It’s a wonder (and a lot of frustrations) to see your baby grow, slowly but steadily. Along with that is the learning curve of knowing your baby’s sounds and movements. I am still getting the hang of it, but one of the bigger aspects I am still getting used to is feeding the baby.

Each type of movement that the baby makes indicate a certain mood or behavior. Did you know that a clenched fist means he is hungry? I didn’t until recently. My boy does that a while before he begins his actual crying out for milk, so when I see that it ahead of time, I would begin prepping his milk, so he doesn’t have to wait long after.

Maybe you notice a lot of babies sometimes lean backwards when you are feeding them? This is apparently due to colic or acid reflux, so when I see these signs now, I stop feeding and either let him rest a bit or to help him burp. Leaning backwards has a different meaning if he is not feeding – uncomfortable or unease – but requires your attention either way so a dad needs to distinguish between them. Even each sound they make indicates a different mood or a different need, which I may cover in a later post. Get these well and it saves you a lot on time and patience.  

On feeding, another issue I began to face recently is the baby throwing up the milk during or after feeding. It happens very common for babies but it is not a pleasant thing to experience first hand. Imagine your baby suddenly turn into a milk fountain when he is in your arms. Last time this happened, it freaked my wife out while I had to clean up the spill. We figured either the amount he is eating now is too much or the feeder we are using now makes him take in too much milk each time he sucks are the possible causes for our case, and these are common too for other babies.

It’s all part of the learning process and it is a way to know your child more, but it is an arduous process and involve quite a bit of trial and error. The sooner you get the hang of it, the easier it is for the family. I’ll put up more details and tips on these in later posts. Hope it can be of some help to you guys out there~!