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Pediatricians love to scare young mothers. A woman must have eaten something harmful if the child has reddened cheeks or a swelling has appeared. Is the baby slowly growing and gaining weight? Blame the mother who feeds the baby badly. After such a remark, a parent begins to panic. And suddenly the newborn is suffering from the constant feeling of hunger? How to understand that a baby gets enough milk or is undernourished?
Wet method
A healthy and well-fed baby urinates 8 to 12 times a day. Discharge should be transparent, similar to water, without a sharp unpleasant odor. At one time, the body of the newborn releases about 30 ml of urine, and in a day from 250 to 300 ml.
Mothers who are afraid that the child is undernourished are recommended to collect wet diapers. Pampers with urine folded in a plastic bag so that the liquid does not evaporate.At the end of the day, when the baby falls asleep, the diapers are counted and then weighed. If they are 300 g heavier, then the baby has enough milk.
Diapers or gauze panties are used instead of diapers. A woman spends one day and devotes his observations of the newborn. Mom refuses diapers for a day. Instead, he puts on child-made diapers from a diaper or a piece of cloth and changes them immediately after getting wet. If you had to change the baby at least 10 times a day, there is no reason for excitement.
Doubting moms are advised to carefully examine the feces of the baby. Newborns that are less than a month, defecate 4-5 times a day or after each feeding. Children's faeces are watery, similar in consistency to mucus. In the first week or two they are dark, then turn light brown or cream. In the feces of a newborn, lumps or grainy inclusions may appear that are considered normal.
When a baby turns 1–1.5 months old, its intestines begin to rebuild. Some babies defecate only 2-3 times a day. Mom should be worried if the baby’s feces become hard, and during bowel movements the baby is crying.It is likely that the baby receives little milk, which is why the work of the digestive organs is disturbed, and constipation has arisen.
The green shade of faeces indicates a lack of "back", more fat milk. In order for the child to receive a rich and nutritious food, mom is advised to decant before feeding. Not completely, but only until the moment when the milk of yellow color appears.
Weekly weighing
Young mothers every 2-3 months get an appointment with a pediatrician, where the infant is weighed and measured in height. The doctor calculates how many kilograms the child has gained, and makes conclusions whether he has enough milk or not. This method can also be used at home.
The woman will need scales, whose error does not exceed 5 g. Recommend models with the function of zeroing the packaging.
The baby is weighed before and after feeding. They look at how much milk he ate at one time. Babies from 1 to 3 months should suck from 100-180 ml of mother's breast. The rate for older children is 190–240 ml.
The scales cover the sheet, the weight of the fabric is reset. A child is put on top, records are recorded. After feeding the baby does not change clothes, and again returned to the scales.Fix the second digit and take away from her first. Moms are recommended to draw graphs with curves, to make it easier to follow the portion sizes.
The method gives unreliable indicators if:
- The child at the time of the second weighing was a wet diaper.
- Mom dressed the baby in a different costume or put a rattle in her hands.
- The baby is not attached to the breast on schedule, but on demand.
In the latter case, it is not worth spending time on weighing. Children who get breast on demand, at one time can eat 50 ml of milk or 200. It all depends on the feeling of hunger and mood of the baby. Scales will not help mom determine whether the baby is eating up or not.
More reliable results are obtained by mothers who weigh the children once a week or a month. For seven days, kids recruit 125-130 g. This is the minimum. If more, do not worry. They consider abnormal rates below 95–90 g. They signal that the child does not have enough food, so it is slowly growing.
Too impressionable and nervous moms are advised to get scales once a month. A baby can get sick and collect only 90–100 g per week, and then he will recover, and the body will compensate for everything.The main thing is that during a month the infant's weight should increase by at least 500g. If the indicators are not below the norm, mothers are advised to relax and not listen to pediatricians who abuse her for poor lactation.
Sometimes even weighing is not an indicator. Some babies inherit an asthenic physique from their parents. Against the background of chubby peers, such babies look thin, if not skinny. Slowly gain weight and grow. But moms active and vigorous kids who do not complain about their health, are advised not to worry. Not all children must meet standards.
