Recognizing Hunger Cues in Babies: A Parent’s Guide

Hunger Cues in Baby – How to Identify Them

Watch your baby carefully for his/her hunger cues. Check for these signs that your baby is hungry:

• Smacking action of the lips

• Sucking on his/her body parts or nearby clothes/toys

• Sticking out his/her tongue

• Frequent opening/closing actions of the mouth

• Moving the head toward the nipple or chest of the person carrying him/her

• Rapid breathing

• Fast arm and limb movements

• Constant fidgeting and restlessness

• Making grunting sounds out of discomfort

• Frequent waking up but going back to sleep immediately; frequent occurrences of such disturbed sleep cycles

• Moving eyes rapidly, even while sleeping

• Constantly hitting on the arm or chest of the person carrying him/her

• Smiling while nursing

It may take you a week or two to figure out your baby’s hunger cues. Identifying these cues and feeding your baby immediately is very important. Otherwise, your baby starts to cry loudly, and it becomes difficult to feed your baby when he/she is agitated.

Benefits of following your baby’s hunger cues

Why should you be aware of the signs that your baby is hungry? It is because you can enjoy these benefits:

• Better communication with your baby

• Feeding your baby right when he/she needs it

• Hassle-free breastfeeding/bottle-feeding process, as the baby is calm

• Increases baby’s trust in you

• Increased belief in your parenting skills

• Regular feeding leads to increased breast milk production

How to know when your baby is full?

Are you worried if your baby gets enough milk during each feed? The following signs your baby is full will give you the answer to that question.

• Closes his/her lips

• Moves mouth and head away from the source of milk/food

• Stops the sucking process

• Looks content

• Falling into a deep sleep

• Looking around at other things as he/she is distracted from the food source