Feeding a newborn
Breast, bottle, or both. This page will not tell you which to choose — it will tell you how to know your baby is getting enough, how to do each one safely, and when something needs a professional rather than a forum.
In short
- Nappies are the most reliable everyday sign. From day 5, at least 6 heavy, wet nappies every 24 hours.
- From day 4, at least 2 soft yellow poos a day, each about the size of a £2 coin, for the first few weeks.
- Losing weight in the first 3 to 4 days is normal. Steady gain should follow.
- Breastfeeding should not hurt. Pain is a sign the attachment needs adjusting — it is not something to endure.
- Formula must be made with water at 70°C or hotter, one feed at a time. This is a food-safety rule, not a preference.
- Combination feeding is a legitimate way to feed a baby, not a failed version of something else.
- Breastfed babies need vitamin D drops from birth. Most people are never told this.
The first few days
Almost everything that frightens people in the first week is normal, and knowing that in advance saves a great deal of 3am panic.
- The first milk is tiny in volume and that is by design. Colostrum comes in teaspoons, not ounces. A newborn stomach is very small.
- Babies lose weight at first. The NHS describes weight loss over the first 3 to 4 days as normal, with steady gain after that.
- Feeding is relentless at the start. Long stretches of near-constant feeding in the evenings — cluster feeding — are common and are not a sign of failure or of low supply.
- In the first 48 hours you may see only 2 or 3 wet nappies. That is expected. It is from day 5 that the count matters.
Is my baby getting enough?
This is the question that keeps people awake, and the reassuring part is that the answer is mostly visible in the nappies rather than anything you have to measure.
The NHS markers
- From day 5: at least 6 heavy, wet nappies every 24 hours.
- From day 4: at least 2 soft, yellow poos a day, each about the size of a £2 coin, for the first few weeks.
- Weight: steady gain after the first 3 to 4 days.
- During a feed: a few rapid sucks, then long rhythmic sucks and swallows. You can hear and see the swallowing.
- Their cheeks stay rounded while sucking, rather than hollowing.
- They come off on their own at the end of a feed, and if you are breastfeeding your breasts feel softer afterwards.
What is not a reliable sign: how long a feed lasts, how often they feed, whether they will take a bottle after a breastfeed, or how full your breasts feel. All four cause enormous unnecessary worry and none of them tell you much on their own.
Breastfeeding — and why pain matters
The single most useful thing to know is this: you should not feel pain in your breasts or nipples when your baby is feeding. That is in the NHS list of what good attachment looks like. Pain is information, not a rite of passage, and it usually means the attachment needs adjusting rather than that you cannot do this.
What good attachment looks like
- A wide mouth with a large mouthful of breast — not just the nipple
- Their chin touching your breast, and their lower lip rolled down
- More of the dark skin around the nipple visible above their top lip than below
- Their nose not squashed against your breast
- No pain
If it hurts, get someone to watch a feed — in person if at all possible. A midwife, health visitor, infant feeding team or breastfeeding counsellor can often fix in ten minutes something that would otherwise end feeding within a fortnight. This is the single highest-value thing to ask for early, and people routinely wait too long because they assume pain is normal.
Bottles, and making up formula safely
This section is the reason this page exists. Powdered formula is not sterile — the NHS is explicit that sealed tins and packets can sometimes contain bacteria. The way you make a feed is what deals with that.
Leave it to cool for no more than 30 minutes, so it stays at at least 70°C. That temperature is the point of the whole exercise: water at 70°C or above kills harmful bacteria in the powder.
The NHS advice is to make feeds one at a time, as your baby needs them, to reduce the risk of infection. Batching a night’s worth in advance is exactly the habit this rule exists to prevent.
Cool the made-up bottle before feeding and check the temperature on the inside of your wrist — it should feel body temperature or slightly cool, not warm.
Any made-up formula still in the bottle after a feed goes down the sink. Not back in the fridge, not topped up later.
Two things never to do
Never add extra powder to “make it more filling”, and never add extra water to make a tin last. Formula is measured for a reason, and getting the ratio wrong can make a baby seriously unwell. If money is the problem, say so to your health visitor — that is a solvable problem and they would far rather know.
Responsive feeding, whatever is in the bottle
Responsive feeding just means following the baby rather than a schedule: feeding when they show signs of wanting it, and stopping when they show signs of having had enough. It applies to bottles as much as to breastfeeding.
With a bottle that means holding your baby fairly upright, letting them draw the teat in rather than pushing it in, pausing part-way, and not pressing them to finish the bottle. A baby who turns away, slows right down or splays their hands is telling you something, and the last ounce is rarely worth the fight.
Early feeding cues are subtle — stirring, mouthing, turning towards you, hands to mouth. Crying is a late cue. Catching the early ones makes feeds calmer for everyone, which matters more than it sounds at three in the morning.
Combination feeding
Feeding a baby both breastmilk and formula is common, and it is a legitimate way to feed a baby rather than a half-hearted version of something else. People arrive at it for all sorts of reasons: going back to work, supply concerns, medication, twins, exhaustion, or simply preferring it.
Two practical things worth knowing if you are moving that way:
- Breastmilk supply responds to demand. Replacing breastfeeds with bottles will usually reduce supply over time. That is fine if it is what you want — it is worth understanding rather than discovering.
- Going gradually is kinder on everyone. Dropping one feed at a time, with a few days in between, reduces the risk of engorgement and blocked ducts, and gives your baby time to adjust.
If someone has made you feel that this is a failure, they are wrong, and a fed baby with a parent who is coping is the actual goal.
Vitamin D
This is the most commonly missed piece of NHS advice in the whole of the first year.
- Breastfed babies need a daily vitamin D supplement of 8.5 to 10 micrograms from birth — regardless of the parent’s own supplements.
- Formula-fed babies having more than 500ml a day do not need one, because formula is already fortified. Once they drop below that, start.
If you qualify for Healthy Start, the drops are free. There is more detail on this, and on everything that follows once solids begin, in our early years food guide.
When to get help — and where from
Get help the same day if
- Your baby is not feeding at all, or is much harder to wake for feeds than usual
- They have had no wet nappy for 12 hours
- They are very lethargic or floppy, or their cry sounds wrong to you
- They are vomiting repeatedly, or the vomit is green
- They are losing weight beyond the first few days, or not back to birth weight by around two weeks
Our 111, 999 or health visitor printable covers the wider list of newborn warning signs, and is worth putting on the fridge before you need it.
Where the real help is
- National Breastfeeding Helpline — 0300 100 0212. Open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Trained volunteers, and no judgement about how you are feeding.
- Your midwife in the early days, then your health visitor.
- Your local infant feeding team. Ask your midwife or health visitor to refer you — most areas have one and hardly anyone knows.
- A face-to-face feeding assessment beats any amount of online advice, including this page. Someone watching an actual feed will spot in minutes what text cannot.
Where to go next
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