Ah, day 3 of your newborn’s life. Whether this is your first baby or not, newborn behavior is quite different so parents often feel like “new” parents again. Reminders of what to expect day 3 are helpful! Along with day 1, and day 2, here is your guide for how to breastfeed your newborn at 3 days old.
You likely went home from the hospital yesterday. Or will today. This means no more daily weights and nurses. There are a few things that are particularly helpful to know about breastfeeding your newborn at 3 days old.
Keep Working on Deep Latches
It’s okay to be picky about your baby’s latches. Keep trying to keep deep latches and if a latch seems shallow, try again. It can take many attempts before you obtain a latch that is worth keeping. Your baby will learn to latch deeply with practice. Hold your baby skin to skin throughout this day and especially with breast feedings. Check out this article for more details on latch. If you need them, here are ideas for breastfeeding positions.
Track Nursing Sessions for Your Newborn 3 Days Old
Your babe should nurse at least 8-12 times each day. Typically newborns at 3 day old are awake enough to do this “on demand” meaning when they show feeding cues. Your baby does not know how to tell time. He decides when he is ready to eat based on when he is hungry or needing comfort. If you offer the breast when he shows feeding cues, you are “feeding on demand”.
He may show you he’s ready to nurse (feeding cues) by:
- stretching and moving his body or mouth around
- bringing his hands to his face
- trying to suckle on things
- making noises
Typically, crying is a late feeding cue. If your baby is crying and he won’t latch, trying putting him up higher on your chest and calming him down. Once he is calm, offer the breast again.
Why Nurse on Demand Your Newborn 3 Days Old?
Newborns at 3 days old are often more efficient breastfeeders if they get to choose when they eat. This can be difficult for some mothers who would prefer to choose the timing of their baby’s feedings. Since breastfeeding is linked to lower rates of obesity, allowing your baby to choose when he nurses, may help him practice listening to his body’s hunger and satiety cues. All mammals have numerous feeding instincts. (For a fascinating read, check out “Ultra Processed People” by Chris van Tulleken.)
Nursing on demand can also help your baby get the amount of milk he needs to grow and thrive. If he is removing milk frequently it also helps to establish your milk supply.
The amount of time a newborn 3 days old nurses at the breast to transfer a full feeding varies widely! That is why your baby’s first goal is to nurse at least 8-12 times per day and not a specific number of minutes per feeding. Unless your baby is always breastfeeding for very brief or very long sessions, the number of minutes per feeding doesn’t mean anything. A baby can transfer a full feeding of milk from the breast in 5 minutes or in 45 minutes. Or anything in between. Read on for specifics about those situations.
Baby Goal #1: Nurse at least 8-12 times each 24 hour period
His goal is to nurse at least 8-12 times each day at the times he chooses. You can start the 24 hours from the time of his birth, from midnight, from when you wake in the morning, or from any other hour that makes sense for you. These feedings may be every three hours around the clock but mostly likely will be sporadic. That’s okay! Write down about what time he starts each nursing sessions. When you are halfway through the day, check to see how he is doing. Has he nursed at least 4 times? (This would be half of 8, his minimum goal.) If so, great! Keep allowing him to choose the times he nurses.
What if he is halfway through the day and has nursed 3 or fewer times?
Now you know you need to encourage him to eat more often or he won’t reach his goal of 8-12 times today. Every 2 or 2.5 hours, place him skin to skin on your chest. At any point if he wakes up offer the breast. If he doesn’t wake right away, that’s okay, give him about 20 minutes of skin to skin time with you to find a lighter stage of sleep to wake from. Rub his back and talk to him.
If he doesn’t wake and latch, hand express some drops of milk and place those in his mouth. The smell and taste may wake him. If he still doesn’t wake to latch, hand express more milk and offer it to him via spoon or syringe.
What if he latches and suckles but only briefly because he is so sleepy?
Do your best to keep him awake throughout the feeding. Stay off your phone and keep distractions at a minimum. Keep him skin to skin with you throughout the feeding. Talk to him and rub his back, legs and feet. Intermittently compress your breast to give him more milk than his sleepy effort is doing. Hand express after his feeding and give him extra milk from a spoon or a syringe.
