Feeding is one of the baby's first pleasant experiences. The baby's first love for his mother or father arises primarily from the feeding situation. At feeding time, the baby receives nourishment from his food and nourishment from his parent's love. The food, correctly taken, helps him to grow healthy and strong. The mother and father's love, generously given, helps him to feel secure.

The average newborn may lose up to 10% of his weight during the first few days of life. Birth weight is usually regained by 10 to 14 days. From then on most infants gain approximately one ounce per day for the first 3 or 4 months. After this, the weight gain slows to about 1/2 ounce per day.

A SCHEDULE WITH FLEXIBILITY

Newborns should be fed when they are hungry. For the bottle fed baby the feeding schedule may vary between 3 to 5 hours. Breast-feeding infants tend to feed more frequently, between 2 to 4 hours. Breast fed infants should be fed at least 8-12 times within each 24 hour period. Most infants will wake when they are hungry.  If your baby sleeps more than 4 to 5 hours at a stretch at night, be thankful!

HOW LONG TO FEED

Most bottle fed babies will consume their feedings comfortably within 20 to 30 minutes. The same applies to breast fed babies. Nursing babies get about 80% of the mother's milk in the first 5 minutes of nursing. By 10 minutes, 85% and by 15 minutes 86%. Anything more than 15 minutes per side is probably not giving the baby any extra milk. All babies need to suck more than they need to eat.