My baby wants to feed every wake up but he can’t be hungry every time, can he?
If your baby is breastfed, then yes, they really could be hungry every time. Why? Because human milk is a quickly digested food source. This is a result of a few different evolutionary factors that work together.
Human milk ducts are designed to be emptied frequently. Frequent draining builds initial supply, keeps supply up with demand as baby grows and stops the mother from developing infections. We also have the largest brain of all animals and our babies will make millions of synaptic connections in the first year of life. This means that they need a lot of food to fuel that growth. Additionally, optimal brain growth (and optimal breastmilk development) both rely on baby being kept close. All those feeding breaks pump both your body and your baby’s body full of oxytocin and dopamine, developing and maintaining the bonding that is necessary to their survival and laying down the synaptic connections for attachment and empathy. At night, breast milk is also full of sleep-inducing hormones helping to establish circadian rhythms and aid sleep.
So yes, they could very well be hungry, but even if they aren’t, it is that frequent feeding overnight that will enable your supply to keep up with a growth spurt, or will help them to settle to sleep.
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