Do you know how much breastfed babies are required?

How much breastfeed babies need? This is probably a familiar saying that mothers often share, right? New mothers always wonder how much milk their baby drinks, especially when there is another baby as a comparison point with their baby.

Average sample amount for the baby

Mothers who are breastfeeding directly and mothers who are bottle-feeding , don't worry. I can rest assured I did nothing wrong. Babies who drink a lot of milk are not a good measure.

One example is that formula-fed infants tend to breastfeed more often than babies who are breastfed. A study of 16 755 infants, in Belarus, compared the amount of milk given to formula-fed and breastfed infants. They found that formula-fed infants consumed 49% more milk at 1 month of age, 57% at 3 months and 71% at 5 months!

Another study done in Australia showed that breastfed babies between 1 and 6 months of age continuously drink about 90ml of milk at each feed. Younger children of course drink less milk.

If you are wondering how much milk you should breastfeed, you may be surprised to learn that the amount of breast milk you breastfeed does not increase significantly during the first 6 months of life. And as baby growth slows down with age, babies continue to grow and gain weight, with a relative average of 25 ounces (750ml) over 24 hours!

Why do formula-fed babies drink more than breastfed babies?

There are several reasons for this.

1. Milk line

During the first few months of a child's life, when a baby swallows milk, a baby's suckling reflex automatically activates. Unlike breastfeeding, you have to worry about getting milk, how much or how little your milk is flowing down to your baby, while the formula will consistently flow more. Thus, infants naturally tend to drink more milk from a bottle with each feed.

Photo: How much is enough to breastfeed?

Breastfeeding is different from bottle feeding because the milk does not flow as often as it does in a bottle.

Infants will eventually become more accustomed to breastfeeding, so many mothers will switch to bottle-feeding, and this will run the risk of overfeeding. So, if the mother is always worried about breastfeeding her baby a little, then the exact number may be that she is still breastfeeding more for her age. 

2. Better control of breastfeeding

The problem with breastfeeding is that the mother does not know or is not sure about the amount of milk to be breastfed. If the baby does not seem to want to breastfeed after 5 minutes of breastfeeding, maybe the mother will comfort the baby to breastfeed more because most mothers believe that the baby is not getting enough, or more is always better. And mom always wondered if you were full, enough? 

However, when you observe your baby growing, gaining weight, looking happy and moving well, then the mother begins to trust the baby's instincts and the mother lets her decide how much she wants to feed each baby. eating. Even starting to wean, allow your child to decide how much food he or she wants to eat.

A UK study of infants between 6 and 12 months old found that breastfeeding mothers did not force their babies to eat and that they would often develop better eating later. , more autonomy. Less stress, happy mom and happy baby!

3. When mom offers more, baby drinks more!

Earlier in the article, we discussed the study done in Belarus. Other findings are that babies who suck more often get increased milk output. Mothers fed their babies a bottle with more than 120ml of milk each time.

4. Different metabolic rates

Needless to say, the nutrients found in breast milk are more nutritious and effective for your baby's development. In addition, breast milk contains hormones like leptin and adiponectin. These hormones help babies regulate appetite and energy metabolism. These hormones also affect their sleep metabolism and formula-fed babies burn more calories while sleeping, compared to breastfed babies.

5. Insufficient milk yield

Another situation that makes mothers constantly confused is the difference between direct feeding and expressing breast milk. Many mothers are quite satisfied with direct feeding and are less worried about the amount of milk compared to those who express milk, mothers always have to measure the amount, compare and always feel inadequate. child. Sometimes mothers need to express more times to get more milk for the baby. And this causes mothers to accuse themselves that their milk supply is low and lacking.

So how much is enough for babies?

Again, as mentioned earlier, bottle-feeding causes babies to drink more, no matter what type of milk they feed.

However, there are several things you can do to control the amount of milk your baby feeds to reduce your chances of overeating. The trick is to keep the flow of milk flowing slowly and steadily while bottle feeding.

How do you do this?

Don't change nipples according to your baby's age, keeping nipples at the slowest flow of milk that your baby can accept

Keep the baby upright while feeding, this will slow the flow

Let your baby stop in the middle of a feed, then feed again so he or she realizes she's getting enough and doesn't really ask for more.

Also, don't forget that babies often love to latch on to sleep and mothers may think they are asking for more when in reality they just want to suck on a nipple and then go to sleep. 

We hope that this article will help mothers feel more comfortable in breastfeeding, and understand how much babies are feeding.