How much breast milk should a new born baby be getting??

Kim - posted on 11/04/2009

My babe was in the NICU and I was told to pump after each feed t okeep my supply high (as your production is based on supply and demand). He was on 60 ml when he came home at one week (although he was 5 weeks early), he went up by 20ml-30ml a week until he hit 120ml which is where he has stayed (he is now 9 weeks). He did the same thing at night and they said it may be because he was to tired to feed long enough to get full. I now pump and feed him bottles at about 1 and 4 instead of nursing (I pump at each of these feeds to make the next nights bottles). This has worked really well for us and I'm happy with it as long as he's still getting my milk.

Shantal - posted on 10/27/2009

every 2 hours

Kylie - posted on 10/27/2009

To work out how much expressed milk they need per feed there is a simple equation.

150 mL x How many Kgs baby weights divided by how many feeds per 24 hours.

Example. 150 x 4kg baby = 600 mLs milk . Divide by 8 feeds (which is average) = 75mLs per feed.

Julie - posted on 10/26/2009

They will let you know when they want to eat. My son did not do well on the breast so I pump and feed. This gives me the opportunity to know exactly how much he is eating and this is what I found and what the lactation nurses told me. He immediately went to 2 and 1/2 ounces then to 3 ounces by the 3rd week. He is a little over 4 weeks and bounces between 3-4 ounces. A baby should gain 1/2 ounce to 1 ounce every day and in order to accomplish this, they need about 18-19 ounces a day (This was for my baby about 8 pounds). This means if you feed every 3 hours the feedings should be about 2.5 ounces. If baby feeds more than 8 times a day, then the feedings can be smaller amounts. Most important though, breast fed babies will feed on demand and let you know when they want to eat. If they eat every 1 hour and 1/2, thats totally fine. You could try supplementing a bottle to allow the feedings to go further apart, but be cautious, this is how I got stuck pumping and bottling (very tiring process) because he had trouble working to get the milk after the bottle offered it so freely!!!

Elizabeth - posted on 10/24/2009

I breastfed both my 3 year old and my 1 month old. You can tel they're getting enough if they are satisfied at the end of every feeding and if they are sufficiently having wet and poopy diapers. You do not need to pump at the end of each feeding. By pumping, you are tricking your body into making more milk than your baby needs, and you can end up getting engorged, or your baby can get flooded by the milk and gag/spit up during the feeding. Your baby is born able to breastfeed smartly, so follow her lead and she will let you know she's doing great.

Lourdes - posted on 10/18/2009

Quoting Naomi:

How much breast milk should a new born baby be getting??

Hey girls..

My daughter is a week old today. i am breast feeding, she sleeps so well during the day, her last feed of a night, then she is restless all through the night.. Iam unsure of how much milk she would be getting. Iam expressing after every feed to see how much is there. Someone did tell me a newborn baby should be having 60mls??

Example: Last night she had a breastfeed, i did express. 80 mls in one and 60mls in the other. 2 hours after feeding her she was still hungry, she had the whole 80mls in the bottle. 2am came and still very unsettled she drank the other 60mls, burped and seemed fine after that and slept until 415am.
Iam guessing 60mls isnt enough for a new born??
If any one can shed some light on this and give me some advice or tell me how much a newborn should be getting, much appreciated
Thanks :)

Naomi - posted on 10/10/2009

60 mls, isnt enough she drinks 100mls every 3 hours during the night. today she drank 90mls then half an house later was was hungry and had a top up of 40mls. same again 3 hours later, then half an hour later.

I still give her a formula feed for her last feed at night.

Mila - posted on 10/07/2009

60 ml is plenty for newborn, the calculation is 2.5 oz of milk/formula per pound (child's weight). Hope this helps!

Naomi - posted on 10/06/2009

thanks for the replies girls it does help alot.

I was told to express becuz it does bring ur milk in??

She sleeps so well during the day, but does wake 3-4 hours for a feed, yeah she falls asleep on the breast all the time. i do give her 1 formula feed of a night just before bed. and she seems to sleep really well :)

Michelle - posted on 10/05/2009

With my current newborn, now 4 weeks old, I did breast feed the first couple of weeks and basically was told to keep track of all feedings, when you start and how long on each side, also was told to keep track of how many bowel movements and wet diapers in a 24 hr period. There should be around 5 BM in a 24 hr period and around 8 wet diapers in a 24 hr period. This usually varies on what resource you are reading but all are about the same. I was also told that a good 15 minutes on each breast, every 3 hrs should be adequate for a new born. However my son at times would go an hr at a time every 3 hrs! It will vary from feeding to feeding and baby to baby.

I do know from experience that if you express between feedings just to express, your milk supply will decrease. My first son had problems latching on so I thought I would pump and then just bottle feed him exclusively. Well after about 2 weeks I could not produce enough milk to satisfy him and wound up going to formula. You need the stimulation of and contact with your baby to continue to produce enough milk.

Hope this helps!

Brittany - posted on 10/04/2009

First of all, awesome that you're trying to breast feed! The first few weeks can be so frustrating in so many different ways, so great job!

Next, if you're expressing after every feed, then your baby isn't draining one (or both) breasts completely, thus, not getting the fat-rich hind milk. I know it's hard with the first because you want to 'check' but that much expressing is going to leave you with more milk than your little one needs (which may be what you want to build a stash for going back to work or such). As long as your baby is having good bowl movements and wetting diapers, then there's no need to worry. Let her eat as much as she wants when you nurse (which means if she wants to nurse for an hour, you nurse for an hour).

Also, it sounds like your baby has her days and nights confused though. Does she have much 'wake' time during the day? Do you let her sleep during the day until she wakes to nurse? With both our kids, I took a few days (two is usually enough) to see their natural rhythm of eating and sleeping, then I would start loosely holding them to that. For example, my daughter would like to eat about every three hours, so if during the day, she'd gone for three and a half hours or more, I'd wake her up to feed. We also try to get a little bit of "awake time" after each feed. That way, they aren't accustomed to falling asleep nursing (for later when they need to soothe themselves to sleep, it's easier if they're already used to not having a boob/bottle to go to sleep). It worked beautifully with our first (she slept through the night at 7 weeks, but she was born large, so we never worried about weight gain) and our son, who is now three weeks, has been sleeping for 6 hours for about a week now during the night. Boy does it make a difference for me and I love the bonding that comes from those wakeful moments when we can make eye contact and such during the day. Hope this helps!

Roxane - posted on 10/03/2009

The lit I have says a breast fed baby should have 2-5 bowel movements & 5-6 wet diapers per day. So the first 2 weeks I kept a log of every diaper I changed until I was confident she was getting enough.

My child never goes longer than 4 hours without feeding though, and most of the time it's more like every 2-3 hours she's on the breast. I have read that some times you have to wake a newborn to eat.

Hope this helps.

Tara - posted on 09/30/2009

My little one started out with about 60 and in a few weeks has worked his way up to about 100. It's all in what your baby needs and if he's eating every 2 hrs then you will start to produce enough to satisfy him longer. It may take up to 2 wks for your body to figure this out mine did and now it's fine. I know it's tiring. Are u expressing everytime

or just to see what the baby is eating? My lactation dept at the hospital says not to pump to feed cause u will actually produce less milk and have to spend slot of time building your supply back up. They say only to pump when you can't breastfeed and you are wanting to store it. Plus you can always have your baby weighed before and after eating, but remember if they have several dirty diapers a day they are getting plenty.