How to Know When Breastfeeding is Going Well, pt. 1: Your breasts

The first time a mother breastfeeds, she often worries about whether it’s going normally. For those used to bottles, it may seem unsettling that our breasts don’t have markers allowing us to see how much milk goes into baby at each feeding. But fortunately, there are other ways to know that a breastfed baby is getting enough milk. Once you can identify the signs, you can relax and enjoy your baby.

Birth to Day Four

The following sections focus on the important areas that prompt most women’s questions as well as some easy-to-identify signs that can tell you how breastfeeding is going.

Your Breasts

After birth, your breasts will feel soft until the milk increases on the third or fourth day. Sometimes this is incorrectly referred to as the milk coming in. This description is misleading because it implies that prior to this, you have no milk. Because of this misunderstanding, many newborns have been given unnecessary supplements of formula. The truth is that you have had milk in your breasts during much of your pregnancy. The amount of colostrum, the early milk, your baby receives provides exactly what your baby needs nutritionally and has components needed for the normal functioning of your baby’s digestive and immune system.

During these early days, few women feel much breast fullness. This is helpful for your baby, because it gives her some practice at taking milk from a soft breast before any firmness occurs. With this early practice, your baby will find it much easier to handle any changes in breast texture that occur as your milk production increases.

From Breastfeeding Made Simple, Mohrbacher and Kendall-Tackett, 2010.