Every baby breastfeeds in their own way. 2026

Babies show their character from a very young age. There are sleepy children and children who sleep less than their parents; restless little ones and calm little ones, calm babies and babies who are difficult to console. In feeding they also show their personality: there are children who take long, spaced feedings and children who, on the contrary, ask for the breast often and let it go soon; little ones who would spend the day hanging from their mother's chest and little ones who get extremely angry if mom insists that they drink a little more. And all breastfeeding methods are equally valid if the baby is healthy and gaining weight.

There is no ideal pattern

Contrary to what was thought years ago, it is now known that there is no ideal feeding pattern, one, let's say, an adequate way to breastfeed, because each baby feeds in its own way. At most, certain age-related similarities can be established.

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Newborns less than one or two weeks old have in common their lack of experience and the fact that they are a little weak, especially if they have lost a lot of weight in the first few days or if they were born before the 38th week. This causes some to get tired of sucking and fall asleep from exhaustion before finishing breastfeeding or even (not all) not to wake up when their stomach tells them that it is empty (which is why in the first weeks mothers must be very attentive to signs that may indicate that they need to eat).

Babies over 15 days old have more or less regained their birth weight, they are already over three kilos, they are much stronger than the previous week and have more ability to suck.

Children over three months old already have so much strength in their mouths that they are able to extract all the milk they need in the record time of ten or five minutes when in previous weeks they might have needed 30 or 20 minutes. Many mothers who are caught by surprise by the change think that they are running out of milk or that their child is losing interest in breast milk. "I have a three and a half month old baby who until now has breastfed perfectly, but for about ten days he doesn't seem to want to breastfeed. When I think he's hungry I put him to the breast but I only get him to breastfeed for five minutes at most and from then on he moves away and, if I insist, he starts crying and leans back very angry," Mónica tells us.

You have to feed him when he asks for it, even if "it's not his turn"

Experts say that the key to successful breastfeeding is to breastfeed on demand, that is, when the baby asks for it and the amount he wants. But mothers, especially if it is the first time they are breastfeeding, if their baby is not plump or if they have had problems with breastfeeding, often doubt that the child is well fed or that he or she is feeding enough. “A child between one week old and three months old has to breastfeed approximately 8 to 12 times in 24 hours.” “And from the third month it can drop from 8 to 6 and from 12 to 10,” adds the expert.

How are these shots distributed throughout the day? Until a few years ago it was thought that children had a marked feeding routine (some grandmothers still remember the famous advice of giving ten minutes of each breast every three hours), but now it has been discovered that babies are not predictable like clocks. "The child usually does three or four feedings in a row at one time of the day and then jumps for four or five hours," explains Betina Gerbeau. "Babies are not regular, but there are times when they space out the feedings, moments when they do shots very close together and moments when they skip some shots.”

In case the mother doubts that her child is drinking enough milk, she has to look at three parameters: One, naturally, the scale: whether the child gains weight. Two, urination: make sure you pee enough, because that indicates that you are well hydrated, and three: poop, if there are feces, food waste, it means you have eaten enough. If these three indicators are normal, the child drinks enough milk, whether it is twelve feedings or only eight.

Regarding bowel movements, it must be taken into account that the rhythm changes throughout the first months: during the first 30 days the baby usually soils the diaper two or three times a day, or even many more; From the second month onwards, reduce the frequency and space out pooping; some babies may go several days without pooping, but even if it is late, the stools are not hard but soft, liquid or semi-liquid and, of course, abundant.

Mothers often comment that not always when their baby asks for the breast it is because of hunger. “I have a two-month-old girl who only feeds with the breast, she also uses it as a pacifier, a toy and to fall asleep,” says Ángeles in a consultation addressed to our advisor Carlos González. “My two-month-old son, the only way to get him to sleep when he wakes up at night is to breastfeed,” says Bego, in another email. The expert Bettina Gerbeau confirms the impression of these mothers:

"Many feedings are for comfort, the baby sucks to fall asleep, because it helps him fall asleep; because his tummy hurts and that calms him or because he has woken up and is alone in the crib." Those feedings that professionals classify as emotional or safety feedings are not really necessary for feeding the baby, but when calculating how many feedings the baby takes, they can be taken into account because they add up and nourish in every sense.