Many mothers ask the question is my milk enough for the baby and how do I know my baby is actually getting enough. Now, that’s not an abstract question. Let’s put that into context because it seems like the mother’s kind of looking through the space to find out – is, am I, am I having to kind of not know exactly is my baby getting enough?
How many ml is the baby getting? I’m going to express and see if the amount of milk that I’m getting is exactly what my baby needs. So this mathematical process is constantly being fed into the system. That’s how we live today. However, if you fall back, into the parameters that we need to look at: if my baby’s having enough milk, it’s a clear-cut scientific process.
Why do I see it scientific? Because there a science behind it, what goes in has to come out. So we need to look at, from those aspects. There are four different ways of knowing exactly if my baby is having enough, enough milk, and enough nutrition. Is one, definitely something most mothers know is about an equal amount of hydration.
If the baby is well fed, well hydrated; the baby will look supple, soft, and pink in color in the skin. So that you will surely know the baby’s having well hydration. Then we are looking at enough amount of bowel movements that this is a crucial thing because sometimes we get to hear that if the baby exclusively fed baby does not have bowel movements for about a week, it’s absolutely normal. Now, that’s something that we need to reconsider to see that you need to see at least two or three bowel movements in a day as a normal process.
Then we are also looking at the weight gain of the baby. So if the baby is drinking milk, there is a direct correlation to what the baby’s going to be showing on the scale and the fourth, which is the most crucial for self- efficacy of the mother.
When I say self-efficacy what I mean is the mother’s experience of satisfaction. Is this baby feeling satisfied? Now, which is why, even though other patterns may be going well, if my baby doesn’t seem satisfied, the mother is looking for constant help.