How do you know your newborn is doing well?

Excerpt from THE WOMANLY ART OF BREASTFEEDING 8th Edition

Chapter Six: The First Two Weeks: Milk!

Pg 110: How to Know Your Baby’s Doing Well

• Weight gain. Look for a return to birth weight by two weeks. An average gain after that is roughly 1 ounce (30 g) a day, but your baby may gain somewhat more or less.

• Diapers. Look for at least three “okay” (thumb and forefinger circle size) diapers each day during the first month or so.

• Your breasts. Look for comfortable nipples, a milk release within a minute (usually much sooner), and noticeable softening by the end of most nursings.

• Nursing behavior. Look for open eyes when the feed starts, periods of slow (about one per second) sucks with periodic pauses, and finishing within a half hour at most feeds.

• Disposition between nursings. Look for the baby falling gently asleep toward the end of the nursing (or contentment for at least a while before he nurses again), limp hands, and an unworried expression most of the time.

• What doesn’t matter. How many minutes on each breast, whether he falls asleep at the breast at the end of the feeding, or whether he nurses long enough to “get to the hindmilk.”