on his own. In this case, he begins to be capricious, cry, can behave even more noisy and active than usual, getting even more tired. The child needs help to calm down.

You can try to turn off the light, remove extraneous noise, shake the baby in your arms. Surprisingly, many children fall asleep to the so-called "white noise" that occurs when a hair dryer, vacuum cleaner and other uniformly humming electrical appliances are in operation. Some toddlers quickly calm down in moving vehicles.

Heat or cold

Thermoregulation of the newborn is still imperfect, so he experiences severe discomfort when the ambient temperature is too high or too low. Heat is especially dangerous: the baby may have a fever, his skin turns red, and he begins to cry loudly. At the same time, the newborn tolerates cool air quite firmly. Do not wrap your baby up unnecessarily to avoid overheating, but drafts can be dangerous for him.

The need for communication

A newborn baby needs companionship even more than an adult. Direct skin-to-skin contact, gentle intonations of my mother’s voice, the warmth of her body give him a sense of peace and security, and this necessary condition for normal mental development baby on early stages life.

It has been noticed that babies who, by the will of fate, ended up in an institution immediately after birth, very quickly stop crying: they feel that their need for communication cannot be satisfied, and stop signaling that they need protection and care.

Studies have shown that this type of trauma leads to malformations with age. emotional sphere a child, and its consequences are not amenable to correction and leave a mark on the human psyche for life. So don't be afraid once again take the baby in your arms and give him the feeling of peace and security that he needs so badly.

Babies born ahead of time or with any pathologies, they grow more slowly and gain body weight. To help the child gain weight, the mother must find out the reasons for the underweight.

No one can doubt the benefits anymore breast feeding... The World Health Organization encourages exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age and continued breastfeeding for 2 years or more. Nevertheless, many women still continue to doubt their own ability to breastfeed their baby. This is due to the old Soviet stereotypes about the feeding regime, the timing of the introduction of complementary foods and the amount of breast milk, necessary for babies one feeding every month of life.

Meanwhile, one should not forget that each child develops individually and his needs for food may not coincide with the recommended regime norms prescribed in "smart books".

This article is about how to understand your baby and be calm that the baby is eating breast milk.

How to determine the amount of milk required for a baby

When the baby is artificial, then he is offered a certain amount of the mixture at regular intervals. The recommended amount of formula is calculated according to the age and weight of the child. On average, up to 6 months, a newborn needs such a volume of nutrition, which is equal to 1/6 of its body weight. This rule applies to both formula and breastfeeding. But one child simply will not eat so much, and the other will not drink even half of his portion. So it is with breastfeeding.

It turns out that there are norms, but not all children fulfill them. It is almost impossible to accurately determine the amount of breast milk that a newborn will need per feeding. It is only known that different children drink from 700 to 1200 ml per day. Moreover, the daily volume of milk both at the 2nd and at the 5th month may not differ much, but the baby's weight will still increase. This is because the composition breast milk changes every day to meet the individual needs of the growing baby.

Weighing your baby before and after feeding is an objective way to monitor effective breastfeeding

How to determine the amount of milk drunk by a baby

If a nursing mother is haunted by the question of how much milk her baby is getting, she can spend check weighing... To do this, just before feeding, the baby is weighed on a special electronic baby scale. It is then fed and re-weighed. The difference in weight will reflect the amount of food eaten.

Important! The newborn must be dressed in the same clothes before and after feeding, otherwise the result will be unreliable.

In one feeding, the baby can suck out 50 ml of milk, in the other - 150 ml. This is quite normal, but only if the baby is fed on demand at intervals of 2 to 3 hours and is not supplemented with any other liquid.

Summing up the numbers of all feedings per day, we get daily amount milk drunk by a child, which is equal to 700 - 1200 ml.

How to know if your baby is getting enough milk

In order to determine whether the baby has enough breast milk, it is necessary to completely abandon disposable diapers for one day. This is done so that the mother can control the amount of urination of the baby. Children who are exclusively breastfed and not supplemented with any other liquid, from 2 weeks to 6 months of age, should urinate at least 12 times a day. This is the most main indicator the fact that the baby has enough milk.

But there are also other criteria by which you can find out that the baby is receiving breast milk in sufficient quantities:

1. The periods of sleep, wakefulness, and play far exceed the periods of crying.
2. The baby's skin is pink and firm.
3. The skin near the fontanel does not drain.
4. The baby's eyes are shiny, tears come out during crying.
5. Weight gain of at least 125 - 150 g per week.
6. At least 12 urinations per day.

If all these indicators are positive, then the baby is certainly eating up mother's milk.

The main criterion for sufficient feeding of the baby is a normal monthly weight gain.

