Is My Baby Hungry?

You might however, like to start becoming familiar with the early signs of stirring for a feed so you can begin to prepare, and curtail the need for such demonstrable crying!

Noticing when he is tossing his head, flickering his eyes open, moving his mouth and lips and beginning to gently splay his fingers. They are all early indicators that he will soon be looking to feed. He will start making noises and dropping back off to sleep briefly, and you will likely hear windy gut noises as his nervous system begins to stir into a wakeful state.

When he is awake and starts turning his head with a rooting action of his mouth or sucking his fists or moving his body towards the breast, he is showing you food-seeking behaviours.

Feeding your baby frequently and flexibly, where varying amounts are taken as the day goes along, is enjoyable and satisfying to your baby. It will also maintain your milk supply. So, if you can't clearly see what your baby is cue-ing for, offer him a feed. It may be anything from a snack that he takes, to a full feed. You are encouraged to respond to what you think your baby is wanting - not what the time on the clock says he should be wanting or can or cannot have yet.

In the newborn period it is a good idea to keep your eye on bubs weight gain, aiming to see around 250 gm of gain each week. His nappies are also a useful indicator as to whether he is getting enough milk. There should be 5 or 6 good wet nappies across a day after the second day of life.