Is my baby getting enough milk?
When your baby is feeding enough, the appearance and quantity of their stools and urine will change. Here are a few signs to help you determine if your newborn is getting enough milk.
Make sure you can tell if your baby is feeding well and getting all the milk they need. Talk to your midwife or a nurse at the hospital or the CLSC in doubt.
Urine
Urine is darker and more concentrated over the first 2 or 3 days. Your baby may also have orange stains (urate crystals) in her diaper: this is normal for the first 2 days. In the first week, the number of times your baby pees will increase by one every day:
- Day 1 = 1 time
- Day 2 = 2 times
- Day 3 = 3 times, etc.
After the first week, your baby will pee at least 6 times in 24 hours if they drink enough milk. Each pee generally contains 30 to 45 ml of urine. The urine is clear and odourless.
Stools
Over the first 2 or 3 days of your baby’s life, stools will be dark and sticky; this is called meconium. Digesting milk will bring about a change in stool appearance. Gradually, they will become less sticky and a dark green colour. If your baby is drinking enough; there will be no meconium at all left in their digestive system by the fifth day. Stools will be yellow or green if they are drinking breast milk, or greenish beige if they are being fed commercial infant formulas.
If your baby is drinking enough, their stools will be liquid or very soft. They may have 3 to 10 bowel movements per day over the course of the first 4 to 6 weeks. If your baby doesn’t have at least one bowel movement per day, they might not be drinking enough. After 4 to 6 weeks, some babies fed with breast milk will have fewer but very substantial bowel movements even if they are drinking enough (e.g., one bowel movement every 3 to 7 days).
Weight gain
Even if your newborn is drinking enough, they will nonetheless lose a little weight (about 5 to 10% of their birth weight) over the first few days. They will start putting it back on again around the fourth day and will regain their birth weight by around the second week (between 10 and 14 days).
Once your baby regains their birth weight, they should continue to gain weight steadily. That’s a good sign that your baby is drinking enough.
If you think your baby isn’t drinking enough or you’re worried, contact a CLSC nurse, your midwife or your family doctor.
The number of times your baby pees and poops every day is a good way to tell if they are drinking enough.
Signs that your baby is drinking enough
- They are putting on weight.
- They feed well and often (8 times or more per 24 hours for breastfed babies and 6 times or more per 24 hours for formula-fed babies).
- You can see or hear them swallowing.
- They seem full after drinking.
- They pee and poop in sufficient quantities.
- They wake up on their own when hungry.
Signs that your baby is not drinking enough
- They are very drowsy and very difficult to wake for feeding.
- Their urine is dark yellow or there is very little of it.
- There are still orange stains (urate crystals) in their urine after the first two days.
- Their stools still contain meconium (dark, sticky stools) on the 4th or 5th day.
- They have fewer than one bowel movements per 24 hours between the age of 5 days and 4 weeks.