Signs of not having enough breast milk

When a baby does not have enough breast milk, he does not gain weight and behaves restlessly. In addition, the mother may notice that the baby comes off the breast with a cry during feeding, and then picks it up again. The situation can be repeated several times. This behavior of the child can be triggered by colic or poor milk flow, and not a lack of it, so it is necessary to find true reason anxiety toddler.

Sufficiency or lack of milk will be indicated by the number of urinations performed by babies. This is perhaps the most important criterion to pay attention to. But stool frequency has nothing to do with the amount of milk.

If the child has frequent crying without tears and a sunken fontanelle, then an urgent need to consult a doctor, as this may be one of the signs of dehydration.

In conclusion, I want to reassure young mothers. Women who really cannot provide their baby with breast milk are only 2%. It is clear that a mother who loves her baby will be constantly concerned about his nutrition and health. Fearing that the baby is malnourished, doubting the amount of breast milk is a problem for all nursing mothers without exception. To overcome these problems, you need to be confident in your abilities, take care of your health and nutrition, good rest sharing a dream with a child. And our advice will help you to correctly understand and solve any problem.

"Is my baby getting enough milk?" - a question that worries so many mothers. Pediatricians with weight gain charts, grandmothers with their memories, girlfriends with the most different experiences- everyone is interested in the weight and behavior of the baby, and now the mother begins to worry ...

Exact sign

Reliably speaks of whether there is enough milk or not, only one sign: good weight gain. According to the standards The World Organization Health, babies should add from 125 g per week for the first few months of life. Note that the increase in the newborn in the first month is calculated not from the body weight at birth, but from the minimum weight, because in the first few days of life, the baby often loses up to 10% of the weight with which it was born. This phenomenon is absolutely normal, but the lost 200-300 g, too, do not return by themselves, but due to mother's milk!

When calculating allowances, it is usually not necessary to weigh the child more often than once a week. And the "control feeding", which the doctors of the "old Soviet school" loved so much, do not give any idea about the amount of milk in the mother at all - on the contrary, too frequent weighing makes both mother and baby nervous, already because of the weighing itself, the child can suck less, and the mother's milk is worse. It is quite enough to do this once a week, at about the same time, and you need to weigh the baby naked or in a freshly put on dry diaper (a thoroughly soaked diaper or diaper can pull 250 grams).

Well, in order for the mother to be able to navigate the situation on a daily basis, you can conduct a "wet diaper test", that is, calculate how many times the baby pees. For a child over a week of the kind whoreceives exclusively her mother's breast, without supplementing and feeding with anything, the number of "peeps" less than 8 times a day can make you think about insufficient milk intake.If the number of urinations per day is 8 or more, then there is enough milk for the child, although, most likely, it makes sense to offer breast more often. Well, when the baby urinates 12 or more times, then, as a rule, this indicates that there is a very good weight gain and, accordingly, there is no need to worry about the amount of milk!

Invalid signs

And yet, most mothers begin to worry about a lack of milk, not focusing on the baby's increase. A study conducted by Russian doctors in Astrakhan (A.A. Dzhumagaziev et al., 2004) showed that the most common reason the beginning of the use of formula - 50% of all cases - mothers considered "lack of milk". However, an in-depth analysis found that this "diagnosis" was justified in only 2.4% of cases. Usually mothers mistake the following for signs of milk shortage ...

Mom stops feeling hot flashes ... Most mothers (although not all) experience a rapid and strong breast filling with milk only in the first few weeks after childbirth, when the new hormonal status of the body has not yet been established. At this time, milk arrives abruptly and in large quantities at once, and after the so-called establishment of lactation, the body adapts to the needs of the child, and milk begins to arrive little by little, but constantly. As a result of the establishment of lactation, the breast seems smaller and softer than it was very recently, but this is not due to changes in the amount of milk produced, but simply due to the absence of previous sharp flushes! The very feeling “my breast is fat is soft and seems empty” does not say anything about the amount of milk - while the baby sucks and swallows, there is milk in the breast, even if it seems to you that it’s not so: it’s not about milk at all, you just have lactation.

Mom can express quite a bit ... The breast is not a bottle, it does not show exactly how much milk the baby has sucked. Some moms, worrying about it, try to express milk just to figure out how much there is. But the amount that can be expressed, even if it is one tablespoon, does not mean anything. Breast pumps are different, many models simply do not work well enough in principle or with some peculiarities of the breast; but you need to be able to effectively express manually. And the most important thing: no breast pump and no hands by themselves can draw milk as well as a correctly attached baby can suck it! The breast and the baby are originally intended for each other, everything else remains an imitation.

