One of my closest friends and I were pregnant at the same time. On one hand I guess we could not fully support each other but on the other hand it was great to share the experience.
Looking back, one of the very first issues she faced was, knowing whether or not she was feeding her newborn enough and it became a little more difficult once everyone started giving advice.
As a first-time mom, especially, if you're breastfeeding, a common concern is:
Am I feeding my baby enough?!
Before birth the placenta provides constant nutrition to your baby. After birth small frequent feedings help your baby transition to an intermittent feeding pattern. To make the transition easier your breasts provide small amounts of very thick colostrum on day 1.
The size of your newborns stomach varies based on the size and weight of the baby, however the differences are not that significant.
So how much can a newborn take during the first feedings?
What is the size of a baby's tummy?
Well I'm no expert but I took a deep dive to learn more even while my little one was being tube fed.
I know there are many persons who blog for a living and sometimes it's pretty easy to just replicate what's on other websites or perhaps what shows up in the first 20 search results on Google.
Well upon doing my own research I found something quite interesting.
Most sites, images or infographics state that the average volume of a feeding for a newborn on day 1 is about 6 ml.
Here is an overview of what is most commonly found about changes of your baby's stomach capacity during the first month.
Well mom's, I'm here to tell your newborn tummy size might be bigger than you think.
There was one article that opened my eyes to the idea that what I had seen about newborn's stomach size might not be accurate. This article suggested that your baby's tummy size is four times larger than what we are being taught.
Did you know that a a full-term baby swallows 500-1000 ml of amniotic fluid every day?
Your baby's stomach isn't growing exponentially after day 1. We can also measure the amniotic fluid after swallowing from ultrasound photos.
Several studies indicate that the stomach size of a newborn is at least 20 ml on day for a full term baby. Yet many resources teach that the stomach size is 5-7 ml on day one.
The article is written by an experienced NICU nurse, infant feeding specialist and lactation consultant. You can read the article here. I think it's quite interesting.
What are your thoughts?
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