Why do newborns need to suckle so much when their tummy is so little?

Dr Pamela Douglas12th of Sep 202326th of Dec 2024

From an evolutionary perspective, a newborn expects a great deal of suckling at her mother's breast in the first days of life.

It's not hunger that makes your newborn cry for the breast in the first two or three days of life - it's the need for sensory motor nourishment, the need to be up close to your body, drinking in the wonderful, wrap-around sensory motor experience of suckling at your breast.

Some health professionals illustrate that it's not the need for milk which primarily drives suckling at first, by offering comparative estimates of the size of a newborn's stomach.

Newborn age	Item similar in size to the newborn's stomach
Day 1	Cherry
Day 2	Walnut
Day 7	Apricot
Day 28	Hen's egg

Next up in the first days of life

How much breast milk does your baby need to thrive?

Full breast milk production is usually reached by about two weeks after the birth

Most women reach full milk production by about two weeks after the birth, definitely by one month after the birth. Within the first two weeks a woman's supply builds to an average of about 800 mls taken by the baby from both breasts in a 24-hour period.

Then, in women who are successfully and exclusively breastfeeding, milk volume is pretty much stable from when the baby is one month old to six months of age.

From about six months of age, as solids are introduced, milk production begins to drop off.

Why do newborns need to suckle so much when their tummy is so little?

Next up in the first days of life

Full breast milk production is usually reached by about two weeks after the birth

Total milk volumes...

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