Observant moms
It is easy to distinguish between “hungry” kids and “fed” ones. Babies who daily eat the daily rate of milk, pink and smooth skin. It is tender to the touch, with a pinkish tinge. Elastic and elastic.
Mom is advised to slightly pinch the child by the arm or leg. Choose a skin area that fits snugly to the bones. For example, forearm. It is not necessary to squeeze your fingers tightly so as not to hurt the baby. Just squeeze for a second and release. If mom felt an interlayer under the skin, and the area quickly smoothed out, and even a red speck was leftthe child is completely healthy and does not need supplements.
To determine that the baby is full, it is possible by other signs:
- The eyes of a newborn are brilliant.
- When a child cries, he produces tears.
- The skin in the area of the fontanel is elastic, no strange "dents" and pits.
Kids after a hearty lunch or breakfast quickly fall asleep. A child who does not satisfy his hunger becomes moody and cries a lot. Tantrums do not always indicate a shortage of milk. Sometimes newborns scream because of stress or lack of attention, fear, or tearful nature.
A hungry child first whimpers or whimpers for 5–7 seconds to attract the attention of the parent. Then he stops for a moment. Mom, coming up to the crib, notices that the baby opens its mouth wide, as if it asks for a breast. Crying resumes literally in a minute and becomes uninterrupted.
The baby, who has little milk, while restlessly turns and wags its arms during feeding, and at the very end begins to jerk its legs.
Cheeks in a well-fed baby become pink. He languidly closes his eyes and immediately begins to doze. Some babies fall asleep during feeding. Normally, if a child has a whitish foam from his mouth after breakfast or dinner. This leaves the excess milk. It is necessary to worry if the baby constantly spits.
Healthy children who do not complain of malnutrition sleep for 2–4 hours and then ask for breast. Night rest lasts longer, but not always. A short sleep that lasts less than 40 minutes indicates a lack of milk, and the restless behavior of a child who is tossing and turning, whimpering or shouting loudly for no apparent reason.
False alarm
Young mothers are suspicious and impressionable. Having been reprimanded by a pediatrician, they are trying to find symptoms in the child that indicate a lack of milk, and wind themselves up even more. But most of the signs are false.
Milk color
Women are recommended to express a glass of milk. The baby gets the wrong and too lean food, if it is translucent with a bluish tinge. In fact, the color of milk does not affect its value. The product produced by the maternal organism, enough vitamins, fats and minerals. The female body knows best how much baby needs calcium, protein and other elements. A bluish tint indicates that the mother has a lot of front diet milk.
Baby can not without breast
No need to panic and blame yourself for all sins. Probably, the child feels comfortable only next to his mother. And feeding is one of the most intimate processes during which endorphins are produced in the children's body. Hormones are responsible for the feeling of joy and happiness, so the kid is not in a hurry to part with a source of good mood.
Infants who are no longer than 1-2 months require a breast up to 20 times per day due to the small volume of the stomach. It contains only 15–30 ml of milk, which after 20 minutes ends up in the intestine. The crumbs have to be applied to my mother's mammary glands, but this does not mean that they do not gorge.
Special Babes
Babies born prematurely are weaker than their peers. They often take five-minute breaks during feeding. Moms should not think that they have little milk. Just crumbs difficult to satisfy hunger in one sitting. So babies need a short rest to catch their breath and gain strength.
In large children are not always "big" appetites. They eat standard 50–180 ml at a time.Infants have enough of the usual portion, you do not need to feed them with mixtures, make them eat vegetable puree or porridge.
No strange sensations
In the first weeks of the body of a nursing woman produces milk under the influence of hormones. The chest in this period strongly swells, lactation is accompanied by unpleasant sensations. Milk is constantly leaking and dripping from the nipples. If these symptoms disappear, then my mother's body has adapted to the needs of the baby. Now there will be as much milk as a baby can eat. And do not think that the child remains hungry.
A young mother is like a first-grader, who has to get a lot of interesting and useful knowledge. She will learn to dress and properly feed the baby. He learns that children are individual, and not all of them meet the standards. Understand that in 95 cases out of 100 malnutrition is a fiction of a disgruntled pediatrician. And most importantly, the child grows healthy and active.
Video: how to determine if the baby has enough milk
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