Fortunately, even new parents can objectively measure their baby’s health.

THE FIRST SEVEN DAYS
During the first week of life a baby should nurse at least 8 times a day for more than 15 minutes at each feeding. Listen and you should hear the baby swallowing milk. Muconium, baby’s first black sticky stool, will pass. This will transition from a black-green color to a brown doughey consistency. By day 4 or 5 the color will be yellow. Within 48 hours after birth, the baby will have wet diapers. The number of wet diapers will increase to two or three each day be the end of the week.

An ill baby will show definite physical signs of his condition. There is reason to be concerned if a baby has a weak sucking reflex, little or no desire to nurse and cannot sustain a feeding for at least 15 minutes, 8 times per day. If a baby falls asleep before nursing for 15 minutes, makes a clicking sound when nursing, and has dimpled cheeks when sucking, these are also indications that there is some difficulty. It is outside of a healthy range if the baby’s stools haven’t changed and there is no urination two days after the birth. Two days of these symptoms indicate that you should seek medical help.

THE INITIAL 30 DAYS
The signs that your baby is healthy will be pretty much the same throughout the next month. The second to fourth week, babies continue to have two to four yellow stools and nurse eight times per day. Wet diapers will likely occur between six to eight times per day with clear, not yellow, urine. Along with observing some milk and hearing your baby swallow during nursing, you should see a strengthening of the suck reflex. Your baby will grow both in weight and alertness.

However, in this 2nd to 4th week, you should make a note of anything that is out of the ordinary such as a baby not eating at least 8 times per day, infrequent or small stools, too few wet diapers, or if the urine becomes bright yellow. Your baby should gain weight and grow longer. A baby that has a weak suck, doesn’t make swallowing noises during nursing, becomes sluggish and lacks quick responses and doesn’t sleep between feedings, is a reason for concern. If you observe these behaviors for more than two days in a row, contact a health provider for assistance.

THE 5TH THROUGH THE 10TH WEEK
A baby may change from 8 to 7 feedings per day during this time. This is because he is growing and can take in more milk. Further changes may be noticed in bowel movements: they can either increase to several small stools per day, or one large one every third day. This isn’t unusual in breastfed babies as they assimilate much of the milk. Check the wet diapers to make sure the urine isn’t bright yellow; there should be six to eight wet diapers daily. Along with increasing alertness, you should continue to see a strong suck, milk dribbles, and hear an audible swallowing at feeding time.

During the 5 to 10 week mark a baby that doesn’t nurse at least seven times a day and produce the right amount of wet diapers (without dark yellow color) should be watched carefully. Length and weight should increase for baby. Weak, tired sucking without an audible swallow indicates the baby is not getting proper nourishment. Seek medical assistance if your baby becomes lethargic, slow to respond or unable to sleep between nursing sessions. If you see these things for two days in a row, something is not right with your baby.

MONITORING YOUR BABY
Remembering how often and when a baby ate can be a challenge when you are well-rested. It can be overwhelming to expect a new mother to know this with reduced sleep. One solution is to keep a pencil and a notebook near the sleeping baby. Whenever mama feeds or changes the baby, note the time and what was done along with your observations. For example, you might write: “4:00 p.m., b-fed 15 min., wet diaper – clear, no poop” Start with a clean sheet each day. Write the date at the top of the page.

This way, should anything seem out of the ordinary, you can refer to your notes and present them to a doctor if needed. This is also a good bonding tool for a new mama. Your weariness may make it difficult for your to identify the cause of your baby’s crying, but your list will provide you with the information you need to know if it’s been too long between feedings or bowel movements – identifying the cry as hunger or constipation. This tool helps a mama learn to identify the different cries of her newborn. This goes a LONG ways towards helping a new mama learn to trust her instincts when it comes to her baby.

However, older mamas give sage advice when it comes to newborns and new mamas. Enjoy these first few weeks to their fullest. Don’t worry about filling your day with anything more than getting to know this new little one. Too soon, they are no longer little.

Interested in more child training tips? No Greater Joy is a ministry dedicated to helping parents bring up children they enjoy. They have written a bestseller called To Train Up A Child that has helped thousands.