Pretty quickly after you give birth your focus as a parent turns to trying to work out how to meet your baby’s needs. Your baby is reliant on you for everything but has been equipped with some quite clever ways of grabbing your attention and communicating those needs to you.
When babies start to get hungry they display certain behaviours called feeding cues. Some can be quite subtle and some are definitely not!
If your baby’s cues are missed and they start crying, a cuddle or skin to skin contact should help to calm them.
Early Cues – “I’m hungry”
- stirring
- mouth opening
- turning head, seeking / rooting
Mid Cues – “I’m really hungry”
- Stretching
- Increasing Physical Movement
- Hand to mouth
Late Cues – “Calm me, then feed me”
- Crying
- Agitated body movements
- Colour turning red (this will not be visible in babies with brown or black skin)
When feeding your baby, it’s much easier and more enjoyable to help your baby to attach when they show some of these early cues rather than leaving it until the crying stage.
All babies are different – some might move quite slowly through the feeding cues, whereas some might progress to crying very quickly! It takes time and practice to get the hang of spotting these feeding cues – be reassured it is very normal to feel unsure as to whether you are getting it right.