Home › Feeding & Nutrition

Is My Baby Getting Enough Milk? Signs to Look For

Reassuring signs that your baby is feeding well, how many wet and dirty nappies to expect, and when to ask for help.

Before you use this guide: This is general educational information, not an individual medical assessment. We do not identify a clinician reviewer on this page, so please confirm personal health decisions with your doctor, midwife or paediatrician.

Worrying about milk supply is one of the most common concerns for new parents, especially with breastfeeding, where you cannot see how much your baby drinks. Nappies, weight gain and your baby's behaviour tell you far more than how your breasts feel.

Signs your baby is feeding well

• Your baby feeds at least 8 to 12 times in 24 hours in the early weeks.
• You can hear or see swallowing, with rhythmic sucking and pauses.
• Your baby seems content and relaxed after most feeds and comes off the breast or bottle by themselves.
• Your baby is alert when awake, with good skin colour and moist lips.

What nappies can tell you

Wet nappies rise day by day in the first week: roughly one on day one, two on day two, and so on, until by around day five your baby has at least six heavily wet nappies in 24 hours. The first stools are black and sticky (meconium). They change to green and then, by about day five, to soft yellow stools. A breastfed baby usually has at least two yellow stools a day in the first weeks. Formula-fed babies tend to have firmer, tan or yellow stools.

Weight gain

Babies often lose up to about 7 to 10 percent of their birth weight in the first few days and regain it by around two weeks. After that they gain steadily. Your midwife or health visitor will weigh your baby and plot the result on a growth chart. Weighing at home is not needed, and a single number can be misleading.

Normal things that can feel worrying

• Cluster feeding, when your baby feeds very often over a few hours, usually in the evening or during a growth spurt. It is normal and helps build supply.
• Softer breasts or no longer leaking. This happens as supply settles and does not mean your milk has gone.
• Short feeds. Some babies are very efficient.
• Unsettled spells. Crying does not always mean hunger.

Ask for help if

• There are fewer wet nappies than expected, your baby's urine is dark, or there are brick-coloured crystals in the nappy after the first few days.
• Stools are still black or dark green after day five, or are pale and chalky.
• Your baby is very sleepy, hard to wake for feeds or feeds fewer than eight times in 24 hours in the early weeks.
• Your baby is losing weight or has not regained birth weight by about two to three weeks.
• Yellowing of the skin or eyes is getting worse.
• Your baby has a dry mouth, a sunken soft spot on the head or is unusually floppy. Seek urgent care for these signs.

Help is available. A midwife, health visitor, lactation consultant or breastfeeding counsellor can check your baby's latch and feeding. Formula feeding is also a safe, healthy option, and what matters most is that your baby is fed.

This content is for general information only and is not medical advice. Every pregnancy and every baby is different. Always talk to your doctor, midwife or paediatrician about your own situation, and seek urgent care if you are worried.