One of the main questions that parents ask during pregnancy or even after giving birth is, “How do we know when the baby is hungry?” Babies usually give us early, mid and late cues to tell us that they’re hungry.  

Signs of Early Cues – Your baby is telling you, “Mommy, Daddy, I’m hungry!”

Baby would open the mouth, stir, and turn the head in search of the breast. 

Signs of Mid Cues – Your baby is telling you, “Mommy, Daddy, I’m starving!”

Babies would start stretching, have increased physical movement, and would start sucking on their hands.

Signs of Late Cues – Your baby is telling you, “Mommy, Daddy, it’s too late. Please calm me down and then feed me!”

Babies would usually start crying at this stage, skin color would turn red, and they would typically have increased agitated physical movements! It’s essential to calm the baby down first and then start the feeding.

Babies give multiple cues when they are hungry, and crying is usually one of the final ones. Don’t wait until your baby starts crying. It is essential to keep your baby with you at all times after birth and keep an eye for hunger cues. When the baby is still in early and mid-cues, breastfeeding would be much easier for both the mother and the baby.

If the mother is not around, dads should watch out for those cues and ask the mother to feed if the baby is either looking for the breast (early cue) or sucking on their hand (mid cue).

Sometimes, if a baby is fed on a late cue (crying), the sign of hunger in the future will be crying; the baby will no longer resort to early and mid cues. If you receive your baby crying, do some skin-to-skin, rock him, and sing or talk to him. In other words, soothe your baby and then feed. You want a nice and calm experience when it’s time for the baby to breastfeed.