My baby is dehydrated.
Every single morning, since the day she was born, she has soaked her overnight diapers. Literally drenched them. Not usually enough to get her clothes wet, but sometimes. If they were cloth diapers, I could smell the ammonia aroma from a mile away. If they were disposable, the things weighed about 10 pounds.
It made sense. During the day, I changed her diaper every two hours or so. All she consumed in the way of “food” was breast milk. She was a healthy, growing, well-hydrated little pumpkin. Of course her diapers were going to be full if they didn’t get changed for 8+ hours.
Lately, we’ve been doing less breastfeeding and more solids feeding. I try to get her to drink water with her meals (we’re not doing the whole dairy thing), and it seems like she drinks a decent amount. In spite of the fact that we breastfeed less, she still breastfeeds about 3-4 times per day.
Right around the time we made the switch to solids, I noticed that her diapers weren’t nearly as wet in the mornings. The first time, I chalked it up to a random event. When it kept happening, however, I tried to figure out what was going on. I’d already been wondering if I had been breastfeeding her too few times per day, wondering if I was hurting her health. She didn’t want to nurse as often, however, and was enjoying the solids. Plus, she’s over a year old. It’s okay for her breast milk intake to decrease a little. Still, the drier diapers made me worry.
One day, I went into a panic. “She’s not getting enough nutrition. She’s dehydrated. I’m ruining her life!” I called my mom, begging for advice.
“Her diapers are only a little wet in the morning after 11 hours of sleep, Mom!” I wailed.
“Is she waking up to nurse at night anymore?” she inquired.
“No. But what does that have to do with anything?” I responded.
“Think about it. Doesn’t it make sense that a baby who nurses all night would have a drenched diaper in the morning, and that a baby who doesn’t nurse at night would have a drier diaper in the morning? There’s nothing wrong. It’s normal.”
Duh. Add it to the list of unnecessary panic attacks in the life of a new parent. Thank goodness for experienced mothers.