The baby often asks for a breast and sucks for a long time . There is no one-size-fits-all rule for how often or for how long a baby should feed. The child asks his mother to give him the breast, whenever he is worried about something! This "something" may be hunger, but hunger is not the only one, or even main reason for the anxiety of the baby. The baby can remember the stress of the childbirth, he can be bothered by pain in the tummy, or the head can hurt against the background of drops atmospheric pressure and changing weather. And since mother's breast is the quietest and most comfortable place in the world, in all these cases the child will start giving signs that he wants to suck: he turns his head from side to side, pulls his hands to his mouth, opens his mouth, even smacks his lips ... as much as he needs to calm down. When the discomfort is small, then a couple of minutes may be enough, during which the child will suck out only 5-10 ml, which is necessary simply to achieve comfort and to get the feeling that he is loved by his mother and the mother accepts him. And at other times, the baby may be at the breast for a very long time; many babies love to sleep under their breasts, sucking, and this is completely natural for a baby! If the child is constantly "hanging" on the breast, this also speaks not so much about the amount of milk (everything can be fine with him!) But about the quality of attachment. Unfortunately, when shallow or improper attachment it takes much longer for the baby to receive the portion of milk necessary for saturation, although there may be enough of it in the breast. In cases where the baby sucks for a long time, and often - for example, themselvesfeeding durationabout an hour with breaks, also about an hour, and so constantly - it is necessary that the situation be assessed by an experienced breastfeeding consultant, since it is this behavior that often speaks of improper attachment. The result is a decrease in the amount of milk that the baby is able to receive from the breast, even if there is quite enough of it.

Baby screams after feeding ... Sometimes, indeed, the baby can suck for a long time and not gorge on - especially, as we have already said, in the case of not correct attachment to the breast, when it is difficult for the baby to effectively produce milk. But there are many other reasons for this behavior: it may be colic, or teething, or a desire to stay with mom longer, or even get a pacifier if mom often gives it. On the basis of this behavior alone, one cannot conclude that there is a lack of milk!

The baby bends at the chest ... But this feature of behavior is usually associated with the flow of milk. Newborns often do this because of the high flow of milk that they cannot handle. And in older babies, "arching" most often means that the milk flow is weakening, and the baby would like a more active flow. In the first weeks of life, babies in such cases simply fall asleep at the breast, but a few months later - especially if there is an experience of sucking a pacifier or a bottle - the baby begins to express his dissatisfaction with the "arching" or scandals. The amount of milk has not changed, the baby has changed!

What to do?

But suppose my mother received strong confirmation of her opinion about the lack of milk. What to do if it really is less than the baby needs? Do not rush to feed with mixtures! Lactation is a hormone-dependent process. The hormone prolactin, which is responsible for the amount of milk, is produced in response to breast stimulation. This means that the amount of milk can change either less or more depending on your baby's sucking. And in order for the child to have enough milk, by and large, it is enough to observe only four principles (they are arranged in order of importance):

Latch your baby correctly to the breast . This is important not only for the child, but also for the mother, since if the baby is incorrectly applied, it can damage the breast (which is why cracks appear). Feeding with improper attachment is often ineffective: the baby does not receive enough milk, although it can suck a lot and for a long time. The correct attachment is affected by the use of a pacifier and a bottle, since the very principle of sucking the nipple and breast is different! Whatever "orthodontic" shape the nipple has, nothing can change that simple fact that in order to suck on the breast, the child needs to open his mouth wide and actively work with the lower jaw (this is the only way milk is extracted from the breast), and to suck on the nipple, it is enough to slightly open his mouth and make suction movements with his cheeks. And the feeling of a soft mother's breast is very different from a hard silicone nipple, which suggests a different degree of impact. Very often, a child who is accustomed to sucking on the nipple begins to pick up the breast incorrectly and suck it badly! Therefore, if the baby needs to be given medicine or supplementation, it is better to do it from a cup, spoon, pipette or other supplementary feeding devices, in addition to a bottle nipple; video about different ways supplementary food, in addition to the nipple, you can see .

To attach your baby to your chest well, try doing this. Press the baby firmly with your tummy towards you so that the nipple is approximately at the level of the nose. Support the chest with your hand so that the thumb is on top, and the index and the rest are on the bottom, parallel to the lower lip of the child. Forefinger should be far from the nipple, not closer than 5 centimeters, so it will not restrict the baby's opening mouth. Wait for the baby to open his mouth wide and point the nipple up into the sky. The nipple and areola should be deep in the mouth, larger below than above. The lower and upper jaws are turned outward during sucking. The baby's head is directed upward when feeding, the chin is pressed against the mother's breast, and the nose either touches it with its very tip, or is completely free. Very detailed animated videos on correct attachment can be viewed , and the video of correct attachment - .

A well-attached baby sucks quite large volumes of milk during feeding. And this also applies to cases when the baby fell asleep under the breast - children have a unique ability to eat well in their sleep! You can be convinced of this if you follow the characteristic way of sucking a baby who receives milk (and not just keeps her mother's breast in her mouth): when the baby's mouth opens as much as possible, then before his jaws move again, the baby's chin is delayed. Such "hanging" of the chin means a sip of milk. You can also notice this by the swallowing movement of the neck, but in some feeding positions it is difficult for mom to follow the neck, but it is quite simple to track the pause between the sucking movements. a good selection of videos about attachment and supplementary feeding options, where you can just look at the features of good and not very good attachment.

