How to Tell if Your Breastfed Baby is Getting Enough Milk

By: Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, RD, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC

Nearly all new parents worry about whether their babies are properly nourished. If you're breastfeeding, you can't measure exactly how much milk your newborn is taking. However, there are other ways to tell if your baby is getting enough to eat.

Here are a half dozen signs of a well-fed newborn that can put your mind to ease.

How fast babies gain weight, how many wet and dirty diapers they have, and how long they seem satisfied after nursing are good clues.

Lose no more than 8%-10% of their birth weight in the first few days after birth, before starting to gain weight again.

Have 1 or 2 bowel movements per day on days 1 and 2, with blackish, tarry stools; then, at least two stools that are beginning to appear greenish to yellow on days 3 and 4.

By 5 to 7 days old, your baby's stools should be yellow and loose, with small curds. They should have at least 3 to 4 of these per day. When your breast milk production increases, your baby will often produce stool with each feeding for the first month of life.

Have 6 or more wet diapers per day, with nearly colorless or pale yellow urine, by 5 to 7 days old.

Seem satisfied and happy for an average of 1 to 3 hours between feedings.

Nurse at least 8 to 12 times every 24 hours.

Schedule your newborn's first checkup with the pediatrician or family physician no more than 48 hours after hospital discharge. The weight check at that visit will help to know if your baby is getting enough milk from feedings.

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Joan Younger Meek, MD, MS, RD, FAAP, FABM, IBCLC, is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the Florida State University College of Medicine and a past chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Breastfeeding. Dr. Meek is author of the AAP book, New Mother's Guide to Breastfeeding, 4th Edition.