Is This Normal? -- My Baby Wants to Nurse Every Hour!

Is it normal for your baby to want to nurse every hour or even every 30 minutes? The short answer is yes – it is absolutely normal.

Frequent feedings do not mean you aren’t making enough breast milk or that your baby isn’t getting enough to eat. Breast milk digests more easily than formula, so your baby will need a “refill” more often. Your goal is to feed your baby from the breast eight to 12 times each day. You can’t nurse too often, but you can nurse too infrequently.

The best way for you to be certain your baby is getting enough breast milk is by counting her wet and dirty diapers. The baby should minimally have one of each for every day she is old until around day five. After that it is common for a baby to have four or more stools each day that are yellow, loose and seedy in texture every day and six to eight or more wet diapers. Some babies will even have a dirty diaper after every feeding.

Another way to tell if your baby is feeding well is by listening to your baby swallowing. A baby should be swallowing breast milk every one to two sucks once milk is flowing. The swallows often sound like a soft “khuh” sound, like making a soft “k” sound. Also when a baby is hungry her hands are “fisted”, opening to knead the breast. But as she gets full near the end of the feeding her hands will be more open, relaxed and she will look content. She will often just release the breast herself.

If your baby is content between feedings, you are changing plenty of wet and dirty diapers and your baby is gaining weight, then you are making enough milk. If you are worried, call your physician or lactation consultant for a weight check or breastfeeding assessment.

Your baby will nurse less often as she grows because she will be able to eat more at a feeding, unless she is experiencing a growth spurt (but that is a subject for another blog post). Try not to get discouraged with these frequent feedings; these early days don’t last forever. There will be plenty of days when you will be able to do more than just nurse a baby and try to sleep.