Some mothers believe that such pauses indicate that the milk in this breast has already ended. Just the opposite! A child who sucked at the breast with pauses of 15-20 minutes may be very full at the end of feeding, but if the baby just sucked without swallowing, then two hours may not be enough for him to eat.

Feed your baby on demand. The main advantage of feeding on demand, which a mother can never be sure of when feeding her baby on a schedule, is the knowledge that the baby is really and that he is in a state of greatest psychological comfort, which is now available to him. The same baby can suck at completely different frequencies in different time their life, because children grow up unevenly, and their life circumstances are different. At any time, the baby may unexpectedly demand more frequent feeding for several days, which will accordingly increase the amount of milk. Children are great at regulating their needs if you allow them to control the situation on their own. Of course, demand-feeding assumes that the mother is breastfeeding, and nothing but the breast (no nipples, water, or other fluids)!

An important point - on-demand feeding can also mean the mother's demand. The mother does not have to wait every time for the baby to show interest in feeding; she can offer the breast on her own initiative. For example, the baby is awake and does not apply for 3-4 hours, and the mother's breast is already overflowing with milk. Or mom needs to go somewhere, but before going out she wants to feed the child. Or the mother has milk stagnation, and she needs the baby's help to dissolve the lump. Finally, if the "wet diaper test" shows the result from 8 to 12 times a day, then the mother should sometimes offer the breast herself, so that the baby gets more milk.

Feed at night ... The hormone prolactin is a "night" hormone: stimulation of the mother's breast from 3 to 8 am causes its maximum production. Therefore, at night the baby eats and "regulates" the amount of milk from the mother. Usually healthy child, who is not worried about anything, in the interval from 3 to 8 in the morning he wakes up two or three times to kiss his mother's breast. A mother who underfeeds her baby at night usually quickly notices that by the evening there is not enough milk ... In emergencies, when the baby himself does not wake up his mother for night feedings, you literally have to set an alarm to "save the milk." Sleeping with a baby or sleeping in a crib as close as possible to the parent's helped many mothers to cope not only with their sleep deprivation at night, but also with the problem of lack of milk.

Relax well ... If milk production itself is associated with the hormone prolactin, then its release is with the hormone oxytocin. When a mom is in a constant state of anxiety, the oxytocin response is suppressed by stress hormones. This means that there may even be a lot of milk, but it is poorly excreted from the breast; it is this condition that is usually called "milk has disappeared from the nerves." In fact, it does not "disappear", but in a nervous mother it is much more difficult for a baby to suck it out. Therefore, it is important for a nursing mother to be able to relax during feeding, get enough sleep and be less nervous!

These four principles play the main role in maintaining lactation. If at least one of them is not observed, problems may arise with the amount of milk. There are many "folk" ways to maintain milk production, but most of them have no basis at all, and the rest will give very little effect without observing the basic principles. But you can use them as auxiliary ones.

Pumping can be used to gradually replace formula supplements with breast milk. In this case, the mother expresses her breasts several times a day (in addition to feeding, if she is with the baby, or instead of feeding, if they are separated), stimulating the breast for additional milk production, etc.

It will be great if, if necessary, feeding it is given to the crumbs throughbreast feeding system- it is a container where supplementary food is poured, and from where two maximally thin capillaries depart, one of which is inserted into the baby's mouth to ensure a constant supply of food during breastfeeding. Even if the breast is completely empty, when using such a system, the baby will receive nutrition during sucking - and, unlike other feeding methods, this one allows not only feeding the baby, but also stimulating the breast to increase the production of its own milk! In the videos referenced above, you can look at feeding using such a system.

Skin-to-skin contact , that is, frequent wearing on hands or in a sling, and laying out the crumbs on your stomach stimulates both lactation, and good development baby. This is especially useful if the baby is restless under the breast.

Lactogonic agents on different mothers have different effects. Western doctors and consultants believe efficient use herbs and seeds of fenugreek (also known as shambhala and fenugreek) - you can usually buy it in the spice departments; By the way, fenugreek is a part of many mixtures sold under the name "curry", its content in such a mixture can reach 20%. ... But in general the recipeswhich are very popular among the people, are not effective for everyone - and sometimes, unfortunately, they also cause an allergic reaction in the baby. And, in particular, such a popular remedy as hot tea, activates the flow of milk, but does not in any way increase its total amount.

The main thing to remember: if the mother wants, any problem is solved. Breastfeeding counselors help to breastfeed even babies who are not receiving breast milk or are receiving very little of it. Just feel free to ask for advice!

author , photos were used in the design of the article Olga Ermolaeva