Baby hunger cues to help you through the newborn days and beyond

When older kids are hungry, they don’t hesitate to tell you. The same is true for babies, but their messages come without words. Recognizing common baby hunger cues can help.

Because babies don’t yet speak, they’re reliant mainly on crying to tell you when something isn’t quite right, whether they need a diaper change, a piece of clothing is uncomfortable, or they’re hungry. Beyond crying, though, there are other signs your baby is hungry. Learning to recognize these cues can reassure you and reduce your anxiety about understanding your baby's needs.

Knowing these baby hunger cues—and how they change as your baby grows—can help you keep your little one nourished and comforted.

Signs your baby is hungry

There’s a name for paying attention to nonverbal signs that your baby is hungry or full: responsive feeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advocates this approach to ensuring your baby gets enough to eat based on signs of hunger and satiety (fullness).

First, pay attention to the signs that your baby is hungry:

• Moving head toward the breast or bottle
• Opening and closing mouth
• Seeming more alert and active
• Smacking lips
• Sucking on or clenching hands

Crying is a sign that your baby may be hungry, but it’s usually preceded by an early hunger cue or two. Attention to your baby’s movements can alert you to hunger before crying begins.

As you add solid food to your baby’s diet, beginning around 6 months, your child may indicate hunger by reaching for or pointing toward food, getting excited when spotting food, or using hand motions or sounds.

How to know when your baby is full

As an adult, you know you don’t always need to eat everything on your plate to feel satisfied and full. That’s also the case for babies, though they don’t have the same ability to express their fullness. After all, they can’t very well push the plate away.

Instead, babies will give you nonverbal cues when they’ve had enough to eat. Signs that your baby is full include:

• Closing mouth
• Fidgeting or becoming distracted
• Moving head away from the breast or bottle
• Relaxing hands and unclasping fists
• Slowing down
• Stopping and starting to eat repeatedly
• Unlatching often

When your baby finishes eating, you can offer the breast or bottle again after a few minutes. You’ll quickly know whether your little one is hungry or disinterested in eating.

Older babies will also offer clues that they have finished eating by pushing food away, closing their mouths to food, or using hand motions or sounds.

Why baby hunger cues matter

Responsive feeding based on your baby’s nonverbal communication offers many benefits for growth and development. By paying close attention to whether your child is hungry or full, you’re building the groundwork for helping your child create healthy eating habits.

Stopping feeding at your baby’s satiety signals helps your child learn how to self-feed. Children nourished using responsive feeding are less likely to be overweight or obese later in life because they’re in tune with their body’s internal cues.

The AAP perhaps best describes responsive feeding as follows: “You provide, your child decides.” Using baby hunger cues as a guideline for feeding sets your child and your family up for success in the short and long term.

There’s a bonus, too. When you learn your baby’s hunger cues, you can begin feeding before your baby reaches the “hunger cry” stage. That’s a win for everyone, right?

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