Breastfeeding FAQs: How Much and How Often
My baby wants to nurse for comfort. Is this OK?
If your baby seems to be getting enough milk, but continues to suck for an hour or more, he or she might be nursing for comfort rather than for nourishment. So, how do you know? Once your baby has fed vigorously, he or she may stay on your breast but show these signs of non-nutritive sucking (or pacifying):
- seems satisfied
- stops sucking and swallowing
- plays with your nipple
Early on, it’s OK to let your baby nurse for comfort, but it can become problematic as your little one gets older because he or she may need to nurse to take a nap or go to bed at night. So, at some point in the second or third month, you should probably wean your baby off of sucking for comfort and make breastfeeding sessions about nourishment not pacifying.
Instead of nursing, you may want to offer your baby his or her thumb or hand to suck on. You also could consider giving your little one a pacifier if you child doesn’t seem to be hungry. Because of a lower risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) now recommends letting babies go to sleep with a pacifier. However, you should only do this after breastfeeding is well established (usually after 1 month).
If possible, you should also hold off on introducing a bottle until breastfeeding is well-established. Some babies have “nipple confusion,” though the likelihood of this happening is much less after 4 to 6 weeks.
My baby is hungrier than usual. Is this normal?
As babies gain weight, they should begin to eat more at each feeding and go longer between feedings. Still, there may be times when your little one seems hungrier than usual.
Your baby may be going through a period of rapid growth (called a growth spurt). These can happen at any time, but in the early months growth spurts often occur at around:
- 7 to 14 days old
- 2 months
- 4 months
- 6 months
During these times and whenever your baby seems especially hungry, follow his or her hunger cues. You may need to temporarily increase the frequency of feedings.
Reviewed by: Larissa Hirsch, MD
Date reviewed: November 2008
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