The time has finally come! Nine months (or more like ten!) of waiting and your baby has arrived.
Now comes all of the joy, pain, and wonder of those first few magical weeks of motherhood.
If you have decided to breastfeed, go ahead and congratulate yourself.
You've chosen the best possible nutrition for your baby! While breastfeeding can be incredibly rewarding, it can also be difficult, if you're not armed with good information.
One question I'm often asked is, " How often should I breastfeed my baby?" If you're stumped on this issue, read on.
I'll discuss how often you to feed your baby, as well as, supply and demand.
Developing a healthy and successful breastfeeding relationship begins with the very first feeding.
Don't worry about adhering to a feeding schedule, especially with a newborn.
You should rely on your baby to give you hunger cues such as whimpering, restlessness and rooting.
Feed your baby when you notice these subtle signs of hunger.
Don't wait until your baby is crying excessively to feed.
This is a late sign of hunger and means that your baby has probably been hungry for awhile.
In the beginning, making sure your baby is properly latched onto the breast is very important to prevent sore nipples.
Proper latching is best accomplished when your baby first exhibits signs of hunger and is still calm.
Watching for your baby's hunger cues rather than watching the clock is called feeding on demand and is the feeding method recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
You should also be aware that babies experience growth spurts.
Growth spurts usually occur at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 4 months, and 6 months of age.
Extra calories are required to fuel your baby's increasing metabolism during these times of accelerated growth.
So, during these times, expect to feed as often as every hour to every hour and a half.
If you get discouraged during times of feeding marathons, just know that your dedication to breastfeeding your baby is what's making them grow so robustly, and meet all those first-year milestones! The last thing I want to mention is supply and demand in regards to milk supply.
To put it simply, every time you breastfeed, you are regulating your milk supply.
By feeding your baby on demand, you're allowing your baby to decide how much milk his body needs to meet his caloric needs.
When you feed on a schedule that you set rather than watching your baby for signs of hunger, your milk supply won't increase to meet your baby's growing needs and, eventually, your milk supply will diminish.
In other words, your body will make as much milk as your baby eats.
So, how often should you breastfeed your baby? Well, if your baby ate 2 hours ago, and you're pretty sure she can't be hungry already, offer her the breast.
If you just fed your baby and he's still crying and you know he can't be hungry already, offer him the breast.
To give you an idea of how often your baby may eat, I'll tell you how it went for me.
My babies always ate about every three hours.
During growth spurts, they ate every hour for about two days.
This wasn't a schedule that I set.
I watched my babies from birth and always offered the breasts first if I even thought they may be hungry.
Pretty soon, my babies had put themselves on a schedule and I never had an issue with low milk supply.
To sum it up, learn your baby and listen to yourself.
Become an expert on your baby's behavior and you'll never have to ask, "How often should I feed my baby?"