Bottles are not recommended for breastfeeding babies. (For physicians who are skeptics about this, even the American Academy of Pediatrics Breastfeeding Handbook for Physicians says that bottles are not recommended for supplementing breastfeeding babies.) If you do end up giving your baby extra breast milk or formula, keep in mind an appropriate feeding size on this day is between half an ounce to one ounce (or 22-30mL). Babies like to suckle and a smaller volume of available milk these first few days can help them calm with suckling while also not overfilling their stomachs. This study showed that babies who were overfed (more than 30 ounces at a feeding day 1) were 5-7 times more likely to be overweight or obese at their 4 year well check!
Keep using these methods to wake your baby, keep him awake, and offer him extra milk until he is waking and actively nursing on his own. Usually when sleepy babies get a bit extra milk, they start to perk up and wake more.
Why not just give formula to wake a sleepy newborn 3 days old?
Well, because introducing formula in the first two weeks of life changes his gut flora so that it mimics a formula fed baby’s gut. And it never goes back to looking like a breastfed baby’s gut. What does that mean? We don’t entirely know yet. But we do know breastfed babies have many health benefits over formula fed babies. And we know our guts play a huge role in our immune system. So, until we know more, it seems like a good idea to have a microbiome that mimics a breastfed gut instead of a formula fed one.
(When formula is introduced after 2 weeks of life, the baby’s gut will return to mimic that of a breastfed baby after a period of exclusive breastfeeding.)
The other reason to avoid introducing formula while breastfeeding your newborn at 3 days old is because studies show it decreases the length of time babies are breastfed. So, it may contribute to you not reaching your breastfeeding goals.
A third reason to avoid formula on this day is because your body is trying to figure out how much milk to make. Affective and frequent nipple stimulation and milk removal helps you develop a full supply. When your baby gets formula, neither of these things are happening. You can utilize a breast pump but it’s not the same.
Speaking of sleepy babies and breast pumps
If you have a baby who is not waking on his own for feedings by day 3, you definitely want to be hand expressing before or after feedings to boost your supply. You can hand express in the shower also. If you have a breast pump, you may want to use it a few times each day to ensure your supply establishes well. Call a local lactation consultant to help you navigate this, personalize it to your situation, and encourage you!
Track Diapers of Your Newborn 3 Days Old
Baby Goal #2: Have at Least 3 Wet Diapers in 24 Hours
On day 3, your newborn should have at least 3 wet diapers and at least 3 dirty diapers. These also may not be spaced evenly throughout the the day and that’s okay! Here is an example of why it is important to call an expert in newborn feeding when you have questions:
My friend, when she was home from the hospital with her 3 day old, got nervous because it has been 8 hours since he has peed. She called her pediatricians office. It was a Saturday so she was sent to a hospital nurse line not specific to the pediatrician (or to kids at all). The nurse, hearing that a baby hadn’t peed in 8 hours, became very nervous and instructed them to go buy formula and give the baby a bottle to hydrate him.
Of course, if a 3 day old’s goal is to have at least 3 wet diapers in a 24 hour period, he can go 8 hours without peeing and still easily meet his goal.
Baby Goal #3: Have at Least 3 Dirty Diapers in 24 Hours and Yellow/Seedy by Day 4
His stool should be changing from black, thick, tarry meconium (day 1) to dark green, transitional (day 2-3), to yellow and seedy sometime by day 3-5. It can take longer for milk volume to increase in certain scenarios, a first time mom and a cesarean section being the most common. If those situations apply to you, that’s when you may not see yellow, seedy stool until day 5.
Breasts and Sleep Day 3
The average length of time moms feel their milk has “come in” is 72 hours. So, that is the end of day 3. Women actually start making breastmilk around week 16 of pregnancy, so you have had milk for a while, but you know from day 1 and day 2 that it is a small volume of milk. (Though super beneficial and important!) By day 3, you may be able to hand express a bit easier, even if your breasts don’t feel full and heavy yet. Soon, you should see and feel an increase in milk if you haven’t already.
