A huge concern for every breastfeeding parent ‘Is my baby getting enough milk?’. So if you have found yourself questioning this, please know that you are not alone. When you are breastfeeding, you cannot see how much milk your baby is taking. There is no measuring line on the side of a breast. And yet here you are, responsible for nourishing this tiny, precious person, being expected to trust a process you cannot fully observe and that you and your baby are new to.
The good news is that both your body and your baby’s body can give you plenty of clues. Once you know what to look for, you can feel far more confident about how things are going and know when it might be time to seek some extra support.
Why this worry is so common
Breastfeeding is a skill for both you and your baby. In the same way it takes time and practice to learn to walk, it takes time and lots of encouragement and confidence building to learn to breastfeed. Add to that the fact that in the very early days your milk supply is being established, your baby is learning how to latch and drink effectively, and you are likely running on very little sleep, and it becomes clear why so many parents find themselves questioning whether things are going well.
Well-meaning comments from family members ‘are you sure your milk has come in?’, ‘maybe you just don’t have enough milk’, ‘surely he doesn’t need feeding again?’ can add to the anxiety enormously. In reality, the vast majority of parents are able to produce enough milk for their baby. Supply issues do exist, but they are far less common than many people believe, and most can be supported with the right help.
So what actually tells us that your baby is getting enough milk?
The most reliable signs your baby is getting enough milk
1. Wet and dirty nappies
Nappy output is one of the most reassuring indicators that your baby is taking in enough milk. In the early days, this is especially important to monitor. Here is a rough guide to what to expect:
Day 1–2: At least 1–2 wet nappies per day. Stools will be dark and tar-like (meconium) this is completely normal.
Day 3–4: At least 3–4 wet nappies. Stools will begin to transition from dark to a greenish-brown.
Day 5 onwards: At least 6 wet nappies per 24 hours, feeling heavy and saturated. Stools should be yellow, mustardy in colour, and loose in texture. From around day 5, you would expect to see at least 2–3 of these yellow stools per day, at least the size of a 50p coin.
2. Weight gain
It is normal for babies to lose some weight in the first few days after birth. Most babies lose up to around 7-8% of their birth weight, and this is nothing to be concerned about. Your baby should begin to regain this weight from around day 5 onwards, once your milk comes in, and most babies are back to their birth weight by around 10-14 days.
After this, a steady weight gain of around 150–250g per week in the early weeks is a good indicator that feeding is going well. Your Health Visitor can help monitor your baby’s weight and plot it on the WHO growth chart that can be found in your red child health book. If your baby is following a percentile curve, this is perfect. We do not expect them to grow through the percentile lines, but we also don’t want to see they are falling below their percentile curve.
If there are concerns about your baby’s weight gain, please do seek support as early as possible. This is something I support families with regularly through home visits across the Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire area. Early, skilled support can make an enormous difference in understanding why a baby may not be gaining weight as well as expected and finding the right way forward for your family.
3. Active swallowing at the breast
When your baby is drinking actively at the breast, you should be able to both see and hear the signs. Their jaw will drop wide open with each mouthful of milk, and as it comes back up you should hear an audible swallow, often described as a soft ‘kuh’ sound. Some babies are very quiet feeders and this can be harder to detect, but the wide jaw drop is a really reliable indicator that milk transfer is happening.
It is also helpful to understand that not all suckling at the breast is active drinking. Babies can spend time at the breast comfort suckling, which has its own important role, but if this is the majority of every feed, it is worth having a closer look at positioning and attachment, and whether your baby is able to access your milk effectively by altering this.
4. Your baby’s overall demeanour
A baby who is getting enough milk will generally seem settled and content between most feeds, though it is important to say that ‘settled’ does not mean ‘silent’. Newborns are not supposed to be sleeping quietly all day. A baby who comes off the breast looking relaxed, with unclenched fists and a soft, sleepy expression, is a reassuring picture. A baby who is consistently inconsolable, who is not producing adequate wet and dirty nappies, or is the other extreme and seems very sleepy and difficult to rouse for feeds, is worth having assessed.
Breastfed babies typically feed around 8-12 times per 24 hours, sometimes more in those early days and weeks. They may also have periods of ‘cluster feeding‘ whereby they switch back and forth between breasts almost constantly for a period of a few hours. This is not in itself a sign that your baby is not getting enough milk. Babies feed frequently for many reasons: to increase your supply, for comfort, because of a growth spurt, or simply because they want to be close to you. It can feel relentless, especially in the evenings, but it is very normal behaviour.
5. Breast changes during and after feeding
In the early days before your supply regulates, many parents notice that their breasts feel full before a feed and softer afterwards, this can be a reassuring sign that milk has been transferred. However, once breastfeeding is more established (usually by around 6–8 weeks), your breasts will naturally feel softer and less full most of the time, even when your supply is plentiful. At this point, breast fullness is no longer as reliable an indicator of how much milk you have, and many parents worry unnecessarily when the very full sensation eases.
What are the signs that may indicate your baby needs more milk?
While the signs above are reassuring, there are some indicators that suggest it may be worth getting some extra support:
- Your baby has lost more than 8-10% of their birth weight, or is not back to birth weight by two weeks
- Nappy output is lower than expected for their age (see the guide above)
- Your baby is very sleepy and difficult to wake for feeds, or seems too tired to feed effectively
- Feeding is consistently painful for you, this often points to a positioning or attachment issue that can also affect how well your baby is able to remove milk
- Your baby is feeding constantly (not just the period of cluster feeding) and never seems satisfied, even after long feeds
- Your baby’s weight is dropping centiles on their growth chart over a sustained period
These are all things that are worth investigating with the support of a skilled professional, ideally someone who can observe an entire feed and help you to understand exactly what is happening.
What to do if you are worried
If you have any concerns about your baby’s milk intake, please do not hesitate to reach out for support. Your Health Visitor or Midwife may be a good first port of call, and there are also local breastfeeding groups across the Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire area where you can access peer support. There is also the national breastfeeding helpline that offers free guidance 24 hours, 7 days a week.
However, for a more thorough, skilled assessment of feeding, it is worth considering support from an IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant). As IBCLC’s we have completed the highest level of specialist training in lactation and infant feeding, and can carry out a full feeding assessment including observing a complete feed, assessing your baby’s positioning and attachment, performing an oral assessment to check for any restrictions that might be affecting their ability to transfer milk, and putting together a clear and realistic plan with you.
I offer home visits across Surrey, Berkshire and Hampshire, including Guildford, Farnham, Camberley, Fleet, Farnborough, Sandhurst, Bracknell, Wokingham, Reading and surrounding areas. Every initial consultation includes two weeks of WhatsApp follow-up support, because I know that questions and concerns don’t always all arise during the consultation itself.
A final note on trust
Worrying about whether your baby is getting enough milk is an act of love. It means you are paying attention, you are tuned in to your baby, and you care deeply about getting this right. That instinct is something to honour, not dismiss.
The signs outlined in this post can help to give you a framework for assessing how feeding is going day to day. And if your instinct tells you that something is not quite right, please do trust that too. You know your baby better than anyone. Seeking support is not a sign that you are failing, it is a sign that you are doing everything you can for your little one, and that is something to be incredibly proud of.