4: How Much to Feed Your Baby
When it comes to how much a newborn baby should eat, I have heard a wide range of recommendations from 1 to upwards of 5 ounces for bottles, and a standard recommendation for breastfeeding of 15 minutes on each side exactly. But these guidelines can provide a distraction to focus on the numbers rather than your baby's cues.
I think it helps to know how small a baby's stomach is when they're born and to have some general guidelines that redirect you to follow your baby's cues instead of just the numbers. So that's what we're going to discuss today.
When a baby is born, their stomach is about the size of a quarter. Yes, a quarter. For you 3D people, that's a cherry. For those who like real volumes, that's about one to two teaspoons. Now, it does have some stretch room, and of course, it will be growing quickly. But consider this: in the first few days, a mother's breasts are providing very low volumes of colostrum. High calorie and nutrient dense, but low volume. Just the right size for that newborn stomach. And what about for our bottle babes? Well, if formula is your jam, consider this: even though volume to volume, colostrum and formula do not have the exact same perfect ratio of calories, your newborn still has a tiny stomach. Which will need the same gentle, slow, and gradual approach to growing and tolerating more volume.
Okay, so if you were like, yes newborns are tiny, their bellies are tiny, what do we do if sometimes well-meaning advice about how much to feed your baby is garbage? Well, you're going to offer an amount, and then instead of watching the clock or the lines on the bottle, you're going to watch your baby. Now, this can be hard for those of us who are type A or trackers. I am totally in this camp, by the way, but just try your best.
Here are some examples. At the breast, you can certainly offer 15 minutes alternating sides, but don't worry if the perfect 15 minute interval on each side doesn't happen. Sometimes babies want it all. Sometimes it's a snack, or they need to cluster feed.
My point here is that if you do your best to follow your baby's cues and end the day with generally the same amount of feeding on each breast, you'll be the least lopsided and your baby will have what they need. Following their cues mean you're not trying to stretch them to go three hours between feeds if they're hungry or thirsty sooner, say at two or two and a half hours after the start of the last feed.
And the same thing goes for my bottle babies. Except instead of a timer, we're going to not get stuck on the volume or the number on the bottle. Is it okay to track? Sure, of course, your pediatrician is going to ask you how much they eat anyway. But you can still follow their cues. For example, after a baby is born, you offer them a two ounce bottle. You give them burp breaks whenever they get wiggly, and when they slow down, stop sucking, or get sleepy and super relaxed, simply let them be done. We don't force them to finish the bottle, and we don't make them wait that full three hours just because that's what's on the schedule we were given. After all, you're teaching your baby how to eat until they're satiated, not until they've cleared their plate or how to win a competition.
And don't worry, you'll know when to offer larger bottles later on because they'll tell you by often finishing their bottles or seeming like they're still hungry frequently when they finish the bottle. Now for our breastfeeding babies, they typically just get more efficient at taking more from the breast during the feeds. So even if the minutes go down, the volume may still be going up as they develop their feeding skills. Now, the caveat to all of this is for a family that has a unique situation or a baby that has a condition in which state regulation is an issue. In these instances, it's best to work with a professional who can support feeding skills while still not force feeding.
So there you have it. Newborn babies have cute but very tiny little stomachs. I encourage you to follow their cues of satiation rather than a blanket schedule recommendation. Start with the time or the volume that you wish, but when they seem content, sleepy, and satiated, let them take a digestion break.