Resources for New Moms

Is My baby Getting Enough to Eat?

Q:

In the first month of your baby's life, how many wet diapers should she have each day?

6 or more

Correct!

In the first month of your newborn's life, your baby should wet their diaper 6 or more times a day and have 3 to 4 (often more) bowel movements each day. Keeping track of baby's diapers will help you know that they are getting enough to eat.

3-5

Incorrect!

In the first month of your newborn's life, your baby should wet their diaper 6 or more times a day and have 3 to 4 (often more) bowel movements each day. Keeping track of baby's diapers will help you know that they are getting enough to eat.

Feeding 

Breastfed babies generally eat more frequently than formula-fed babies. Newborns usually nurse on their mothers’ breasts every 2 to 3 hours. As they become older, feeding frequency will decrease as baby’s stomach becomes larger. 

Formula-fed newborns will eat about every 3 to 4 hours during the first few weeks of life. By the end of the first month, formula fed babies will take at least 4 ounces of formula per feeding. At 6 months of age, baby will take 6 to 8 ounces per feeding. 

It’s important to watch and learn when your baby is hungry. These signals are called hunger cues. When baby wants to eat, she may: 

  • Become more awake. 
  • Put her hands or fingers on or in their mouth.
  • Make sucking motions, stick out their tongue.
  • Smack their lips.
  • Kick or squirm.
  • Begin rooting (moving jaw and mouth or head in search of your breast).

If baby begins crying, this is usually a late signal that they want to eat. If your baby is getting enough food, she appears satisfied for a couple of hours after each feeding. 

Baby’s weight gain

  • Baby should gain about 1 1⁄2 to 2 pounds each month, and grow about 1 to 1 1⁄2 inches between the age of one and four months. 
  • Baby will gain 1 to 1 1⁄2 pounds per month and grow about 2 to 3 inches between four and seven months. 
  • By 8 months, the average boy will weigh between 14 1⁄2 and 17 1⁄2 pounds, while girls will  weigh about 14 and 17 pounds. 
  • At one year of age, the typical child weighs about 3 times their birth weight.
     

Breastfed babies tend to be chubbier than formula-fed babies during the first 4 to 6 months of life. Breastfed babies usually become leaner than formula-fed babies sometime between 9 months and the age of one year. 

If your baby always seems hungry or doesn’t have the appetite that you think they should, talk to your baby’s provider.