How Do You Know that Your Baby Has Had Enough to Eat?

You have probably read the parenting books that give you very specific ideas about when to feed how much to your infant. This may have left you perplexed when you were faced with a crying infant who still seemed to be hungry in spite of having been fed by the book. Similarly, you may add to your concerns when your child is turning away from the bottle even though the bottle is far from being empty.

There are several thoughts to consider when you are attempting to find out if your baby had enough to eat:

Some babies are natural grazers. While they may be hungry for a four ounce bottle of formula, they will not down it in one sitting. Instead, they will take little breaks in between eating. They will want to be burped, held, and perhaps sung to. Then, once the first ounce or so had some time to settle into the tummy, they will be ready for the rest of the bottle. Do not rush your little one but permit her or him to set the tempo for eating.

Some babies will gulp down everything in the bottle and then still act hungry, only to spit up whatever extra you may give them. These little ones need to slow down a bit, and perhaps a minute of burping them, carrying them around, and just interacting with them will permit their little stomachs to communicate to the brains that they have had enough food.

Remember that books will only give general information, and may disregard the fact that your particular baby may be going through a growth spurt right now and actually need the food. Thus, while the information given in the books is good to know, it is not something to structure your baby¡¦s eating habits by.

Hard and fast schedules, especially when it comes to seeing how much time to let elapse between feedings will probably only work for the first week of life, but thereafter will not be prudent anymore. At that point your baby is developing in a unique way, that to wait exactly three hours before feeding again may be doing more harm than good, when the child is hungry again after two and a half hours.

Probably the best piece of advice is to listen to the clues your baby will give you. The little one knows when she is hungry, and will let you know as well. All you need to do is listen to her.