Baby hunger cues

It’s always easiest to latch a baby showing early hunger cues. Crying is a late indicator of hunger. But not all crying means the baby in hungry. Newborns will eat every 1, 2, or 3 hours. Some times when they’re in a growth spurt it will feel like they’re feeding all the time. They are not born with clocks, and they certainly can’t tell time. They are listening to their body and reacting to hunger. Watching the clock to indicate when they are hungry often delays feeding the baby in the early hungry stage. Swaddling the baby can often make you miss subtle early hunger cues which can include:
🤱🏻Smacking or licking lips
🤱🏽Opening and closing mouth
🤱🏿Sucking on lips, tongue, hands, fingers, toes, toys, or clothing
Now is the time to get ready to feed the baby. Active hunger cues include:
🤱🏽Rooting around with their face and mouth of whoever is carrying them to try to find a breast
🤱🏼Trying to position for nursing, trying to lay back or pulling on your clothes
🤱🏽Fidgeting or squirming around a lot
🤱🏻Hitting you on the arm or chest with their body or arms/hands
🤱🏿Starting to fuss or make noises
🤱🏽Increased/rapid breathing
The most important thing to focus on is how many times each day baby nurses. Newborns will feed AT LEAST 8 times as the MINIMUM. Which is at least every 3 hours. But MANY are feeding more like 12-16 times, which is much sooner! And the spacing between feedings isn’t the same each time. It could be 47 minutes, then 92 minutes, then 23 minutes, then 105 minutes. These are tiny humans and not robots. Feed the baby whenever the baby is indicating they are hungry. Trust your body to make the milk your baby needs. And if you have any questions or concerns, find and work with an IBCLC lactation consultant.
#newborn #hungercues #hungrybaby #hungrybabies #hungrygirl #breastfeedingnewborn #breastfednewborn #newbaby #newbirth

[@Itsindy_]

Since you post often I wanted to ask a question. My baby has been in nicu on her second week. First, she had slight jaundice and was under the blue light and that went away pretty fast but now our problem is, she isn’t eating enough and doing all her feedings so they put tube on her. 😢
I CAN’T breast feed because I’m on medications. I think she’s just a few weeks early and has to catch up. Everyday she takes more. Do you know and tips or secrets I can try to make it more enjoyable (before they took her away.) I would just take my shirt off and do skin to skin with her head near my breast and put the bottle there and she was happy, relaxed and drinking fine.
I just feel so quilty. All this waiting is driving me crazy with separation anxiety and now my fiancé turned into a different person from the stress and our relationship ruined right now.
Sorry for the story just desperate for advice. They’re not very helpful.

[@lalactation]

Please consider a private consultation. You can email [e-mail] to set one up. Most medications are safe to take while breastfeeding so make sure you’re getting accurate information about yours. Skin to skin contact is usually a priority in most NICU unless baby is extremely fragile. But even then most will attempt it because of all the benefits to baby