It's Our 3rd Birthday!

4th Trimester Baby turned 3 years old in the month of August!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us as we worked through our baby and toddler-hood! We are ready for your new babies ;)

This is an important milestone for us...which important milestone might our young families be reaching? Back to work? Starting solids? Nursing a toddler? Weaning? Nursing while pregnant? Preparing for a new baby? 4th Trimester Baby is here :)

Numbers!

Let's talk numbers! When all is going well with an exclusively breastfeeding baby, the mantra is generally "feed on demand" and baby will grow and thrive. This is definitely what many families aspire to (and I strongly support!), but sometimes, for a variety of reasons, families need a little more guidance. That's where my numbers come in!

For example -

Feed 8-12x/24 hrs

After day 5, watch for 5-6 wet diapers and 3-4 dirty,

quarter sized or larger and seedy yellow

After day 5, baby should be gaining about an ounce a day

Back to birth weight by two weeks

In the early days, weight x 2.5 can offer an estimate of needed oz per day, for example - 8 lb baby x 2.5 = 20 oz

A full milk supply from one month to six months is 25-32 oz/24 hrs

"Baby gained 46 g from this weighted feed.

That's about an oz and a half"

These measures can provide assurance for families that they are heading in the right direction! Of course, the goal is to eventually drop all of these and simply watch/enjoy a thriving baby ;)

Hand Expressing Breastmilk

Hand expression is an incredibly useful skill that every lactating parent should know! It helps to get to know your body and can be useful for things like - colostrum collecting before the birth of baby, relief of engorgement, expressing some drops to tempt on a reluctant baby, using those drops for the ultimate nipple care, removing milk in an emergency situation or when a pump is not available, and more! Check out this beautiful video...

https://globalhealthmedia.org/videos/how-to-express-breastmilk/