If your breasts become sore or if you are having nipple pain, check out this article. If your nipple pain is getting better, great! If it is getting worse, this is another reason to call your local LC and see what you can tweak.
Continue to prioritize sleep. If something doesn’t need done by you, see if you can leave it or delegate it to someone else. Focus on feeding yourself and your baby and resting. A diet of protein, fruits, veggies, and nourishing dishes like bone broth are packed with vitamins to help you feel your best.
Besides helping you nourish your body, here are other ways dad can help you recover from birth and transition into motherhood.
Cluster Feeding
We talked a lot about sleepy 3 day olds, but what if your baby is NOT sleepy? What if they want to nurse constantly? Know that cluster feeding can be very normal on day 3. Assess your baby’s feedings:
- Is he latched deeply?
- Can you hear swallowing?
- Are his jaw movements big and slow?
- Is he content after the feeding?
- Do your breasts feel full before feedings and emptier after?
Remember that his goal is to breastfeed at least 8-12 times per day. If he is nursing 12 times per day that will feel like a lot! Keep track on a feeding log. If all of his feedings are long and he never seems satiated, call your local lactation consultant to make sure he’s transferring milk well. Don’t stress. If he isn’t transferring milk well, there are things you can do to help him get on the right track.
Overstimulation
Your 3 day old may get overstimulated. If your baby is crying and holding him skin to skin and offering the breast isn’t calming him down, he may be overstimulated. This can happen with lights, sounds, different people holding him, or from trying to breastfeed for a long time. You may not be able to find a cause and that’s okay. Give your baby consistency.
- Swaddle him up to give his body the feel of firm boundaries (like in utero).
- Consistent sounds such as a shushing noise or a song.
- Consistent motion such as a small bounce, a rock, or a walk.
- Consistent sights such as the wall behind you.
Try to keep things calm and avoid change. Dim the lights. Choose which motion you are going to do. Keep in mind, it can take an overstimulated baby 15 minutes to calm down. Try to avoid changing the stimulation. Consider setting a timer to help you realize that while it feels like he has been crying forever, in reality it has been 5 minutes. Trying to decide whether to offer a pacifier or not? Read this.
Follow Up for Your Newborn 3 Days Old
Your baby should have a visit to their provider between days 3 and 5. He will have a weight check and perhaps a bilirubin check. They should ask how feedings are going and how many times per day your baby is nursing and stooling.
Remember, we expect babies to lose weight after birth. They are born with extra fat and fluid on board (even more if you were getting fluids for a while during labor). Less than 10% of weight loss is considered normal. Around day 5, your baby should stop losing and start gaining weight so he is back to birth weight by around 10-14 days of life.
If at any point you have questions or concerns about how breastfeeding is going or how your baby is doing, please call a feeding specialist in your area. This may be your pediatrician’s office, the lactation consultant at your hospital or community center, or someone else. They can ask you questions, listen to your concerns, and help you figure out if anything in your plan needs to be tweaked.
This article is jam packed with information and so is the rest of BreezyBreastfeeding.com! If you would like the information laid out, in easy to ingest videos from me, the Breezy Breastfeeding Class is for you!
Listen to what Angela has to say about it:
“Jill is SO knowledgeable and passionate about breastfeeding! I took her class in my third trimester in order to prepare for the arrival of my little one. As a first time mom, there were a lot of overwhelming emotions I experienced preparing for baby’s arrival. Jill’s class gave me the tools to navigate through breastfeeding and set both myself and my little girl up for success. I felt empowered in the early stages of my breastfeeding journey- that I was able to work through problems I was experiencing successfully- all thanks to Jill. I LOVED her classes and can’t recommend her enough! If you’re thinking about taking her class, just do it! You won’t regret it!!”
The Breezy Breastfeeding Class is self-paced so you can watch when it works for you and share it with dad and grandma! It is packed with over 4 hours of helpful content and videos to set you up to reach your breastfeeding goals and LOVE your motherhood. Check it out!
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