Baby stomach size

Understanding the size of a baby's stomach during the first month of life is essential for providing appropriate feeding and ensuring optimal growth and development. Let's take a closer look at how a baby's stomach evolves from birth to one month.

Check out this slideshow to find out the size of your baby's stomach. You may be surprised at how small it is!

Stomach Size - Infancy and Beyond

The intake needs are the first and most important part of optimal growth and a key factor in how long they sleep, once great sleep foundations are built. Babies can sleep through the night by 6 months, if not much sooner, children can sleep longer stretches overnight, provided they get the right intake in the daytime hours. Children need 24 - 32 oz of milk in a 24 hour period. Full feeds, every 3 hours help to give baby a nice tummy full, to set them up for sleep success.

At birth, a newborn baby's stomach is very tiny, about the size of a cherry. Don’t be swayed by even the tiniest bottle. Even the tiny hospital bottles are way too much for the first two weeks of baby's life. New parents need to be careful not to overfeed in the first weeks of life. Overfeeding does not help baby sleep, in fact, it causes unnecessary spit up and gastric discomfort.

Nikki - The Fit Midwife on Instagram: "Do you know how big your baby’s stomach actually is? It is a strange question I know but the size comparisons shown are good for visualizing approximately how much your baby should be offered or be expected to take. It’s important to note that there’s a difference between what a newborn’s stomach can hold and what it should hold. When we talk about the “size” of their stomach, we mainly focus on volume, which is how much milk a baby comfortably takes

Brooke Adragna, IBCLC on Instagram: "These amounts are per feed, newborns eat 8-12 times in a 24 hour period ✨ . . . #normalizebreastfeeding #breastfeeding #breastfedbabies #empoweringmoms #breastfeedingeducation #breastfeedingsupport #feedingbabies #sahm #pumpingmom #breastmilk #normalizebottlefeeding #workingmom #lactationcounselor #ibclc"

Lizzie O’Connor, MS, RD on Instagram: “At birth, a newborn baby's stomach is very tiny, about the size of a cherry. Small, frequent feeds, sometimes up to 12 feeds per 24 hour…”