Breastfed babies can spend a lot of time at the breast. They can finish a feeding and after five minutes, ask to be breastfed again at any time of the day, being especially exhausting at night.
And it is that the breast of mother is not only food. There are many reasons why your baby may ask for your breast so often, and it is not always because of hunger .
The size of your stomach
The first thing we have to know is that the size of your stomach is much smaller than we imagine. On the first day of life it is the size of a cherry and a month the size of an egg, to give you an idea. This is why your stomach fills up quickly and you need to feed more often.
A newborn baby’s stomach is smaller than you might think, so he needs to eat small amounts very often. . . . #childfeeding #feeding #lactation #lactating #newborn #babies #baby #babiesandmore
Hence the importance, among other things, of breastfeeding on demand . As the baby grows, its stomach grows, and so does the demand for food, therefore the volume of milk produced by the mother also increases. It is a perfect machinery that is particularly adapted to the needs of your baby.
Your baby is learning to suckle
Let’s not expect the baby to latch onto the breast perfectly from the first feeding without any prior “rehearsal”. There are babies who do, but others who don’t. It is something new for the baby, which although it does it instinctively, requires a process of getting used to it .
The first few times he may suck a couple of times and fall asleep, and in a few minutes he will ask again. It is a practice that requires a lot of patience until breastfeeding is established.
Helps to induce sleep
When the baby asks for the breast at night it can be especially exhausting for the mother, but it has a reason to be: breast milk helps induce the baby to sleep.
During the night hours, breast milk has a higher content of some nucleotides, DNA components, and a higher content of prolactin, tryptophan and melatonin, which act as sleep inducers , which helps the baby develop healthy sleep rhythms and wakefulness.
Thirsty
In summer, when there are days of high temperatures, your baby may ask for the breast more frequently (and if he does not, it is necessary to offer it more often) to avoid dehydration .
The physiological balance of babies is more vulnerable than that of adults. Their metabolism is faster and they are at greater risk of dehydration, since they sweat more and need to replace the water that their body loses
Because you need comfort
Mom’s arms are the safest place for a baby, and sucking provides a sense of comfort. In any stressful situation for the baby, such as waking up at night and seeing himself alone, or feeling afraid, the chest is his place of comfort .
Because it reduces pain
Tetanalgesia, or the relief of breastfeeding, has science-proven effects. In any intervention that may cause pain such as vaccinations or medical procedures, it is recommended that the baby be breastfed. Therefore, any pain that the baby may feel, such as infant colic, will be soothed by putting it to the breast.
Because you have a fever or are sick
During viral or feverish processes, your baby may be more irritable and ask for the breast more often. Nothing comforts him more than your closeness and warm milk, which in addition to providing him with immunity against infections, provides him with proper hydration, which is very necessary if he is sick.
You are going through a breastfeeding slump
Growth crises or lactation bumps are periods in which babies need us to increase our milk production and for this they tend to breastfeed more often. The production of breast milk is regulated, among others, based on demand: the more the baby suckles, the greater the stimulus and the more milk we will produce. In general, the seizures last a few days (less than a week) and afterwards everything returns to normal.
Your baby decides when and how much to drink
It is not something that can be known in advance. Like adults, babies don’t have the same hunger at the same times every day. They are not machines. There are days when you will be hungrier in the morning and others at night, sometimes more and sometimes less. Satiety is decided by your body, so it is likely that sometimes there are days that you need to feed more frequently than others.
As a conclusion : if your baby asks for the breast very often, do not be overwhelmed by thinking that your milk does not feed him. Remember that milk production is regulated by the baby’s suckling, so simply offer the breast on demand and watch for signs that indicate if he is well fed.
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