This is the question we couldn’t find the answer for. Actually, a mother cannot count exactly how much milk does a baby takes every single breast feeding interval.
Basically, it depends mainly on baby’s age and mother’s breast milk potential which can vary. Some people and even pediatrician connect mother’s fluid intake with breast milk production. Of course, it’s essential for a mother to drink enough water in order to keep the fluid balance in body on regular level. There’s no scientific evidence that more fluids help mother to “produce” more breast milk.
Personally, I think that the volume of breast milk nursed for each feeding interval differs for every baby individually and also depends from the part of the day (day or night, before or after a sleep, etc.).
The best way to know if your baby is eating normally is to observe baby’s behavior. Does she cry too often? Are diapers wet every couple of hours? Does your baby sleep well? etc.
Additionally, there’s possibility to measure how much milk is produced for each nurse interval by alternating breasts once a day with a breast pump and feed your baby with breast milk using a bottle. It’s very stressful way to find out the answer to your question, and it wouldn’t help you to find out the exact average interval milk volume.
We tested it this way and both breasts made about 100 ml (3.5 oz) during first month for each breastfeeding interval and three months later it increased to 150 ml (5 oz). Now we do not measure it any more since our little boy has started with solid foods which decrease number of breastfeeding intervals and increase the volume for each one.
It’s up to you to find the best possible solution to test the breast capacity or just to observe baby’s behavior.
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