What should I know about breastfeeding and my baby now that she's one week old?
With your baby now in your arms, you might feel overwhelmed by breastfeeding. Just take it one feeding at a time! It's normal and ideal for your baby to feed 8-12 times a day.
Your Milk Supply
- By this time, your transitional milk has likely come in, and your baby might feed more often and for longer periods. Her tummy has grown to the size of a ping-pong ball and can hold more now. Even so, breast milk is very easy to digest, so frequent feedings are normal. Continue to feed your baby on demand.
- Your baby will likely wake up several times per night to feed and this is important! She needs the calories and your breasts need to be drained so more milk can be made. If she tends to sleep more than 3 hours at a time (day or night), wake her to feed every 3 hours during the first few weeks.
- Your milk supply is still being established. Anything that takes away from time spent at the breast (formula supplementation, pacifiers, not waking a sleepy baby to nurse) will negatively impact milk supply.
Your Breasts
- Your breasts might start to feel very full, hard and tender at this time. It is important to let your baby feed very frequently to help with this fullness. If she has a hard time latching, it can help to hand express for a few minutes to soften the nipple area before attempting to latch.
- It is recommended not to pump to relieve breast fullness since this can damage the delicate breast tissue. Pumping can also signal your body to make more milk than your baby needs. While having more than enough milk sounds like a good thing, it isn't as good as it sounds and can lead to issues down the road. However, if you are exclusively pumping, be sure to pump regularly (every 2-3 hours, or at least every time your baby has a bottle).
Your Baby
- Your baby should have close to 6 or more wet diapers and 3-4 or more poopy diapers (the size of a quarter or larger) per day at 7 days old. Breastfed baby poop is mustard yellow, and can be "seedy", loose, and runny.
- Her first growth spurt will likely be coming soon, just in time to meet the goal of returning to her 24-hour weight by 2 weeks of age.
You've made it to one week and the groundwork that has been laid will set you up for future breastfeeding success! Though it might be a blur, trust that you're doing an amazing job and each day will get easier.