Newborn Feeding Essentials: How to Feed Your Baby & Build Healthy Habits from Day One
Feeding Your Newborn: The Beginning of a Lifelong Journey
Feeding your baby is one of the first ways you connect. Whether you’re breastfeeding, formula-feeding, or a mix of both, these early moments help build trust, security, and lifelong habits.
In the first few months, babies grow faster than they ever will again and research shows that early nutrition plays an important role in healthy growth and metabolism. The way you feed your baby today lays the groundwork for how they’ll eat and grow later in life.
What Your Newborn Really Needs
For about the first six months, your baby’s nutrition should come only from breast milk or infant formula (unless otherwise advised by your healthcare provider).
🚫 Avoid giving your newborn:
- Water
- Juice
- Cereal in the bottle
- Cow’s milk
These “extras” can fill tiny stomachs without providing the nutrients babies need.
Research shows that early feeding habits influence a baby’s long-term energy balance and weight trajectory. Keeping breastmilk or formula as the sole source of nutrition early on helps babies grow at a healthy pace.
Recognizing Hunger and Fullness Cues
Every baby communicates differently! Learning to recognize your baby’s cues makes feeding smoother and helps prevent over- or under-feeding.
👶 Hunger Cues
- Early Hunger Cues
- Smacking or licking lips
- Opening and closing mouth
- Sucking on lips, tongue, hands, toes, toys, or clothing
- Active Hunger Cues
- Rooting around on the chest of whoever is carrying them
- Trying to position for nursing
- Fidgeting or squirming around a lot
- Hitting you on the arm or chest repeatedly
- Fussing or breathing fast
- Late Hunger Cues
- Moving head frantically from side to side
- Crying *Calm your baby before feeding
💤 Fullness Cues
- Turning away or pushing nipple out
- Slowing or stopping sucking
- Relaxing body or drifting off
Responding to these cues, supports what experts call responsive feeding. It helps your baby learn to eat when hungry and stop when full. Research shows that this approach can help babies develop better self-regulation and reduce obesity risk later. Sticking to a schedule in efforts to get baby to sleep longer stretches may or may not align with responsive feeding.
How Often and How Much to Feed
Newborns typically eat every 2-3 hours, or 8-12 times per day. Don’t worry if your baby’s pattern seems unpredictable. Growth spurts can make feedings cluster closer together.
General Guidelines
- Days 1-3: About 1 teaspoon to 1 ounce (about the size of a walnut)
- By 2 weeks: 2-3 ounces per feeding (about the size of an apricot)
- By 2 months: 4-5 ounces per feeding (about the size of a large egg)
Healthy signs include steady weight gain and at least 6 wet diapers daily by the end of the first week.
📘 Research found that energy use varies widely among babies. So, “normal” feeding patterns can look different from one infant to another. Follow your baby’s cues, not the clock.
Breastfeeding and Formula Feeding: Both Support Healthy Growth
If Breastfeeding:
- Let the baby nurse fully on one breast before switching sides.
- Make sure the baby’s latch is deep and comfortable.
- Pump and store milk safely if needed. Milk should be labeled, dated, and used in the order pumped.
- Supplement the formula with 400 IU of Vitamin D daily which is the AAP recommendation (Make sure to consult your healthcare provider first). You can add a drop to the nipple or add it into the formula
- Moms can continue taking their prenatal vitamins (talk to your healthcare provider first), along with a healthy, balanced diet and lots of fluid to support adequate milk production.
If Formula Feeding:
- Always use iron-fortified formula unless told otherwise by your provider.
- Measure carefully! Studies have found many parents unintentionally add too much or too little powder, which can affect the number of calories the baby eats.
- Hold your baby upright, keep eye contact, and avoid propping the bottle.
💡 The most important thing: feed responsively. Watch your baby, not the bottle. It’s ok if the baby doesn’t finish the bottle!
Laying the Foundation for Healthy Habits
The newborn period sets the stage for lifelong healthy eating patterns. Research links early caregiver behaviors, like soothing with feeding or pressuring to finish a bottle, to later appetite regulation and weight outcomes.
Tips for healthy feeding habits:
✅ Feed based on hunger and fullness cues
✅ Avoid using feeding to calm every cry
✅ Keep mealtime calm and distraction-free
✅ Use skin-to-skin time to strengthen your bond
You’re not just nourishing your baby. You’re helping them build a positive relationship with food.
When to Ask for Help
Reach out to your pediatrician or a lactation consultant if you notice:
- Fewer than 6 wet diapers after the first week
- Little or no weight gain
- Persistent fussiness, vomiting, or sleepiness
- Trouble latching or feeding refusal
- Painful latching
👩⚕️ Early help makes all the difference. Many communities also offer WIC programs, support groups, or online resources for personalized guidance.
Common Questions Parents Ask
Yes, until your baby regains birth weight and your pediatrician says longer sleep stretches are okay.
Not yet. Breastmilk or formula provides all the hydration your baby needs.
Absolutely! Babies have growth spurts and may cluster feed frequently.
No. It’s not recommended and can pose choking risks.
Take-Home Tips
⭐ Feed on demand, based on your baby’s hunger and fullness cues.
⭐ Use breast milk or properly prepared formula exclusively for newborns.
⭐ Focus on connection. Hold your baby close during feedings.
⭐ Celebrate small wins: each feeding helps your baby grow strong and loved.
You’re learning together, and that’s exactly how it’s meant to be!
The Greaux Healthy Resource Library has additional information for parents, moms, children, teens, and families.