Infant and toddler health (20)
- Language development: Speech milestones for babies
- Vaccines schedule for children
- Car seat safety: Avoid 10 common mistakes
- see all in Infant and toddler health
Newborn health (21)
- Infant development: Birth to 3 months
- Breast milk storage: Tips for storing breast milk
- Newborn care: Common-sense strategies for stressed-out parents
- see all in Newborn health
Infant health (18)
- Teething: Tips for soothing sore gums
- Solid foods: How to get your baby started
- Infant development: Milestones from 7 to 9 months
- see all in Infant health
Toddler health (14)
- Temper tantrums: How to keep the peace
- Parenting tips: How to improve toddler behavior
- Burn safety: Protect your child from burns
- see all in Toddler health
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
continued:
Feeding your newborn: What you need to know
Know when your baby is full
When your baby stops sucking, closes his or her mouth, or turns away from the nipple or bottle, he or she may be full — or simply taking a break. Try burping your baby or waiting a minute before offering your breast or the bottle again. If your baby is ready to end the feeding, he or she will resist more vigorously.
Expect variations in your baby's eating patterns
Your baby won't necessarily eat the same amount every day. During growth spurts — often at 10 to 14 days after birth, as well as between three and six weeks — your baby may take more at each feeding or want to be fed more often. After a few days, the pattern should become more predictable. When your baby begins to drop middle-of-the-night feedings, he or she may want a daytime "catch-up" feeding.
Trust your instincts — and your baby's
You may worry that your newborn isn't eating enough, but babies usually know just how much they need. Don't focus on how much, how often and how regularly your baby eats. Instead, look for contentment between feedings, six to eight wet diapers in 24 hours, alertness, good skin tone and steady weight gain — about 4 to 7 ounces (113 to 198 grams) a week for the first month.
Still, it's important to know the signs of underfeeding. Contact the doctor if your newborn:
- Isn't gaining weight
- Wets fewer than six to eight diapers a day
- Has a change in bowel movement frequency
- Shows little interest in feedings
Get regular well-baby checkups
Your baby's doctor will likely want to weigh your newborn and do a physical exam three to five days after you and your baby leave the hospital. Be sure to keep this and other follow-up appointments so that you and the doctor can track your baby's progress.
Consider each feeding a time to bond with your baby
For babies, feeding is as much a social activity as a nutritional one. Your baby's growth and development are based, in part, on the powerful bond that forms during feedings. Hold your baby close during each feeding. Look him or her in the eye. Speak with a gentle voice. If you're using a bottle, resist the temptation to prop it in your baby's mouth while you do other things. This could lead to choking or tooth decay — and a missed opportunity to build your baby's sense of security, trust and comfort.
Previous page(2 of 2)
- Feeding. The Merck Manuals: Home Edition for Patients and Caregivers. http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec23/ch263/ch263e.html. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- Kovacs CS. Vitamin D in pregnancy and lactation: Maternal, fetal and neonatal outcomes from human and animal studies. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;88:520S.
- Gordon CM, et al. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy infants and toddlers. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 2008;162:505.
- Breastfeeding your baby. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. http://www.acog.org/publications/patient_education/bp029.cfm. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- Heird WC. The feeding of infants and children. In: Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/184081895-2/0/1608/114.html?tocnode=54475504&fromURL=114.html#4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2450-7..50044-X_767. Accessed July 21, 2010.
- Shelov SP, et al. Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5. New York, N.Y.: Bantam; 2009:119.
- How to tell if baby is getting enough milk. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/pages/How-to-Tell-if-Baby-is-Getting-Enough-Milk.aspx. Accessed July 22, 2010.
- The first month: Feeding and nutrition. American Academy of Pediatrics. http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/feeding-nutrition/Pages/The-First-Month-Feeding-and-Nutrition.aspx. Accessed July 22, 2010.
- Morrow AL. Choosing an infant or pediatric formula. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 2004;18:49.
- Kleinman RE. Pediatric Nutrition Handbook. 6th ed. Elk Grove Village, Ill.: American Academy of Pediatrics; 2009:61.
- Hoecker JL (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 26, 2010.
- American Academy of Pediatrics. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2005;115:496.
- Zeratsky KA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 30, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on